IT's that time

Yup, the first sign of summer is learning to get your reflexes straight.

If it's a mosquito you slap.

If it's a wood tick you pick.

Slapping a wood tick doesn't do any good and picking at a mosquito is just asking for another bite.

He who is prepared shall not fear.

Ok,
I fully expect gas to reach $5/ gallon this next winter. After all, have we ever seen it climb higher or faster then we have in the last 2 years? And knowing that the factors making it climb are only going to keep pushing it higher.

Our heating bills last winter already topped $1000/month (it was a cold winter). So, while the temperature is just beginning to get decent outside, I got to ask myself the question... how are we going to prepare to survive this next winter?

I wonder what it would take to get our arc built in time?

Happy Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, I am going to let you in on a little secret- a secret that no popular media knows, a secret so mind boggling that it just might shake the foundations of hell.

Yup - it's a big secret and the secret is that .....

I am absolutely excited to become a mother (again) for the 5th time.

Why is that such a secret? Because most people who have less then a handfuls of kids do not realize the joy the each one brings individually to your heart. Most people also believe because you have already been there and done that that it is old hat and not as exciting and new as the first time. But I think in many ways it is more exciting because you know what you are looking forward to.

And what I am looking forward to is a little bundle of joy to hold in my arms (and not in my overstretched belly) with in 5 weeks.

Did you hear that world? 5 weeks!

So since we are getting pretty close ..... I am know officially taking bets on baby details. The winner gets and 8x10 signed glossy of the baby (of you count milky hand prints as a signature).

To place your bet- use the comment field on this blog.

You may guess on all or some of the following:

Date of birth (official due date is June 16th, ultrasound dated it June 15th).

Time of birth

Baby weight at birth

Baby length at birth

Her name is already settled, but you are welcome to make any other predictions/wild guesses you desire.

PS- make sure to sign your name/ handle :)

A pox on all my children

It's official, My son, although immunized, has the chicken pox. It turns out that they discovered a booster is needed to keep the immunization working. And that means one more shot, probably full of heavy metal preservatives for my autistic children..... yeah. I think I will just let the virus take it's course and hope that Clay, Ian and Ewan can all be talked into catching it.

My baby is at risk of catching it too....after birth. Until them my previous chicken pox should keep us both safe.

And Speaking of babies. Want to see what her crib will look like? I finally finished her bumper. It turned out rather pretty.

Then here is a picture of my boys "living" in the living room. Sometimes it seems like a vestibular stimulation room then a place to watch tv.

And here is pox boy posing for a fish hat picture. All the pictures I took of him in the hat were blurry. I wonder if it is because he can't be still or if it is because I couldn't hold the camera still.

The fish hats are now for sale at www.roundbelly.com/fishhats.html

In case you do not know, My brother walked into our attempt at manufacturing clothing and asked them to sew one up for him. He has more designs in his head, and the results are funny and warm. This one is called "The optimistic fish".

I guess sometimes the fish catches you. :)

Sunday

Sunday is a day set aside from the world. So I try not to do worldly things on Sunday. I try not to spend money and not to work on business.

I try to spend my time connecting myself with God and Family instead. Sometimes, I just end up using it as a day of rest.

often I take time to make good meals on Sunday. I can cook without much thought, it just takes time.... and good food has a tendency to gather family together. Good food is meant to be shared. I usually do not plan on inviting people to dinner. It is always something that happens at the last minute. I place the calls, when I know something good is underway. (And no matter how much I plan, I can never garentee if I will have enough energy or presence of mind to care to cook until I do).

So today, I placed a call, when some wonderful chicken enchiladas were in the oven. And some chocolate cake to follow. And I happened to reach some people who felt in need of a good homemade meal after a weekend of travel and parties. So even though my house was ankle deep (better then yesterday, it was at least knee deep then). I offered to share my food and the love that went into such dishes. In return my guest started cleaning my desk. She said she would have folded the mountain of laundry, but we needed the table for the cake.

And to tell you the truth, I really like it when people clean with me. Moms are good at that. What shocks me though is how much like her mother she has become in the cleaning field in the last 10 years. The ideas of getting rid of the dust and dirt I don't think ever occurred to her until after all her children moved out of the house.

I think she was always too busy doing things to even see the dust. She ran girl scout troops, camps, ran a business, was always there for school events, and mostly was a great mom. I now have empathy for what it must have been like for her, having her kids do chores, instead of doing them all her self. Most children need many years of practice in chores before they finish them well enough for anything to even look like anybody tried to clean it.

Yup, that pretty well classifies my kitchen, laundry room, the kids' bedrooms and their bathroom upstairs. oh well, someday they will be grandparents and learn to see the dirt under the piles of stuff. Meanwhile...., I would settle for less poop on the bathroom walls, and a clear walk way. "Who dropped these clothes in my walkway?" I must ask 10 times per day..... and then I highly recommend to the children that they put their dirty clothes in the laundry. I am also trying to require them to keep their bed sheeted (only clean ones count) every day. This of course, is easier on those who don't wet the bed.

Meanwhile, Mike and I just had a good laugh. Ewan suggested we pay him $500,000,000 for cleaning the bathroom. Man kid, if I only had $500,000,000 for every bathroom I've cleaned......

A good bathroom scrub job is only worth $5 (if a kid does it). They can also earn that much by cleaning out the car. We told them that they have to start earning money if they want any more bionicles. And with that comes learning all about money and spending and savings and fun stuff like that. Man, teaching those things makes me wonder if that is all part of stealing an innocent child's childhood. Oh well, we all have to grow up sometimes.- hopefully just bit by bit, so when you move out of your parents house, it all doesn't come as a big shock.

Have a good night!