Shhhhh We are in the Library

If an 18 month old kid is lying on the floor crying and saying "I'm Tired, I want to go home" in the library what would be the correct response?

"Ok I know it is late, and the library is almost closing, I can get a book later and you are screaming really loud in the library so let’s just call it a day"?

OR

"I don’t know why you can't stand up and let me look for my book.” Meaning: Surely the librarians aren't minding your incessant screaming and disconcerting lying on the floor whining about being tired at 8 at night? I mean really, you are big enough at 18 months old to act right…now, you lay on the floor there and scream, but just not too loud so that I can continue to look for my books. AND WIPE THOSE CIRCLES OUT FROM UNDER YOUR EYES….humph you are such a child!”

Yeah I didn’t think it should be he second one either, unfortunately the kids mom did...arrrrgggghhhhh

News From Behind the Trellises

Ok so here is the excitement for the garden today. My first potatoes. I pulled up two plants, only because I wanted potatoes with dinner. Mind you this is only from two of my bazillion plants! I may not get too many tomatoes this year (blight), but daggonit, I will have potatoes. Potato Tomato lets call the whole thing off... (Next year I am going to do upside down tomatoes, after inspiration from Leila)

Being the pessimistic gardener that I am, I refused to do any “grabbing” under there for shear fear that I had planted them in vain, and that there wasn’t going to be any potatoes. I said this to my dad…and he rolled his eyes at me, knelt down, stuck his hand in, and pulled out a very pretty little Yukon Gold…So I ravaged the rest of that plant and another for dinner tonight. It was a nice replacement for squash…and zucchini…too bad you can’t make clothes out of them, I would need no back to school shopping...Yes the march of the squash is still playing out here! I also made my first dilly beans and jars of bread and butter pickles (from squash and zucchini)…my dad has already decimated one jar of pickles, and my husband another... so I had better get making some more tomorrow…have to get jars. I have to get to making more dilly beans…we have been eating the beans as fast as I can pick them, but I have a sister and father who LOVE dilly beans…so I had better work on getting some of those packed up! And my last foolish but totally exciting news from the garden today is, yeah I have a watermelon growing that I can actually see under the jungle of vines!
OH and one more thing…check out my most awesomest birthday present from my mom…yeah, she gets the gardening thing…My parents had a rockin’ garden when I was growing up.

Summer Science Project Almost Complete

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Monarch Butterfly in our Butterfly habitat or as I like to refer to it, our buttitat.





Last night it got very dark, during my insomnia I took more pictures of it, and just a few minutes ago it hatched! and is currently drying his/her wings in its buttitat, until we can release it out into the world of real flowers and no sugar water.

Bee Party at My House

I like to call this Photograph "Harry Who Had Too Much Nectar Last Night."

Brads Garage Update #6 and #7

The partitions are in:


The electrician came for the first time and is coming back today, And the plumbing is almost done:


And then the roof got shingled (mostly)


But the garage addition and I have had some issues as of late. I am having a hard time getting my arse in gear in the morning. I diligently try to not look like the creature from the black lagoon afraid to scare someone off their scaffolding in the morning when I get up. But it is getting increasingly hard with the type of schedule that I have been leading.

My parents are now here and I am hoping that I will be able to decompress a tad...You know, unless Henry decides to jump off the roof or something! I think I may be raising Super Fudge.

Angst: Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, Pronoun

OK so do you remember those years when being sullen was a sport? No? Hmmm perhaps I was at the Olympics by myself for that one. I remember it pretty well.

My eldest seems to be hitting that age a little earlier than I did, but from what I hear, I have poisoned her with highly hormonal meat and milk so much as a child, that now she is going to have gigantic boobs, and hit puberty early. (This rather scary picture of gigantic boobs and zits with lunch boxes going through my head right now, is very unsettling.) But there is nothing I can do about it now. Of course as we got educated, we changed how we bought milk and meat. We are more aware of it, and Jamie is glad, he was worried about Henry having double D’s in middle school.

