I was awake at 7, with way too little sleep. But, as it was a preschool day, sleeping in was a non-option.
Once we got the kids ready to go, we all piled into the truck. First stop was the Endicott school, where we dropped off the baked goods I made yesterday. The secretary perked up when I handed her my little paper bags o’ goodness, telling me, “We sure like when you come by!”
Next stop preschool. We got the kids settled in without much fuss. Our doctor was there (his wife was out of town, and he brought the girls in for preschool), but we had almost no chance to chat; his youngest was having a Daddy need, so he spent the whole day in the 2- and 3-year-old room. Preschool itself was fairly uneventful. It was craft day, and they were making little notepad thingies. I have an organizer I made for myself a couple of weeks ago, so I just worked on my own craft project instead: paper-pieced snowmen to sell at the scrapbooking store.
Afterward, we went to Safeway for lunch, then headed to Colfax for our usual errands. All three of the kids fell fast asleep, so I sat in the truck while Mike ran in the pharmacy and the grange, then did the grocery shopping.
Back home, I worked all afternoon, desperately trying to catch up. I broke for the debates, and ate a dinner of leftovers in front of the TV. We watched Iron Chef (squid), then came back up for more work. A pretty typical Thursday
Adam came into bed with us sometime in the morning. I don’t know where Mike was, but Adam snuggled down in his spot and went back to sleep.
Kayla then woke Thomas and me up at 7:30. I’m not really a morning person by nature, but since my kids are it seems to be having the effect that I’m awake much too early. Bah.
I spent the morning working, then in the afternoon settled in for another day of baking. I made two kinds of Smore’s brownies, some pecan fudge, and pecan chocolate chip cookies. Some will go with a meal tomorrow for someone at pre-school, some I kept for us, but most is for BETA to sell at the football game tomorrow night. We’ll see how it goes over.
Mike made a pasta and flank steak dish for dinner. Afterwards, I did a bit more work before time for Iron Chef (eggplant). Not long after that, Mike got the older two to bed, and I stayed up late working. I was up til about 12:30, when I finally gave up and took Thomas to bed.
It’s still hot upstairs. That’s kind of misleading because it’s absolutely gorgeous outside (mid-70s). Still, it limits the time I can work. Frustrating, because I’m under a whole lot of deadline pressure, and really need to be more or less glued to my chair.
I managed a decent amount of work today, despite the heat. I prepared a whole stack of letters to send to quilting manufacturers, publishers, and other wholesalers to solicit prizes for the January Crawl, then took them downstairs to address the envelopes. Once that was done, I drove into town. I didn’t really want to spend the time, but there were some errands I really couldn’t put off.
First stop was the post office, where I dropped off all those letters (plus a few other things), then bought and sent a $300 money order for an eBay item (prize for a Crawl). Next, I drove into Colfax and stopped at the Les Schwab tire store to get an estimate (lots). I drove to the bank to make a deposit, then went to the LubePlus to get my oil changed (WAY overdue; last time was 20,000 miles ago), while I pondered the tire thing. I decided that couldn’t be put off any longer, and went back to the Les Schwab to have the tires replaced. $611 later, I was on the way back home. Not a cheap day into town.
Mike made a yummy dinner of jambalaya, and I made chocolate-covered strawberries for Kayla and I to have for dessert. She loved it all, but MAN was she a helluva mess afterward!
Post-dinner, I did some more work, until it was time for us all to head down and watch Iron Chef (Matsuba crab). Adam and (especially) Kayla were abysmally behaved, and the experience wasn’t as pleasant as it could have been.
We came back upstairs, and did a spot more work before it was time to get the kids to bed. Once everyone was asleep, I came back upstairs to do some more work. It’s amazing how much more efficient I am without kids around! Around 1AM, I finally went to bed myself.
My morning went to work. The days have been unseasonably warm, and the upstairs office gets downright hot. This means I have to try to get all of the computer work done as soon as I can, before it gets so hot I can’t bear to be upstairs. Perhaps I moved my computer upstairs too soon.
About 9 AM, I started to get ready for Adam’s dance class. Since I was only taking him, and he’s now potty-trained, I didn’t have to pack a diaper bag. That was SUCH a nice change!! Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking very clearly; while I knew the class started at 11, I somehow figured we needed to leave at 9:20. This meant we got there an hour early. We killed the time by visiting the new diner (Mom’s Cafe, converted from the old Becky’s Burgers, converted from the old A&W) and having a late breakfast. It was ok, the portions were huge. The sausage patties were pretty awful, though.
Once we got to dance class, it went great. Most of the things we did there were new to Adam, so he’s got a bit of a learning curve to conquer. Also, he doesn’t always follow along with what everyone else is doing (an independent spirit), so it can be kind of tough to corral him. But as long as he improves each week, that’s fine with me. On a more personal note, full-length mirrors on an entire wall reminds me of how much weight I still need to lose, and doesn’t really make me feel good about myself. Frankly, going to that room is a sacrifice I make for my son.
Once we got back home, I did more work, before giving up and going downstairs to scrapbook. We had a quick dinner of leftovers, then watched Iron Chef and Emeril Live.
