I keep telling myself that I will write a post when I find the battery charger for the camera so that I can get the photos off. Of course it’s been weeks and I still can’t find the battery charger, or my pearls or the list of curriculum break down for school but those are other stories. Anyhow, since I can’t reach my goal in a reasonable amount of time I’ll just give you a few of the highlights.
Bo’s surgery is on the 10th for his ankle replacement. He’s been really busy with work. We are both looking forward to a less busy next week. He is a master furniture rearranger and has been spending a lot of time doing it since we are getting new furniture for the kids rooms.
Chullain is 12 and in YM as of last week and loving it. There is a lot to do once you turn 12 I am find out. 11 can’t hold a candle to twelve in the mind of a pre-adolescent boy. He saved his money and got a used ipod touch from a friend of ours that upgraded yesterday and he’s THRILLED!
Victoria is sick. She has only been this way for a day but she’s miserable. Before that she was bouncy and observant and learned to decorate cakes at achievement days. She is fun but very messy. We are hoping to get her a new bed today with built in drawers and desk and which is a loft to help with the messiness tendency.
Aidan is so two it’s not funny. He yells his questions and observations. He climbs on everything and keeps me running all over the place after him. He is obsessed with cutting play dough and “diggers.” He wants to learn his colors but most everything is still blue to him. He will still snuggle me though last night he told me to “get out of the bed because he was going to lay in this spot so that he can touch his Daddies arm.” Earlier this week he came to us with a cold bellybutton so it’s hard to know what kind of problems a two year old is going to encounter.
I am trying to keep everyone else together. I’ve gotta run in 20 minutes and I’ve still got to eat and get dressed. This is a pretty normal state of being. I remember being 22 or even 25 and being early to things and having it all together including a well stocked diaper bag and car. These times are no more. That’s ok, life is good. It snowed this morning and I got to walk the dog in it ! Let’s all hope and pray I find the camera charger soon so you get less of this and more of the cuteness that is my children.
I am not a lover of boogers. Whenever I see them on a child belonging to me I always try and remove them. I’ve even been known to wipe the noses of my friends children. Aidan on the other hand seems to be a lover of boogers. At times he has been known to come and ask to have his nose wiped but just this week when I was trying to clean his nose he told me this…
“Hey, that’s my booger. Don’t take my booger.”
Hunh, go figure.
This foul face is what we get from Aidan about a third of the time now. He’s two and he’s frequently unhappy about our attempts to thwart his play, feed, bathe or redirect him. This two shall pass but I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.
Aidan decided to amuse himself during the older kids music lessons by throwing all the things I was donating out of the box and then climbing in himself and playing “peek-a-boo.”
Chullain is often less than compliant when it comes to having his picture taken.
The clouds were amazing this morning even though it was overcast. They were dipping wispy tendrils down toward the earth.
I’m trying to give myself a refresher course because we’re back on the South Beach diet again next week. The fat must go…
Afternoon diversions: Exercising via wii fit, school lessons and eating from a huge container of raisins.
Wow, he’s getting old. I think that 12 means that you are a teenager already even though technically it’s not. He is starting to act like a teenager but we’ll keep him anyhow ;0)
He chose “King for the day” instead of a party with friends so we of course had lots of great food and he played video games with his Dad for about 7 hours.
We had to use a number eight candle because I forgot to buy individual candles and that is what we had. He didn’t seem to mind and made a wish anyhow. We ate way too much good food and there was much entertainment and little productivity to be had. He had a great day!
Once you get past the screaming, kicking and pleading of the two year old this is what it takes to get him to bed.
Two year old to bed requires 2 penguins and an alligator.
Thirty one year old to bed requires one two year old being asleep.
I am all for two penguins and one alligator being in the bed of said two year old on a nightly basis.
So, we are busily working to get some things changed up around the house. Today Chullain and Aidan both got new beds. I am painting the living room and we are working on the last of the shelving in the garage and trying to get things sold and out of there so we can get it totally organized. Pictures to follow once I find the charger for the camera battery :0)
I recently stumbled across a food storage analyzer from emergency essentials. Since I have taken to ordering with a group of women from this company monthly I thought that I’d give it a try. I entered my family size with ages as well as the totals for my current totals of my long term storage items and was able to get a necessary daily calorie count and total of days that my current storage would meet those needs for. Since I have an account I can go back in and add items as I acquire more. I think that this analyzer is a great way to track current food storage. The only thing that I found lacking was a section recommending additions to the current storage based on the given family parameters. Given a section like this that including ordering buttons I think that I’d be more likely to purchase items from them when I had a little extra money. Granted I order from them monthly anyhow but it seems like it could be more systematically done given this feature. Anyhow, I did find the tool useful and discovered items that they sold which I hadn’t realized before like powdered sugar and sausage TVP. I’d say if you have a few minutes to give it a try.
So what’s been going on?? My Mom chastised me the other day for not posting anything on the blog so I guess that I will.
I have been reading (I know, I know totally enjoyable but sure does put a hit on the productivity), painting (Bo built bookshelves which needed painting and somehow now we are painting the entire downstairs of the house), cleaning and schooling. I think that the home schooling is what leads to the need for the constant cleaning but that’s another discussion. I’m happy planning all the trips for the new year (it’s amazing how the time fills up) and still trying to figure out how to stay somewhere rather than pack up and leave again. I think that all the reading and painting helps with that last part, lol.
Bo is back at work after 10 days off. I LOVED having him home for 10 days straight. I wish we were ready for retirement now! His ankle is a little better but still weak. Since he’s discovered his inner carpenter the kids have started hitting him up for projects to be done in their rooms. We’re working our way though the complete set of Farscape that he got for Christmas and he’s lovin’ that.
Chullain is for the most part calm. If you’ve known us for years you know how momentous that is and will do a little dance with me right now. He loves hanging out with his friends which he did quite a bit during school break. He was able to pass off his 2nd and 1st class swim requirements for scouts during the holidays which he’s happy about. He’s loving playing the piano and is progressing faster than I’d have imagined possible. I love that I don’t have to remind him to practice because he’s self motivated in this area.
Victoria is turning into the female version of Chullain at age 8. I think the next few years are going to be interesting ones in this house. She is coloring away at the moment and does a craft pretty much every day. With some Christmas money she bought a machine to make pretty candies which you can turn into jewelry, strange sounding I know but she’s really enjoying it. She is attending activity days at church now and really enjoying that. She’s still our little fashionista… yesterday she accessorized her outfit with a bright pink scarf I’d knitted. I don’t know where she got that talent from but I imagine in a few years that she’ll be trying to dress me up before we go out. :0)
Aidan is an opinionated little guy. The other night he dumped his tinker toys out, flipped over the can to expose the metal bottom and then made some drum sticks from the tinkers and started banging away. He’d stop and yell, “let’s make it LOUDER!” and start drumming with all his might. If he wasn’t so cute I might have had to make him stop but as is normal he got to do it for quite awhile just because he’s so darn cute. He’s getting molars and so doesn’t like to have his top teeth brushed. He’s learning what time out is and doesn’t like it very much though he’s generally quite obedient when told to stay there. He is one of the primary reasons that I can mark my life rushing so swiftly by. It seems that he grows visibly week to week.
So here we are. The dog is clean. The lizards have crickets in their cage. The old cat is still partially covered in lotion (thanks Aidan! but I’m not washing her) and the young cat is still annoying. The dessert is brown and the deck still isn’t done. Life is good. Happy New Year!