None the less, last night, tonight??? (it is all running together as it is 2 AM and insomnia hits again!) I was taking camera footage of the kids…I know I know, SHOCKER.

Caroline had made up her own brand of dancing called “Sallet” (Pronounced like ballet with an s) which she claims, is “just like ballet but much more exciting because it is full of leaps and turns and stuff” I filmed it like a diligent mother. Ooohing and aahhhhing, as she leapt around the room, frequently knocking over lamps and tables, and running into the TV cabinet from time to time in her rendition of “sallet”. Then, there was the boy, who, was dancing to his birthday card music in his underwear. Yeah, another real shocker.

I turn the camera on Marshall and say, what shall we film you doing? This is what I got for her.



OH YEAH…I have some fun years ahead of me!

I AM DORK...

...hear me roar.

So I got some of my veggies at Agway this year. I have noticed that many times their flats get all mixed up etc...but generally pride myself on my veggie culture and feel that I generally can identify my stuff pretty well, you know not like novices...eh hem...

Last night I made my squash pickles, and in a rare burst of energy I decided that I would start on my dilly beans. (I also was thinking that these are things my dad likes, and his birthday is this week!)

Got the beans done, the water boiling for the bath, the vinegar in the pot etc... started to stuff my hot jars and get the "dill" from my garden rinsed. As I was rinsing I got a very interesting smell coming up to me...like black licorice....yup, you guessed it...I don't have fresh dill for my pickles and beans...I HAVE FENNEL....

Needless to say I frantically called around to try and get my dill from other gardeners or CSA people....I will have dilly beans for you dad, no worries... and next time I will smell my dill a little more before I buy it!

My sister emphatically suggested I NOT use the fennel to make fennel beans...she allowed as to how she would not eat them...(not that I was going to, we were just laughing) SO now I have to find something to do with my fennel and anise! Any thoughts!?

An Apple A Day???

It has been basically torrential down pours here for a week. I believe that there were tornados that touched down in NH. Of course they aren’t calling them that yet…because clearly the pictures of trees pulled out of the ground and a light pole snapped off like a twig aren’t enough…perhaps they need to have the side of a house pulled off while the guy is reading the paper on the john in order to classify it…don’t know.

So yesterday my daughter…(the dreaded chemistry set, dreaded backpack one) got her raincoat out. I would say she hasn’t worn it since…oh, maybe April. (This is important you will see)

She puts it on, and I hear a shriek. “WHAT IS THAT???”

She has pulled her hand out of her pocket with a look of disgust on her face. I peer into her pocket slowly in fear. Folks…I couldn’t tell what it was. At first it looked like a giant rat curled up in her coat pocket. I was going through all the instances in our life that would allow a rat into our house…(yeah ok, you all have seen how dirty it is, never mind.)

Refusing to touch it myself, I said “well what did it feel like?” hoping not to hear “Furry” as a response.

“Slimy” was the response I got. Then I started to get a little hot under the collar…this is my kid, who just 2 weeks ago realized that she hadn’t unloaded her lunch box from the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! She is the one that when we clean out under her bed we are fairly sure that we are going to find immigrants waiting for citizenship. She is the one that seems to have a habit of “forgetting” to clean up after herself, and now, she was the one with a rotten apple, (yes apple) from April, in her coat pocket.

With the gag reflex being what it is my family, you can only imagine what the clean up was like…it was a whole lot of yelling, gagging, and then eventually giggling because really? And I think my mom will agree…it is SOOOOOOOO something I would have done.

Markus Zusak

Ok have I told you how much I like this author and this book???? YUP, and this just makes me like him more.

Moose Love

"Super Nurse Pam's" daughter sent this to me, and gosh darn it, it was cute. I thought I would share...I don't know where these people lived, but I would just absolutely fall out if this was in my back yard...I would be on a high for a year. Just thought I would share.

My Life Is Becoming a Bad Country Song

As I sit down to write this morning, I am painfully aware that my life is becoming a bad country song. My house is broke, my grandmother broke, my car broke (for the second time since we broke our house), I broke, and now my boy broke, and it is slowly making my husband and I go broke.