I had a fitful night’s sleep, complete with lots of nightmares. I never really did sleep very deeply. Don’t know what that’s about.
I shared a bowl of Oatmeal Raisin Crisp with Kayla for breakfast. She then demonstrated her mastery of the mouse by playing a few of her computer CD’s, completely unassisted. It’s really nice to get them to that point, where they’re a little more autonomous.
Kayla and Adam played outside together, then I gave them baths once they came back in. It’s amazing just how much fine, powdery dirt can stick to two grubby little children.
I spent most of my morning doing laundry, dishes, and a little scrapbooking. I found a packet of pictures and memorabilia that I had tucked away somewhere, and I wanted to start dealing with some of it. I seem to be a “packet-rat". I don’t save EVERYTHING, but the things I do save, I tend to compile together into these little envelopes, bags, and boxes, and they sit around until I sort them again, often into new packets. Ah, well, nobody’s perfect, right?
I made a dinner of meat loaf, fried potatoes, fried squash, and canned peas. The squash was a gift for me from SexyHusband, and it was a very nice treat.
After dinner, I did more dishes, and more scrapbooking.
Eventually, we all made it to bed, where I crashed from exhaustion.
I had some cinnamon toast for breakfast. Ahhh, comfort food. Then I spent the morning working. I also tried to resolve an eBay issue: I purchased some sewing machines for the Mall Crawl Grand Prizes, and one of the sellers hadn’t contacted me. I was getting pretty ticked off and worried about it, but by the day’s end I had heard from him. He’s charging me $45 for shipping, which is outrageous, but at least I’ve learned not to bid on anything that doesn’t have a stated shipping price. So it goes.
I had some fresh rice pudding for breakfast, then I did Adam’s reading lesson with him, in which he finished off The Know-Nothings Talk Turkey. He really has become quite a remarkably good reader. It won’t be too much longer, I suspect, before he’s moved on from level 2 books to level 3.
After he had finished reading, I let him and Kayla watch a library movie: Winnie the Pooh Un-Valentine’s Day. It was short, so they got a few cartoons afterward. Kayla fell asleep while the TV was on, so I moved her to our bed for a little nap. While that was happening, I unloaded the truck of my scrapbooking stuff, and had a shower and some lunch. I also did a bit of laundry. Then we all piled into the truck for a day of shopping in Moscow.
First stop was Wal-Mart. We had planned a relatively big shopping trip, but Kayla was absolutely unmanageable - whining and crying and having a (very loud) tantrum. Mike gave her several warnings, which finally culminated in hauling her out to the truck. The boys and I proceeded with the shopping, including winter clothes and coats for the older two. I was looking for tarps to cover the firewood with Mike and Kayla found us, with the news that Kayla had decided to calm down. I handed Thomas off to Mike for a diaper change, then took the older two to look at toys and choose reading books. Parenting really has become a tag-team sport.
Once Mike got back with a freshly-diapered baby, I left him with all three and went off in search of a coat for myself. I didn’t find any that I liked that fit me, so after a bit of looking for each other, we finally paid and left. By this time, Adam was the one being poorly behaved, and actually laid down on the floor past the checkouts. There was a time I would’ve been mortified, but now I was mostly annoyed.
Next stop was Staples, where I got a mouse to replace the one I had which was going flaky. I didn’t intend to, but I wound up with a wireless model. Once we got home, I tried to install it, but got far too frustrated with the whole thing (I was overtired myself, and the heat in the office wasn’t helping). Mike came to my rescue, and got it all working properly.
I let Adam watch some Food Network while I did the dishes and more laundry. Kayla fell asleep on the upstairs bed and Mike carried her down to the bedroom. I tried to do some more work, but it just wasn’t happening. So I took Thomas to bed and nursed him to sleep, then had a short soak and a book, then went to bed myself. All in all, an exhausting day.
I spent the morning working and whittling my inbox down to only one item. I started playing a few games of Minesweeper. Adam watched me for awhile, and requested to play it himself. He seemed to enjoy it, though his favorite part was when he managed to blow himself up. Perhaps I have a little jihadist on my hands (God forbid). Anyway, since he liked it so much, I made a shortcut for it on his desktop, so he can play it whenever he wants to.
Mid-morning, I took the older two kids to the library again for storytime. They participated a bit more (somewhat under duress), and seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps with time, they’ll regularly engage with the other kids. The other Endicott kids are used to playing together, being babysat by various moms together, going to preschool together, seeing each other at games, etc., so we have a bit of a hill to climb. Oh, well; nobody ever said homeschooling or attachment parenting was easy.
When I got home, I dropped Kayla off, loaded up my scrapbooking stuff, and headed off with the two boys for Tekoa and a day of cropping. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but suffice to say that except for one minor toilet-training accident, I had a great time, and managed to finish samples for a couple of upcoming workshops. We left there about midnight, and Adam was so overtired he was asleep before we reached the edge of town.
Another preschool day. This time, Mike got both older kids settled into their classrooms, and I just went in and sat down to nurse Thomas, who was ravenous. Today was home project day, so I cross-stitched a bit between nursing and gabbing. I was a smidge disappointed in breakfast offerings (oatmeal, fruit chunks, and apple slices coated in caramel and nuts), so I didn’t eat more than one apple slice. I missed carbs! Yet and still, I think it’s a stupid idea to suggest people sign up for “sweet” and “savory"; you rolls your dice, you takes your chances.
