Growing up.

Aidan told me this evening that he thinks he's getting older. The way he can tell this is that even though he still plays with his sisters doing "girly stuff", he doesn't really enjoy it. He thinks this is because he is getting to be bigger and bigger boys just aren't interested in "girly things" anymore. I smiled at my big six-year old while telling him that it is perfectly fine to like different things, er, "boy things", and that's all part of growing up.
I did have to laugh about this conversation while I was doing dishes though. I was washing the remnants of dishes from the kids "tea party" that they had this morning for breakfast. Much of it was orchestrated by my growing up six year old and he was most definitely enjoying it.

Fess Up!

I would like to know who it was that gave my name to the American Girl company. Because whoever it was...I'm gonna have words with you.
I have to admit that I sat down during rest time and looked through the whole magazine that made it's way into my mailbox while making a mental note of all the things that my girls would drool over...one girl in particular.
Fast forward to dinner time.
One girl in particular: Mommy, mommy, mommy, look what this is...it's a FELICITY DOLL...look mom...it's FELICITY!!!!!!
Me to myself: I thought I put that catalog away.
Me to one girl in particular: Oh, wow...look at that.

We're in trouble.

FYI

It's snowing!

Rain, rain, go away!

Really the title says it all. It's raining, it's supposed to continue to rain. I'm not trying to be ungrateful for the moisture, but we don't need it. The ground is saturated from "The Great Melt" and it's already dumped on us earlier this week. We technically have done all we can do to prevent another sewage invasion, but I don't think I'm going to sleep well knowing that the only thing that keeps the nasty stuff out of my basement is a little piece of plastic. We have taken as many things off the floor as we can and are just praying that we won't have a repeat of October.

And the Award Goes to......

ME!!!! What award you might ask? The "Coolest Mom in the Universe" award of course. And why do I get the honor of such an esteemed award? Well, because I bought my children a gallon of CHOCOLATE MILK at the store. Yes, that's right...an already mixed and packaged gallon of CHOCOLATE MILK!!!! Therefore I am the "Coolest Mom in the Universe"!!!
I am not going to tell my precious three that the only reason why I bought CHOCOLATE MILK was because it was only $3.00/gal which meant it was almost $1 cheaper than regular milk...nope, I am going to bask in the glory of being the "Coolest Mom in the Universe"!

Spring has Sprung!

I love homeschooling! :-) Here's one reason why:

We had dentist appointments this morning and after lunch the kids were begging to go outside. The problem: we hadn't done school yet. The solution: bring it all outside. So we soaked up some long anticipated warmth and finished school! We actually had to come inside because, get this, the kids were getting "too hot!". ????????? I didn't think I'd ever hear that one.

For the Record

Ignore all the nasty, mean things you read in the media about the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI's arrival to the United States. American Catholics *are* excited, American Catholics *do* have a great affection for this great and humble man, and American Catholics are sick of hearing otherwise.

Welcome, Papa, we do love you and you are *most* welcome! Thank you for coming!

For more accurately informed information go to:

www.ewtn.com
www.pope2008.com
www.usccb.org

Spring?

These are the exact words from accuweather.com for Thursday night on. What do you think? I don't think Spring starts in March, that's what *I* think. :-)

Snow, heavy at times, accumulating 6-10 inches; cold with winds gusting past 40 mph
Windy and colder with snow much of the time, accumulating an additional 4-8 inches
Windy and cold with snow, accumulating an additional 2-4 inches
Mainly cloudy, breezy and chilly with a couple of snow showers

Yes, we knew what we were getting into when we moved up here, but even for us seasoned northerners 15 some inches of snow over a 3-4 day period is A LOT!

I will update with pictures if this storm actually comes. The likelihood of that is not known at this time. I'm not sure what meteorologists make up here, but I sure hope the pay-scale is not based on accuracy. When they say 2 feet we may get an inch, when they say "no accumulation" we get a foot.