I know, I know, oh woest me. It can only get better, but I am starting to get a little scared to keep saying that, because I am fairly sure that the Murphy’s Law Gang is somewhere going…YEEEEHAAAWWW she said it again!

My eldest had a “thing” at the library. So we went there…I should have known better…the dreaded library…bad things seem to happen to my family in that building, and this is the second emergency room visit that has occurred under the curse of that building! (Yeah, I do realize that I spend a lot of time there, and I work there, which quite possibly is tempting fate a tad)

So I am having a lovely conversation about the meeting that I had to go to later that night when I hear a shriek from the back corner… I may sound a little insensitive here, but in my defense the boy tends to shriek over hangnails, scrapes and let us not forget the limping incident, so I sort of casually turned around…and droned my automated response “you’re OK Henry”

Yeah, this is when I feel like a complete ASS, because Pam, the woman I was currently talking to, became a transformer, turned into “Super Nurse” and ran over to him. (yeah, she does kinda rock…)

She looks at me and says “He is probably going to need stitches Hon.”

The kind of jolts me from insensitive mom thinking he scraped his knee, to cupping my hand over his forehead to keep the buckets of blood from getting into his eyes. (You know head wounds) I will give myself some credit here, I did remain calm. Even when I had to physically hold my kid down while they gave him stitches, only to have him screaming at the top of his lungs “PLEEEAASE GET OFF MOMMY” “PLEEEEAAAASE MAKE THEM STOP MOMMY” I remained calm.

Needless to say, not only was my heart ripped out of my chest by his pleading, but when we walked back out into the waiting room there were a few traumatized waiting patients and parents, with eyes wide staring at my kid. Who at this point was bouncing around and asking for a sticker. I am not sure if anyone canceled their appointment, but I can’t say that I would have blamed them…it sounded like that scene from Law and Order about re-birthing.



But as you can see, little man is fine, stitched up (which he calls his “itches”) and already climbing he walls. Let’s hope that there is an ending to this country song soon, I am not sure my heart or my wallet can take it!

Crikey!!!

** Warning Stephanie may not want to actually read the article...just know it was bad, and what came out of your mouth when you saw the 8" snake in your yard would have probably seemed rather tame***

My sister, father and husband may never do laundry again....not that the latter two ever did a whole lot to begin with.

This was on the news the other night, it happened not to far from where Hubby works...he may not recover after hearing this. It was also mentioned on the fuse, who actually linked to the paper article! Thanks Fuse.

I have to say that I am not sure what my reaction would have been. I am not particularly scared of snakes...but, still. Maybe I would have just yelled at the kids and Jamie, "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO CLEAN YOUR POCKETS OUT BEFORE PUTTING YOUR CLOTHES IN THE LAUNDRY."

Ball point pen massacres are nothing to an eight foot pet snake.

Will do more blogging later, just thought I would include.

A Link

From Mother Reader in VA...Click on her link. I know it is going to offend some, but ... in her words, this is for MY amusement too...the Onion...too funny!

My Little Song Writer

My middle child, the one who just turned 7 and got the Chemistry set and now is holding me hostage with Hydrochloric Acid? Yeah her, she decided to write a song last night. She wrote it on white paper with a bright green marker, and came down to serenade me with it. I was sort of blown away, probably the way that all parents are at their offspring from time to time, you know when they do something that sort of surprises you, like…behave, or act in a really responsible way, or say something profound that you need to be learning your-mid-life-crisis-self.

So I thought this Monday morning I would serenade you all with this song. Partially because I am a sappy parent, but partially because she is so dead on…and it reminded me of Philosophical Sunday…maybe that should be the title. I am going to type it exactly as it is written, now mind you, she is still learning how to spell…Don’t Judge…she is MY kid, and I will be lucky if she can spell her name right consistently with the genes that I gave her.

Be Your Self- By Caroline

Beeeee who you wantna be. Be your self. Ohhhhh Yayaya. Be your self. Don’t be afrad to show the rele yououou. If you mess up in life go back and fix it, don’t just sit around yayaya. Your first life is your only life, so do the best you caaan. Be the best you can, that’s write ohhhhh yaaaaaaa.