Once preschool was over (but before Adam’s class had even left their room, much less made their way upstairs), the songleader (a Tuesday mom who switched to Thursdays) announced, “Song time for those that want to participate! For everyone else, have a nice day!” I took it as arrogant, dismissive, and wholly unnecessary. Apparently I wasn’t the only one, since I saw lots of other moms pouring out the door and not heading over for Teach-Your-Child-To-Have-No-Personality time. I did mention to one of the mentor-leaders, on my way out, that she should tell the choir gestapo to at least give the moms a chance to greet their kids when they came upstairs, fer Christ’s sake.
After we left, we did the Golden Arches drive-thru for lunch, then stopped at ATVP to drop off the raffle quilt. While there, they snapped a few pictures of it and me. Sure am glad to have that particular monkey off my back!
Next stops were pharmacy, gas, grange, and groceries. Nothing much to report there, except the lady who runs the grange told Mike she’d print us up some gas cards so we could use their pumps. When I saw her later at the grocery deli, she told me the same thing, admitting, “I want that gas money!” Works for me. :)
When we got home, Kayla wanted to play outside, so we let her. Adam was overtired and poorly behaved. Thomas fell asleep on the bed. Mike and I worked.
After dinner, we once again watched Iron Chef (key ingredient: turnips). After that it was bedtime for everybody.
The kids were seriously trying my patience this morning. I’m not really very perky in the mornings to begin with, and they were constantly bickering, yelling, and whining. ‘Bout drove me batty.
Mid-morning, I took a break and drove to St John (alone! gloriously alone!) for plastic wrap and a lemon, as well as a quick peek at the scrapbooking selection at the pharmacy. I got a few packs of paper at the latter, and what I was looking for at the former, then headed home. Spent some time hanging another sheet of drywall, and discovered that one sheet is about as much as I can manage myself - that is truly exhausting work. I’ll be only TOO glad when this little project is over.
After that, I settled into some baking I needed to do. BETA is going to be doing concessions tomorrow night at the football game, and since I couldn’t man the booth I opted to make baked goods to sell instead. I winded up with rocky road brownies, banana bread, and Rice Krispies treats on a stick. I hope it goes well. Making all that stuff reminded me how much I enjoy baking, and how much I’ve missed it. With so many kids, I’m sure there’s plenty more baking in my future.
Mike made a yummy dinner of spaghetti, which Mike, Adam and I shared. Kayla was asleep, having almost literally fallen over playing. She didn’t even wake up for a late dinner, which was a surprise.
Adam and I went downstairs to watch Iron Chef while I sewed a label onto the ATVP quilt. Mike brought Thomas down after a few minutes, and Adam fell asleep on the couch. Mike carried him to his bedroom, then watched the rest of the show with me. Once it was over, he did the rest of the evening chores, then went to bed, anticipating an early morning. I took Thomas upstairs so I could work, and he promptly fell asleep in my lap. I held him and worked til about 11, then went to bed myself.
Spent the day doing binding. I know, I know… but trust me: it’s as boring as it sounds.
I got the kids some lunch (chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese, and canned pears), and Kayla fell asleep with a half-eaten chicken nugget in her hand. Adam also had a nap in the afternoon.
In the evening, after dinner (a yummy pasta-ham-pea-cheese sauce thingie), I did more binding, then took the older kids downstairs to watch Iron Chef (key ingredient: onions), and Emeril Live (one-dish meals). While I was down there, I finished the binding (yay!).
Mike got Adam to bed, and I got the other two to sleep with relatively little fuss.
Worked this morning, then got the kids ready for their dance class. This was the second class in the session, but they were sick last week and so missed the opener. It went slightly better than my worst fears, but not as well as I had hoped. Kayla, in particular, flatly refused to participate with most of the activities, so she won’t be going back this session. Maybe she’ll be ready in the spring, but for now she’s just too young. Adam seemed to enjoy it, once he got into it, so I’ll be taking him back again for the next five weeks.
Other than that, it was another boring all-work day.
Today was completely boring. Work, work, work, then bind, bind, bind. Nothing really interesting happened all day. I tried to watch the Emmy’s and even that was a snoozefest (not to mention blatantly partisan). I finally gave up after awhile, and went upstairs to work some more.
The only moderately remarkable thing all day was that we announced we would be having an anniversary Crawl in January, and started taking sign-ups.
God, ain’t my life just DAMNED INTERESTING?? You want to be me, don’t you? Don’t you? It’s ok, you can admit it.
I spent the morning doing some work, and getting my email caught up. Talk about never-ending tasks! I waited until mid-morning, when Mike found out he wouldn’t need a tetanus shot (see his journal for details about that), then I packed up all three kids and headed over to Margi’s house to visit with her. I got there about 3PM, and she and her son were just the most gracious hosts. They immediately put us right at ease. I just have to say, that for a thirteen-year-old, “TheBoy” is REMARKABLY well-behaved, polite, friendly, and almost WEIRDLY accommodating of my four-year-old. I lub him.