Our Bathroom

Have I mentioned that we are putting a bathroom in our basement. I have to admit that after our experience in the fall (sewer-how can you forget) I have been a little reluctant to do anything to our basement. We have, however, taken the proper steps that will supposedly prevent that from happening again so we feel about 90% sure that we are doing the right thing by making our basement another space where we want to spend time instead of a catch-all for all the things we don't want to deal with yet.

So, thanks to dear Uncle Sam, we now have a bathroom...well, minus the shower...Uncle Sam wasn't *that* generous. Hopefully by this summer we will have a shower and thus our house will become a 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom! We're almost up to what we had in Texas. Now if we could only make another bedroom and some closets appear we'll be there.

Joking aside, I really have come to love this house. It is small and simple. Just the way we want to live our lives. It is a challenge at times when little "character traits" of the house rear their ugly heads, but I feel so blessed to be where we are. I felt especially blessed when the wind was howling and a "final" winter storm came through and all I could feel was a small breeze (but that was only if I stood right next to our windows)...lol!

We used to have some shelves near where the bathroom is now that Brett decided needed to go. He put bigger and more practical ones in their place. When he took the old shelves down, this is what he found on the top:

Springtime

Challenge!

We are at the tale-end of what Brett and I lovely refer to as "The Great Melt". Temperatures are high enough that the snow is constantly melting making our yard a muddy, swampy mess. The mess does not scare my fearless children, however. They spent hours outside riding their bikes through the river that once was our sidewalk, and sludging through the swamp that once was our grass. Which means I get to spend extra time in the laundry room.

Opportunity

In a week I will have the opportunity to do something that I haven't done for seven years. Audition for a show! Yikes! Why is it then that since this has come up I am a basketcase and cannot focus on a single thing....should I audition, shouldn't I, why should I?, why shouldn't I? It's been driving me crazy.
The Duluth Playhouse is putting on "My Fair Lady" this summer. Brett will be playing in it for sure, but it has yet to be seen if I can muster up the energy to go and audition. The show is in the summer, Brett would be here to watch the kids, I'm not pregnant or nursing (dang!), and my mom has volunteered to not only come up and stay during part of the run of the show but also pay for a sitter for the times that Brett and I would both be away for rehearsals/shows. So, what's holding me back?
Performing used to be the one thing that I missed once becoming a mother to small children. I would occasionally get to a show and would come home feeling so down about never getting to do them anymore. I used to get so angry at Brett for getting to play in shows yet I couldn't be in them. Some of our favorite memories are doing shows together, he in the pit, me usually dancing. I don't know when it changed, but I just don't feel that way anymore. I know it would be fun, and I can't say I'm worried about not getting in (it's a community show and the executive director used to direct me in shows back in South Dakota).
Ya'll will have to stay tuned to see what happens. At this point I truly do not know what I am going to do. Maybe getting an audition together would be a good start though, huh?

Productive morning

Our morning has been very productive. The beds have been stripped and new sheets are already on. The kids rooms are clean, the kitchen is clean, and we are almost ready to start school...almost.
I was feeling great about our accomplishments this morning. I ran downstairs to take the dry clothes out of the dryer so when my towels were finished in the washing machine I could stick them in and start my load of sheets. Much to my dismay and surprise I found my dryer a black, streaky, mess, and most of the clothes have black streaks all over them too. Flashback to when I put said clothes in dryer...I remembered seeing a part of a black crayon on the floor next to the dryer and I searched and found another piece of black crayon in the dryer. I admit I called the search off at that point...well, you know the old saying that it's better to find a whole worm in your apple then half of one? Same goes for black crayons. Grrrr.....
Goo gone here I come!
Not sure what I'm going to do about the clothes though....double grrrrr....


UPDATE: Goo gone a bust. WD-40 a bust! Weiman ceramic stovetop cleaner...a WINNER! I don't know why I thought of it, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try. Our dryer is now clean and the clothes are on their permasoak cycle until I feel like looking at them again. In the meantime the towels that never got dry today are sitting in a basket waiting their turn for another wash (had to tend to the clothes first). I've just accepted the fact that as long as people in this house are wearing clothes (which is usually on a daily basis) then my laundry is never going to be finished so why stress over it?