Hmmmmm them some words to think about as we start our weeks eh???

Brad's Garage Update #5

We have broken through the upstairs...I guess there is no turning back now! lol. Henry's room is now going to be a bathroom...he is a little distressed....my little man of NO CHANGE ALLOWED. He is hold up in the camper, and we may have to go through hostage negotiations to get him and Green Lovey Bear out.

Here are the pictures, and to boot, you get a lovely shot of hubby's armpit...I know, I know, it may be our Christmas card...

Our Summer Science Project

Yes I know that virtually every kindergarten class around the country does this in the fall. But we found a Monarch Caterpillar and put it in our Butterfly habitat, fed it milk weed and it has made its cocoon. I thought I would share those updates as well. We followed a cocoon last year in the garden, but we thought it was neat to be able to watch it everyday. (And keep it off my obedient which it seemed to really like to chow on)

Interesting fact: Did you know that milkweed flowers smell just like lilacs? At least very similar...I was kind of shocked but have been walking around with one shoved half way up my nose ever since...(you may have guessed I love lilacs)


I know I know I just have an overabundance of information today.

HUH...

I thought this was pretty interesting...

"Since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1892, it's never rained on this day in Salem, OR. While you're waiting for a drop of rain, you might as well have a beer."

I have "Days that End in Y" on my igoogle. It basically is random information that gives you reasons to drink every day... because clearly I don't have enough with my family. But you know me, the more random the information, the more fascinating I find it. Someday I am going to retain a plethora of odd facts, but be an idiot about the world!

This was a few days ago, (7/13 to be exact,) so if I was the kid with that birthday I would insist on a pool party every year. Or just think if you were an outside wedding/party person like me...oh the possibilities.... Block party every year on the 13th...see this is where I lose ya.

Out of the Norm

While I am usually so full of snark and stories, you know the kind that make you wonder what divine being ever thought it was a good idea to allow me to have children, and even better...more than one! This week I just seem to be plum tired. Not that there aren’t plenty of funny moments, I just didn’t seem to have the energy to tell them…until today.

My friend and I had set our kids up to do a project at the library. Now mind you this meant that we had to corral our boys that are virtually the same age in a quiet place, for over an hour. This is a feat let me tell you. The boys were running around, fighting over blocks and cars, and finally settled on putting the earphones for the books on tape, and singing really loud. (Which when you are two and three consists of “laaaa laaa Peanutbutterrrrr laaa deee daaaa laaa when I drive meeeee mommmeeeeeeee llaaaaa in a traiiiinnnnn” I mean we aren’t talking “Bad Moon Rising”)

We started to recover from this embarrassment with lots of shushing and “in public correct parenting,” when, another little boy brought out this box of rubber snakes, flies, and frogs etc… that the library had left over from a Harry Potter Exhibit. Henry, clearly thinking that this is the coolest box of stuff EVER, runs over and immediately picks up the longest grossest looking snake in the pile.

Side bar: Now, I am not scared of snakes, I am thankful that my father or my husband were not there because they very well could have run from the library screaming like pre-pubescent girls if they were in charge…but I was OK…UNTIL, Henry started saying, in his NOT library voice,

“Mommy, come touch my snake.”

My friend and I looked at each other, and in a true Farley brother’s moment, started giggling. (Yes we ARE THAT MATURE.) OK so that is kind of funny, no big deal… the problem is, he wouldn’t stop saying it. He kept following me around the library asking me to touch his snake. The other mothers were laughing, although one of the librarians looked horrified and I thought she might have to take medical leave or something.

He finally stopped when he noticed my friend, whom he calls “Pretty Lady,” reading a story about trucks to her son. He sat down next to them and listened to the story. Then, in true Henry style, stuck his head in-between my friend and the book, looked up at her with his big brown eyes, and a look of true earnest flirtation, and said “Hey, Pretty Lady, want to touch my snake?”

I have found my laugh button again…thanks to Henry.