Kayla was very shy about coming into their house, until I told her they had a kitty. She very happily played with Pearl (the cat) until she got bit, then the poor kitty was banished to the basement for the rest of our visit. Kayla then moved on to playing with the birds, and the dogs, and the carved ducks, and.. well, you get the idea. Adam mostly watched movies, and nagged Margi’s son to play another round of Sims 2 so he could watch. Margi and I spent the day chatting, munching on pizza, tending to kids (there had to have been at least 30 or 40 of them there, or so it seemed), and otherwise passing the day.
It was a very pleasant visit (including lukewarm Indian food for dinner), though I think it’s just too much for me to expect of myself, to maintain three kids at someone else’s home. Either Adam or Kayla, plus Thomas, is fine, but when Adam and Kayla are together, they just act like “heathen-devil-children” (to use a Texanism), and it makes things very tense. Live and learn, right?
Just as I was packing to leave, Margi’s husband showed up, so I got to meet him. He’s also a very nice guy. We left about 9:30 or 10, and headed for home. All three kids were asleep in record time, so it was a quiet drive for me. I pondered when and how (you’ll notice, not “if") I would get the Sims 2 game myself. I decided I should finish the room project first, then I’d reward myself with the game. We’ll see if that’s enough of an incentive to get my hiney in gear.
For breakfast, I had toast with cream cheese and strawberry preserves. It wasn’t as good as when made with sour cream bread, but it was still yummy. I did some work in the morning, until it was time to take Adam and Kayla into town for storytime. This is a program that all of the county libraries do at least once a week. We’d been a couple of times before, but very sporadically. This year I’m going to try to take them each week.
Neither of them wanted to color the picture of the apples. This surprised me, since Kayla absolutely adores coloring and “drawing". I suppose she was just too shy around so many new faces. I’m hoping she warms up over time, and gets more comfortable by being there more often. The next activity was stamping with halved apples and paint - another non-starter for those weird Gunderloy children. After that, it was sticking paper apples to paper trees in amounts corresponding to numbers on their trunks. Adam got into that, for about 30 seconds, then he was off to something else. Neither wanted to listen to the story about apples. Ah, well. So it goes. They still like going to the library and seeing the new (to them) books. Each one chose a movie and a book to bring home.
Incidentally, while they were having storytime, Adam brought over an adult book and said, “This looks like a good book, Mama! What’s it called?” I responded, “I don’t know, Adam, what’s it called?” He looked at the title, and very clearly read, “Seal… with.. a… kiss.” The other moms were quite impressed that my four-year-old is reading at a second grade level, and they asked me what I had used to teach him. Guess that kinda makes up for him being antisocial. ;)
I dropped a package off at the post office on the way home, then let the kids watch their new movies while I went upstairs to work. At lunchtime, I had leftover chili from last night, followed by cheesecake for dessert.
Once movies were done, I vacuumed the living room, and worked on the raffle quilt for ATVP. It was pieced by Ulrika, and professionally (badly) quilted by someone else, so all I need to do is bind and label it. I worked on it throughout the afternoon and evening, and got the binding sewn *on* with little trouble. I finished it while we were watching yet another episode of Iron Chef.
I had tried to nap before dinner (at about 4PM), and took Kayla with me, since she hadn’t napped all day. Unfortunately, Thomas chose that time to decide he was ravenous, and had to be brought in for a snack. I tried to nurse him while Kayla was in with me, but having seen dad perked her up to the point she wouldn’t rest anymore. Dad retrieved her shortly after. Thomas nursed to pseudo-sleep, but squirmed and kicked so much that I didn’t get much rest. That boy just doesn’t co-nap. I gave up about 5, and went out to enjoy dinner (leftovers, plus mac n cheese) with the rest of the family.
Adam was poorly behaved all night, culminating in hitting the cat (he also hadn’t napped), so he got sent to bed early. Kayla fell asleep on the floor upstairs, and I nursed Thomas to sleep about 11. I was right behind.
Another Thursday, another round of preschool. Kayla warmed right up to her classroom this time, and I had no trouble at all getting out of there. I spent the morning with the other moms, doing more goofy ice-breakers, and discouraging a movement to have us specify when we signed up for snack whether it would be “savory” or “sweet.” Considering many of us sign up three to four months in advance - and that some of us “prepare” (read: buy) snack the very morning it is served - it just seemed a little silly to over-plan.
We once again skipped song time, and headed to McDonald’s for lunch. On the way, we passed this tiny little fountain. The following conversation ensued:
Adam: Daddy, are there fish in that fountain?
SexyHusband: No.
Adam: Why not?
SexyHusband: Because some fish don’t like fountains.
Adam: Why not?
SexyHusband: Because they get all fizzy.
Adam: Oh. (thinks) Then we can drink them!
After lunch, we gassed up, grabbed a bag of cat food from the grange, and did our grocery shopping. We pushed around two carts, more to accommodate children than for need of the space. How do single parents of three or more kids do things like grocery shopping? I’m absolutely baffled on this point.
Back home, work ensued. Yeah, I know. Ho-hum. Thomas fell asleep on the bed and was still out at dinner time (chicken chili, provided by a preschool mom - yay!), so Mike made me a plate to eat upstairs. The kids were asleep not too long after dinner, and I took advantage of child-free time to watch a movie: The Green Mile. While I watched, I also managed a tiny bit of cross-stitching on a new project. Not too much, though, because that movie rules!! Very thought-provoking, and I just absolutely love everything Tom Hanks is in.
The movie finally ended about midnight, so I went right to bed afterward.
I’m getting ready to teach some classes next month at Scrapper’s Getaway, so I spent most of the morning and afternoon making samples, kits, and layouts. Whee!
In the evening, I went to the first meeting for this year, for BETA (Bettering Endicott Through Action). There are only seven active members (including one sort-of active), so we’re scaling back what we’re doing. I think the focus this year is going to be on fellowship, rather than civic duties, and that suits me just fine! I signed up to share the “Sunshine” committee with another person. Basically, this means I’ll send birthday and anniversary cards to the members, and help welcome new people into town.
By the time I got back home with Thomas, it was nearly 10PM. Mike had apparently had a pretty tough time with Kayla, so he told me I got to deal with her. Lucky for me, when I went into the bedroom, she was already asleep. So I nursed Thomas to sleep, and dropped off.
I had a simple breakfast this morning of buttered toast. I worked until mid-morning, then shut down my computer and spent a couple of hours moving it upstairs, as I do every fall. It took a great deal of effort, and Mike had to move the heavier parts: UPS, monitor, chair. A difference this time around is that I’m leaving my scrapbooking stuff downstairs, where I’ll have more room for it than if I were cramming everything back upstairs. The hope is that this arrangement will make me more efficient, since I won’t be distracted by the computer (ooooh, shiny!) while I’m cropping. We’ll see how it goes.
Somewhere mid-migration I helped Adam practice his reading. He did 12 pages from Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia. He’s really becoming quite a talented reader, and only needs occasional help on the more complex words, and sometimes reminders about long vs. short vowel sounds.
After I had moved my computer upstairs, I brought in my scrapbooking stuff from the car. That was a lot of heavy lifting, so I decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. I set the kids up with PlayDoh for awhile, which they enjoyed.
Around 3, I grabbed an overtired Kayla and headed into town. It was primary day. I voted for George Nethercutt, Jeff Phelps, David Frazier (was running uncontested), Cathy McMorris, and every other unopposed Republican, then left the rest of the ballot blank; I didn’t want to make random, uninformed choices, and I didn’t know anything about other candidates.
Back home, the older two kids fell asleep - Adam on the bed, Kayla in Mike’s lap. Thomas, naturally, refused to sleep, so Mike and I traded him back and forth, until Mike got up to make dinner (spaghetti & garlic bread).
I spent the rest of the evening doing boring browsing/data entry for a new project I’m working on (TBA later).
Ahhh, the best laid plans! I had intended to take the kids out for their first day of dance class, but since they were both sick, I had to leave them home instead. I did a bit of working in the morning, then packed up all my scrapbooking junk and headed out.
First I went to Colfax to make a deposit, get some feed at the grange, then get some more feed at the Arby’s. Then I went over to the new scrapbooking store in Tekoa. (For the GoogleBot, it’s called Scrapper’s Getaway, and it’s located at 115 E. Henkle, Tekoa, WA 99033. Their number is 509-284-2744.) I was really excited, because Margi was going to meet me there. She did, and we spent the whole day laughing, cropping, looking at pictures and albums, talking, holding the baby, changing the baby, and feeding the baby. OK, those last two things were just me, but you get the idea. Debbie, the store owner, was there, too, and she’s just too nice for words. Needless to say, I had a GREAT time, and I even got six pages done. Sweet!
By the time I got home and got settled into bed, it was already midnight.
I had a “the usual” this morning: email/work, followed by cereal (corn flakes) for breakfast. Trust me, it’s as boring for me as it is for you.
I worked and scrapbooked all day, but at least I finally finished that military album I’ve been working on!
In the afternoon, I went to fair to pick up my entries. On the way out, I noticed the lady at the Turkish food booth was closing down, so I got a great deal on some leftover food. Thus, we had rice and garbanzo beans in tomato sauce for dinner when I got home. Afterward, I made some chocolate-dipped strawberries, which were a yummy dessert.
I spent the morning doing laundry and answering email. I was pondering going back to the fair again, but was doing a John Kerry. But then, Bobby Flay came on television doing a show on barbeque, and that made me hungry for fair food, so I went. I actually ended up not having any bbq. Instead, I had a slice of pizza, some Turkish food (garbanzo beans in tomato sauce over rice), and a funnel cake. I *heart* funnel cakes.
I had borrowed a friend’s stroller for the day, so I didn’t have to carry Thomas around. That was nice, but he still needed a lot of tending. I did get to see the 9/11 memorial service, and picked up some election literature (primary’s on the 14th). I spent some time talking to one of the candidates for the 9th district - Jeff Phelps, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to vote for him.
Once I was done with the fair, I came home and scrapbooked and worked. Three days at the fair have made my back pretty tenuous, so I’m going to take it easy for awhile. I have big plans on Monday, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss any of it!
Adam read his whole story for reading lesson this morning, finishing that book. Other than that, it was a completely boring morning.