Brad's Garage Update #4

Well, we have the roof started and the ceiling joists up on the upstairs. He left for now, but may come back later, he tends to come back when the sun isn't so intense. I don't blame him! I am in the process of putting off weeding in the garden! Speaking of which I picked 10 Zucchini and Squash since YESTERDAY! I forget about how prolific they are, the rabbits of the vegetable world!



Here are the most recent pics for you Bradberry!

Here is the front with the plywood on ready to put the shingles up!

This is the view from Henry's window. You can see he has all the ceiling joists up! It really is coming together. Kathleen, this is where you all will be sleeping...I promise we will at least have a functioning roof by then! LOL

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures...

There are few times in my life that I can remember stooping to a new low out of complete desperation....OK well maybe not, but at least in my adult life with kids...Ok, yeah, not then either, (as I think of all the bribes, partial truths and desperate TV measures for survival.) So I guess what I should just say is, my desperation is sending me to a dark place...a place that is so bad to me, that nails on a chalk board sound like the Mozart Requiem in my ears...

Elmo’s World

Now I am fully aware that there are huge Elmo fans in this world...I have nothing to say to them except...I don't know what gene mutation they may have in their family gene pool, but I didn't receive that one.

Henry has been "potty trained" since last fall. I put "potty trained" in quotes because I use that term lightly. He can pee in the potty, always, and rarely has an accident. However, the boy continues to poop in his underwear every day. There were all sorts of medical reasons at first, dietary excuses to chalk all the accidents up to, and to keep me from throwing him and his nasty underwear out the window.

But now, after countless hours of gagging, rinsing, bleaching, begging, bribing, pleading, yelling, reasoning...I have resorted to...yup, Elmo. I netflixed "Elmo Potty Time."

If this doesn’t work, I am going to paten a pair of underwear that is like a self cleaning oven so that I don't have to do it anymore, maybe they can self-incinerate...that is if I have any of my mind left after hearing Elmo and his Father discussing toilets, and listening to Stevie Wonder or who ever it is, sing cheesy songs about "trying, trying, trying" … Or if I can stop talking about myself in Elmo language…

Well, Pie is going to go and clean up to go for a Hike, because Pie needs to get out today. Pie is feeling a little housebound…

Uh-Oh

Garden Bliss

Well the march of the Zucchini and Squash has started, and with in days my counter has already started to convert to a squash dormitory. Here is where the handy squash recipes start getting pulled out and creative uses including zucchini hidden in cookies, mac and cheese, lasagna and oh I don't know shampoo, start occurring!

On the exciting side, we got our first really substantial green bean production of the year yesterday! Looking forward to those for dinner tonight...and yes, I will make dilly beans again Stephanie!

After this addition, we may be giving them as Christmas presents

Brad's Garage Update #3

Rob came back tonight with his dad and got up the two Biggie walls. The rest he said he would do tomorrow...He mentioned that all the really hard stuff has been done and that the rest would go up really quick. I allowed as to how I thought that this has gone up pretty quick considering he is working by himself!


Henry continues to instruct him, and question him continuously through the windows when we are home...so I am trying to be out a lot so that Rob doesn't decide to take a nail gun to himself to end the pain...


The girls are already bargaining for rooms, Henry doesn't care, and seems quite content to be sleeping with the girls...I on the other hand, am ready to kill them all! Living the 5 of us in essentially two rooms is not easy! But only for a couple weeks, we will survive.

Curious Adventures of the Southern Animal Kingdom

I watched these videos after getting a message about Finnegan the Squirrel who was adopted by another dog than the one seen here...but got laughing because all three families were from the south. Hmmmm...the animals are taking Southern Hospitality to a new level!

Not that there is anything wrong with that!
Anyway, they are interesting stories, kind of sappy, and kinda what I needed in the midst of my stress ball summer!

Brads Garage Update #2

This weekend the slab was poured and treated. Today Rob has started on studding the top level. We are getting excited to see what that is going to look at. We ordered our tub, so that should be in for the girls bathroom soon, and we have started taking all of Henry's room apart to start its morph into a bathroom...he is N-O-T not thrilled about the prospects of having his room be taken apart. But is, however, enjoying bunking in with the girls.