Thomas was very grouchy this morning, screaming uncontrollably. Neither Mike nor I could calm him down.
Adam and Kayla played outside this afternoon, and got terribly filthy. Then they came in, had baths, ate fish sticks and fries, then settled down for naps. I joined Kayla, so I got some rest, too. After everyone was awake, we got ready to go back to the fair.
This time, Adam was even more adventurous - he wanted to ride everything he saw. I went on the “big kid” rides with him, including the Paratrooper and the Tilt-a-Whirl. I hated every second of both, and at the end of the T-a-W, I was sure I was going to throw up. Luckily, I didn’t, but we left shortly after that. Kayla stuck to the safer rides all night. Perhaps next year, she’ll be more into it.
Mike got me out of bed at 7 so I could shower and get ready for preschool. The fall session was starting up today. We got everyone dressed and out the door at a reasonable time, and pulled up at preschool right at 9am (on time!). Adam went into his classroom with next to no fuss. Kayla was starting in a new room (the “Toddler” room as opposed to the “1-year-old” room), and was more apprehensive. But her teacher, Sydney, did her best to put her at ease, and Kayla got involved in playing with PlayDoh so I left.
The moms had their own adjusting to do, as we have a new committee running things this year. I’m treasurer, and when our Mentor/Leaders went around introducing everyone, she neglected to name me, the registrars, and a couple of other committee members. Great start, huh? Anyway, after that folks just snacked and made their name tags, then played this goofy little game of “which shoe best represents your personality?” I was a sneaker, Mike was a hiking boot.
At the end of the preschool day, they bring the kids upstairs and everybody sings songs together. Kayla loves this part of the day, Adam hates it. He refuses to sit still, and is always wound up and wanting to climb chairs, look out the window, run around the room with the other boys. He’s not the only one who’s that way, and in the past it hasn’t been a problem. Well, this year, the Mentor/Leaders decided to “make song time a special thing again", and require you to either participate in it, or leave the room. No running around. As a matter of fact, one of the M/L’s used this exact phrase, “If you don’t want to participate, that’s fine, but… there’s the door.” Mike and I aren’t about forcing our kids to participate in something that’s supposed to be “fun", and splitting them up is logistically difficult because of Thomas, so we’ve just decided if they’re going to be that hard-core about it, we won’t be able to do songtime. A pity.
Kayla wasn’t too sad to leave, however, because we had plans to go to the fair. I hadn’t realized the carnival didn’t start until 4PM, so when we got there, there was nothing for them to do. So, we took one quick walk through the rabbit barn, checked on my fair entries (five blue ribbons), ate a VERY overpriced, not-really-yummy fair lunch in the cold wind, and finally left, with plans to come back later.
Back home, I did a bit of work. I tried to have a nap about 3PM, but once again, Thomas vetoed that idea. It’s getting so I just can’t have naps with him anymore. Around 5PM, we went back to the fair. Neither Kayla nor Adam had napped, so we expected them both to fall asleep on the way there. We were half-right. Adam went out, but Kayla was just too excited, and chattered all the way there. Adam woke up when we arrived, so we all piled out and headed for the fair, after a pass through the poultry barn.
Adam was much more adventurous this year, and rode more of the “big kid” rides. He went on the Gravitron, for one, which is this big centrifugal thing which sticks you to the wall. I fully expected him to hate it, but as soon as it was over he said he wanted to go again. He also rode the ferris wheel, the kiddy roller coaster, the whales (think merry-go-round), went on the slide, and the whirly-bears. Some of these he rode with me, some he did alone. Kayla and I did the carousel, then she went on it again with Dad (it was easily her favorite ride), then she joined us later for the bears. She almost went on the roller coaster with Adam, but when the carnie went to buckle her in, she started bawling. She’s still terrified of strangers.
We stayed til about 7:30, then she was just showing too many signs of exhaustion and crankiness, so we got them both some cotton candy, and got me a funnel cake. I finished the cake, then we all left. Kayla fell asleep on the way home and didn’t wake up on being carried in. Adam stayed awake, but got sent to bed about 9:30 for bad behavior. I only lasted until 10, then I went to collapse in bed myself, leaving Thomas with Mike.
Once again, I spent my morning working, followed by helping Adam with his reading lesson.
Mid-morning, I had a craving, so made myself a tuna sandwich. And before anyone asks: no, I’m not. I just wanted tuna.
I found a little time to put up another piece of sheetrock. Who knew hammering a nail straight into a wall could be so damned difficult? The edges of my sheetrock are getting some serious damage due to my missing the nailheads, and I’m having all kinds of bent nails. Some I could get out, others I just banged half-bent into the sheetrock, cursing my ineptness.
Afterwards, I did still more work, work, work. It’s as boring to do it as to read about it, trust me.
The evening, I spent working on the military scarpbook I’m doing as part of the Hook-a-Thon. I got four pages finished before calling it a night and stumbling off to bed.
Kayla slept with two stuffed bears last night: a Pooh her grandmother made a few years ago, and a brown teddy bear given to us by a friend. When she woke up, she brought them both out with her and snuggled them. When I asked if she was ready for breakfast, she requested a “small smackerel of a Poptart.”