OK well off to try and find the floors of my house. But I will be writing my "Caroline letter" today as it is her birthday...yes it is Bastille Day as well, but since I am not French, I will have to primarily celebrate Caroline's birthday...maybe with a croissant!

Garden Up Dates

Here we are now in the beginning of July. The garden is taking off...so much so that I can barely walk between the back beds as the pumpkins that I planted have leaves the size of my first born child. I was not expecting this as last year they never really did much and we never really even got pumpkins for them. Not to mention the potatoes that seem to be taking over the whole garden. Also last year my bush beans didn't really, well, bush. This year? well it is like a jungle back there!

A jungle perfect for Japanese Beetle mating. It is like "swing town" back there in the garden. I had to disrupt them yesterday and I am putting up those little catchers this weekend to get rid of them. I try very hard not to hate things...but I HATE them...

You can't tell from the picture how junglesque the back is because it is taken from the front and far away, but you are just going to have to trust that I take a walkie talkie back there so that in case I get lost, or confronted by an Ape I have a back up plan.

The only real problem that has occurred is one that is a BIG problem. I jinxed myself, when I said: "I think at some point the Garden Gods are going to send blight down to my raised beds just to shut me up...so I had better start being more positive and saying my thanks when I put those new plants and seeds in the ground." And now I believe I have early blight on my tomatoes. I have to address that soon or else I will lose my Roma's, and then my spaghetti sauce, salsa, bruchetta, frozen tomatoes for chili etc.... OH THE HORROR OF IT ALL!

on the upside if I could make spaghetti sauce out of cantaloupe I would be in good shape!

So Far: we have gotten our lettuce, peas, broccoli, zucchini, squash, radishes, onions, our first cucumbers and green beans, and are anxiously awaiting our tomatoes!

A Funny Story

A while ago when I was looking on Amazon for good books for the kids, I ran across this one. I thought it was pretty funny because we have a cat that we call "Fatty." I know it is mean, and he has been known to get a little sensitive about it, but if you saw him belly up to the cat dish, oh...800 times a day, you would get it. I figured one of these days I would get around to posting it.

Then…

The other night, he solidified his reign as the "fatty King" forever. We were all sitting around, late at night, enjoying the blissful silence of the 6 children in sleep coma. (This truly was a blissful time in all of our days, we almost didn't want to go to sleep...because we were fairly sure, that if we did, morning would come and ... yup, then they woke up.)

All of the sudden the basement door started rattling and banging back and forth. I calmly stated “Oh that is just fatty stuck in the cat door.” This is a fairly common occurrence. He gets a little hung up and just rocks back and forth and then comes through…

But then…

Crash, bang, tumble, stumble.

My husband, who was the only one who seemed to be able to get to the door fast enough, opened the door and started laughing as Sugar Ray, “Fatty,” came running frantically into the room. This is when we noticed that he had gotten so stuck that he pulled part of the cat door off, and it was stuck around his middle.

I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t even get up to get my camera before he ran up the stairs…banging as he went, when the plastic door, securely around his middle hit each stair, scaring him further into running faster…making more banging noises, making him run faster…you get the picture.

It did finally slip off…I am not sure whether all his fur flying off in fear made it slip off or what…

Now before you get all “you are horrible, why didn’t you help him” on me. Let me tell you, I was laughing too hard to move. Honestly…laughing and moving are just not in the cards after three kids, unless I intend on extensive clean up afterward!

Sugar Ray is OK, a bit of a bruised ego I would imagine, but no worse for wear…but damn if he hasn’t avoided that cat door….

Before you tell me he isn't that fat, these are after he has "lost" his winter weight, and he weighs about 17 pounds...He Ain't Little.....But he is kinda cute...so we will keep him, if nothing else for entertainment purposes! LOL (Don't get all PETA on me now!)

Seriously?

Seriously?

I really, really, want this garage to get done. Those of you who have heard me complain, cajole, rant, and rave know, I want to get this thing done. So don't get me wrong. I am really happy that we are making such progress on it. So happy in fact, that at 6:00 this morning when the builder came and started his saw, which created a strange sort of cross between flash backs to teaching middle school shop, and the Texas chainsaw massacre in my dreams, I didn’t even attempt to march outside and impale him with a 2X4. See? I am growing. Growing I tell ya!

Brad, I promise, promise, promise, I will post another picture later on today…but just to give you an idea, the plywood is up! Hoping that we will see a second floor starting…too soon to tell, but since Rob ("Rob The Builder"…yes I did sing that to him, and I suspect he was ready to impale ME with a 2X4) got here before even the most daring rooster down the road started, I suspect we may see some progress in that direction!

Elvis Has Not Left the Building

I haven't given up on my daily groaning about the drudgery of life, I have simply taken a small vacation. You know the kind of vacation where: Your grandmother falls and breaks her collar bone and sends the family into "on alert" mode...Your sister-in-laws family of 5 (almost 6 hee hee hee) comes to visit for the week...the addition to the house begins, and the car breaks down (of course,) and you get the first heat wave of the year (without air conditioning of course) all at the same time. It was like the perfect storm, a convergence of stress that creates the biggest shit storm of the century!



BUT being the Pollyanna that I am...(sense the sarcasm?) I have to say, I loved spending time with the Gonzalez family, whom I adore, and my uncle was here to take on the first part of Nurse Nightingale, and hopefully the fuel pump that went bad in our car will not cost us our first born child...however, the way she acted this week, we might consider that a good deal!



Per request of my very excited father in law, here is the most recent, (this morning) picture of the progress of our garage addition.



I will commence my snark fest tonight or tomorrow morning...because with 10 people in 1700 sq feet...there is bound to be some funny stories right????

Nothing Like a Jolt of BEEPS to Wake You

This morning, the kids were tired. I had to work last night so they stayed up late...but I can't blame a saturated fat coma on Jamie this time, I made lasagna for them before I left for work...I know, I know, that was very motherly of me, and yes, I am going to hang onto those "Good Mother Points" as long as possible; because it may have to cancel out the "two glass of wine mouthiness after I got home points."

So the little angels were sleeping in their beds, I was reading my morning blogs, and having my Life Juice (coffee) in blissful quiet...when BEEP BEEP BEEP entered the picture. All the sweet little birds that were chirping and wildlife that was residing in our woods ran like hell and screamed...(they still have Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome from the Target shopping center that was put into our woods 1/2 mile behind us.)

Within minutes the excavator was breaking ground for our new garage. (We had to; Jamie's old, non running truck was running out of storage space...) My kids with hair, well you have seen what their hair looks like, came to the top of the stairs, reeling and holding them selves up with the wall in their sleepy comatose state...

"MOM, WHAT IS THAT?" a nervous voice said to me...later it was revealed that they seem to have thought the turnpike was re-routed through our yard... (I never said that anyone in my house was logical...well maybe Jamie, but the engineer in him made him that way.)

The boy rolled his eyes (yes rolled his eyes) and said "I want to sleep in your bed." Which I gladly agreed to, because, he is NOT a lovely tired person...he is second to Satan when he is tired.

So he is happily sleeping away while the excavator starts to dig up our yard...he is actually going to be mad when he wakes up...but its not a John Deere so I don't feel too bad letting him sleep through it.

For the Readers Among You

OK so Jill sent me the link to this and since I am weak when it comes to a new website that I can sign up for...I checked it out.

So far it looks pretty cool, readers will probably really like it...Jamie on the other hand would look at his empty shelf and say..."Read??? You mean I would have to read to join this? That sucks!"

This website allows you to rate books that you have already read, put some on a shelf of "roung to it somedays" and read other peoples reviews...similar to netflix.

However, I haven't discovered if they will do a recomendation based on your ratings...that would be great, because there is nothing worse than getting to the end of a series and having to figure out what to read next....right Justine??? My fellow Agatha-o-phile!