I did the last bit of fine detail on that cross-stitching, hallelujah. Today was fair entry day, so I barely squeaked it in. I started looking for a frame to put it in, but realized I didn’t have anything bigger than an 8x10, and I needed a 10x14. Some days it’s always SOMEthing.
I made a breakfast of scrambled eggs & toast. Nothing too elaborate, but better than a bowl of cereal (or “frosted sugar bombs", as SexyHusband calls them).
Then I decided to do a bit of baking to enter into the fair. My first recipe was going to be chocolate-caramel shortbread cookies. I got the shortbread mixed up and baking with no trouble. I was working on the caramel that would go over it, and it was just about ready to take off of the stove, when Adam announced he had made a poopy. This is cause for great celebration, but it also requires some parental attention: wiping, flushing, supervising washing of hands, rearranging clothes after pulled up, etc. Also, Kayla decided she wanted to “make an ocean", too. So, I stepped away from the stove for what I thought would be a few seconds, but instead turned into a couple of minutes. When I got back to the kitchen, the caramel was utterly ruined: burned black on the bottom, and scorched-smelling.
I started crying. I know it was a small, insignificant thing, but I just hated seeing all that work go to waste. I was really looking forward to actually tasting these cookies, and there they were: ruined. So, I quit. I know I could’ve just made more caramel, or switched to another cookie, but I just didn’t have the heart anymore. So, I dumped the caramel into the sink, and told Mike he had some crispy shortbread, if he wanted it.
After awhile, I realized I was just hella tired from having gotten so little sleep last night (less than four hours). So, I took Thomas to bed, and tried to get a nap. He only gave me about 10 minutes, before he decided he wanted to get up and PLAY! (Have I mentioned how wiggly he is?)
We got up, and I got the boys ready to go into town. I went to Wal-Mart to buy the frames, and when I got there, realized I had forgotten the cross-stitching. That meant I’d have to drive all the way back home, frame the cross-stitching, then drive BACK to the fair to drop off my stuff. Those of you who live in town might think that’s no big deal, but it meant adding another hour and ten minutes of driving. But by then, it was personal: by God, I was going to enter that piece into the fair if it was the LAST THING I DID! So I got the frames, got Adam some pizza at Pizza Hut, bought us both chocolate shakes from the Dairy Queen, and came home. There, I did the framing, then packed up the older two kids to take them with me to the fair.
Things there were mostly uneventful, and I got everything submitted with nearly fifteen minutes to spare! I did briefly think Adam had wandered off missing, but found him pretty quickly, inspecting and toying with the Legoland entries.
Afterwards, we went to get some dinner for Kayla and me at Arby’s, then came home and all just gradually collapsed.
I was awake with both Thomas and Kayla about 7. I had strawberry toast for breakfast early in the morning, then Mike made Adam and me some Freedom toast later. Aheh.
I did Adam’s reading lesson with him. It went relatively smoothly.
Spent most of the day, again, cross-stitching. I did so until the messiness in the living room finally got to me, I took all of the kids upstairs with Mike, then had a cleaning and vacuuming fit downstairs. We’ll see how long it lasts.
This afternoon Kayla played outside for awhile, and had a bath later. She HATES baths, especially when she gets her hair washed. I wonder if she’ll ever grow into them?
Mike made burgers and tater tots for dinner. Everybody thought it was a yummy meal. Not much happened for the rest of the evening; just more cross-stitching. *yawn*
I woke up at about 7 to find Kayla staring at me. So, I changed Thomas’ diaper, then went over to her side of the bed for some cuddles and kisses and whispers. It was very girly, and very nice.
My day was unbelievably dull: nothing but ccross-stitching and laundry all day. Well, there was that moment when I realized I had a thorn in my nipple but… perhaps it’s best not to talk about that.
Around 3:30 I lost it. See, none of us except Adam really has a place to go to be away from everybody else (we’re working on that), so sometimes, we just have a little too much “together” time. Adam and Kayla were fighting, Thomas was scratching and nursing (at the same time), and I was just so SICK of them. Kayla started toying with the slipcover on the couch. By “toying", I mean trying to pull it off. I told her to stop. She gave me that impish little look, and pulled it out *further*.
That’s when I lost it. I swatted her butt three times, then picked her up (safely) by one leg and hauled her out to the stairs, telling her dad to take her before… (that’s a sentence I never finish anymore). Anyway, he took the two oldest outside for awhile (where, I neither know nor care), and Thomas fell asleep on the couch, and I had some blissful alone time. God bless silence.
The rest of the day was as dull as the first part. Nothing interesting happened, though much TV was indulged in.
I ate a simple breakfast of homemade bread with butter. Have I mentioned lately that SexyHusband is the most wonderful man in the world? Well, he is.
As soon as everyone was awake, fed, and changed, I packed to go. Today was the Grand Opening of a new scrapbook store in Tekoa. I had talked to the owner last week about the opening, and I was anxious to see how it was going. The drive took a little over an hour. Since I had never been to Tekoa before, it took me a bit to find the right roads, but I never got majorly lost.
The store’s called Scrapbook Getaway, and it’s so cute! It’s in an older building (turn of the last century is my guess), so it has this teeny, tiny little bathroom (makes you understand why the term “water closet” was in such use). The stock was a little thin (not surprising for a brand new store), but their kids room was AWESOME. That’s what happens when the folks running it are moms and grandmoms to little kids. They have a big room, with couch and recliner, television, huge selection of Disney movies, books, toys, games. Adam and Thomas both spent the whole day in there, with nary a peep! I think this might be a place I could take all three, and manage them and STILL scrapbook. Maybe they’ll rename it Scrapbook Nirvana.
The cropping room is nice, too. Enough room to seat 12 easily. The store definitely has potential, and seems to have lots of community support. I was the first to spend more than $50 (c’mon, you saw that coming!), so I got a bonus iron-on embroidery patch thingie. There’s also some possibility that I’ll sell tags and paper piecings there, and maybe even teach a few classes. Plus, there are lots of other kids around, so the kids would get little playdates when I take them there. That’s what you call a ‘win-win’!
Adam and I were going to have pizza at the new cafe, but they’re apparently not open on the weekends. Perhaps if the scrapbook store brings enough business into town, they’ll change that. Instead, we went to the tiny little town grocery store, and got Cheetos (crunchy for him, puffy for me).
Once I got home, I spent a lot of time making cards. My stock of hand-made cards had dwindled perilously low, leaving me only with a “Congratulations on your new baby” and several “Happy Birthday"s.
I made dinner for a change. Nothing tough, though: fish sticks, chicken strips, fries, and canned hominy. The kids ate reasonably well and without much fuss.
After dinner, I did a bit of scrapbooking, making a new page with some of the stuff I bought today. I *heart* the new “Fresh Print” swatchbooks from Deja Views!
Kayla fell asleep hanging off the couch, so I carried her to bed. Then I took Thomas to bed to nurse him to sleep, and Mike handled Adam.
Kayla was awake at 6:30, refusing to be quiet. So, I sent her out with her Dad, then went back to bed. I finally woke up myself at about 8.
The morning was spent quilting. I didn’t get the borders on the way the pattern called for, but by the time I realized it I was halfway done. I decided I didn’t care if it was perfect or not, since there were so many other things wrong with it. I started the quilt when I was a beginner, and you can totally tell. Anyway, the top is done, and it has been packed away with fabric for the binding, for completion at a later date.
After that, I spent time straightening up a bit, and sweeping the dining room and kitchen. When Mike had his office downstairs this summer, he had been using the kitchen table - moved into the living room - and the outside picnic table had been used for meals. Another fall milestone was undoing this setup, giving us more room at dinner, and more space in the living room.
Ate lunch of fresh pasta and leftover caponata sauce with Parmesan cheese. Yum!
Spent most of the afternoon and evening cross-stitching and watching The Real World (which is anything BUT). I am making good progress on that piece, and fully expect it to be done in time for fair submission on Tuesday. We’ll see if I’m right.
Mike used his new wok to make a stir-fry dinner, after which I did dishes. Thomas and I got sleepy before everyone else, so I took him off to bed around 10 or so.
As soon as everyone was awake, we all went into town and ran our errands. It was a light week; just gas, grange, and groceries. We were back home about noon.
Once we got home, the kids had a lunch of corndogs. I spent the whole day putting together that mystery quilt top. By the end of the day (around 1 AM) I had the top put together and the borders assembled. Tomorrow I’ll attach the borders to the sides, then that quilt top will be ready for quilting. I’ll delay that until sometime when I can better afford it.
I realized that I can’t enter that raffle quilt in the fair, even if I do get it bound and labeled in time, because I neither made nor quilted it. So that’s something I can delay until after the start of the fair. I guess I’ll just finish that cross-stitching, then see how much time is left for other entries.
We all had leftovers for dinner. We had plenty of yummy things, so it was a great meal. I’m not sure we even made a dent in them, though.
Kayla fell asleep at dinner in her high chair, and I carried her to bed. Adam fell asleep on the couch, and his Dad carried him to bed. That’s how it goes when nobody naps! Mike went off to bed, and I stayed up with Thomas, still working on that quilt. While I worked, I half-watched the VH-1 show, The Secret Life of Swingers. I’ll just sum up my reaction thusly:
Oh, HELL no.
I was awake before the kids this morning, and it’s a good thing; there’s always plenty to do the first of the month. I was sore again, too. Guess that comes from doing all that “reconstruction” work.
I did Adam’s reading lesson with him when he woke up - eleven pages from one of the Henry and Mudge books. Afterward, he and Kayla watched Monsters, Inc.
I wroteand sent off the monthly newsletter for QuiltIndex, then spent the rest of the day catching up the email. Partway through the day, I realized I had only five more days to get things ready to submit to the fair. Panic mode!
After dinner, I packed a diaper bag and Thomas and I headed into Pullman. The preschool was having a coordinating committee, and as treasurer I was expected to be there. As such things go, it wasn’t too bad, though what was done could have just as easily been accomplished by email. I had thought of going to see a movie afterward, but as I was driving, I realized I was getting tired. So instead, I stopped at Winger’s for a quick snack of wings, coke, and a chocolate cake (it wasn’t great), then came home.