On the Move

This week it has been fun to see all the growth and changes in the girls. Sometimes it seems like things roll along just the same all the time, then all of the sudden you notice that they are growing up. Rylee and Morgan have been so good and helpful lately. We had Monday off of school for Columbus Day (it is actually Native American Day in South Dakota, which, seriously, how P.C. are we going to have to get?), so the girls and I went to the Kirby Science Museum in Sioux Falls, followed by some serious bargain shopping (I realize that is kind of an oxymoron). Amazingly enough, we were gone for almost 12 hours and we had only one minor meltdown by Emily. I think that is nearly miraculous. Furthermore, today Daniel and I were even able to get in a couple hour nap and the big girls took care of both little girls the whole time (I was sure we would be left alone for 15 min max when laying down). I’m feeling optimistic about having a little more freedom, in the next couple of years anyhow.

Some of the kid’s funnies for the week:

Rylee, while sitting talking with dad and sisters stated, “Dad, Mom actually knew something.” It’s sad when this becomes news worth sharing with the family.

Morgan, in response to me saying she could count scripture reading toward the 200 minute Pizza Hut Book it program. “Yea, but I’d rather read something fun. . . errmm . . . more interestinger, like a fun Junie B. Jones book or a book about Egypt or something.” (*Author’s note – if you get past the part that the parents have obviously not taught their children a love for the scriptures, who ever thought to rank a Junie B. Jones book and a book about Egypt in the same category?)

Emily, when walking into the kitchen after I had washed dishes and scrubbed the floors for the first time in – well, you don’t really need to know that part: “Wow, Mom! It’s ashly tleen” which can be translated into “actually clean.” Later that day she was playing with a penny and pretending to pull it out of her ear or her belly button. You know the trick. Well, word to the wise, don’t turn around when a two year old is being a magician. I never realized I had money coming out my . . . .

Taylor is starting to try to get around. If I can figure out how to get a little video attached you can see where she’s at. She also learned to wave this week. It is so sweet, and her big smiles show us how proud she is of herself.

Wet Floor

I know I already posted one today, but I inadvertently came across this picture. This occured one day,or rather one of the many days, that I was feeling particularly unappreciated by my family (as in, “I really don’t get paid enough to do the things that I do around here!”) I came home to find a big puddle of water on our kitchen linoleum and this sign lying in it.

Clever, Morgan! I mean, seriously, all the effort to make a sign to warn people about the spill might as well be appreciated. It’s not like it would have been faster to just clean up the mess, right? You gotta love 'em.

Labors o' Love

I had to share the pictures of my labors over the weekend.

Lets just say 45 jars of applesauce (24 of which were done last week, not over the weekend), 13 jars of apple pie filling, and 14 jars of canned tomatoes, all done solo. (Hand on the forehead, and laborious “woe is me” sigh goes here). I left it all out on the counter for when Daniel got home, sure that he would be awed with my labors of love. Apparently it wasn’t that impressive because I didn’t hear him singing accolades. However, that may be in part due to the fact that by the time he got home you could no longer see the canning jars for the stacks of both clean and dirty dishes, dirty dish towels and, for fear of life, he probably had to watch where he was placing his feet on the area formerly known as our kitchen floor. Emily and Taylor were equally impressed, as you can see by Taylor’s enthusiastically supportive expression.

I think the only one who really appreciated my canning was Rylee because she got an early release day from school so she could (don’t pass this on to the good mothers of the world – or Social Services or the South Dakota Dept. of Education for that matter) take Emily downstairs and watch TV for a few hours so I could get something done uninterrupted. Hey, a woman’s got to do what a woman’s got to do!

Improper Influences

I just cleaned the bugs out of my teeth, so I could communicate without embarrassment. This fast internet is such a rush. I am currently talking on the phone, (sorry to multitask during our conversation Amy) and blogging at the same time. Isn’t that cool? I know it is probably not a novelty to the rest of you, but wow, it’s a whole new world!

So, the here’s the latest. Rylee and Morgan did an “Extreme Mommy Makeover” (their words, not mine) on me this last weekend. Rylee did my hair, changed my earrings to some big dangly ones (she told me I look like my cousin Emma with the earrings in – so sorry Emma, I am sure she didn’t mean it!), and they both fought over doing the makeup. Morgan did the eyebrows with eye shadow, then proceeded to stand back and say, “Wow, that really make your eyebrows stand out. Just like a boy peacock who wants to get married.” Now that’s not a compliment a person earns every day! It was some makeover, I tell you.

After looking at the “painted woman” in the mirror, I concluded that I must be a poor influence on the girls when we have too much time on our own without Daniel around. Last time it was just us girls we visited Wall Drug on our way back from our big summer trip. I had the girls pose with some of the funny statues they have there, one of which was a very immodestly dressed barmaid type lady. I told the girls to look shocked and try to cover her up to make her more modest. As you can see from the results they apparently ended up fondling her while gazing intently at all her exposed skin. I got “the look” from Daniel, as you can guess, when he saw the pictures.

He, on the other hand, works all the long hours, both day and night, for so little appreciation from home. This was made obvious through a conversation we had this week. The Papa Murphy’s here does a Tuesday special, which I, being in a rush and exhausted, decided to get this week. When I came out with just a pizza the girls started complaining about us not getting breadsticks or cookie dough. I proceeded to lecture them about being grateful for what they are getting and how we don’t have money to waste on all the extras, and so on. Then I hear Rylee turn to Morgan and say, “Yea, Morgan, Dad’s not doing so well right now.” Poor man, at least he has Emily as his own personal cheerleader to make him feel loved and appreciated when he comes home and who loves to “Kiss da window” (blow kisses out the window as he drives away) when he leaves. Everyone needs an uninhibited admirer. We all really do love our “man of the house!”

Sleepless Nights On Order . . .

Just thought I would make an official announcement. We are adding another little addition to the household. It should keep us occupied and up all night. It is a little more expensive than I am comfortable with, but we decided to move up in the world. Yep, were getting DSL, so no more dial-up. Now I will now have no excuses for not updating this blog. By the end of this week we’ll be up and running. I’ll see if it takes less than three hours to upload my “Total Mommy Make-over” pictures (Just for anticipation – Morgan made a direct comparison between me and a boy peacock, direct quote coming this week!). If there is no marked improvement I will see if People PC will take me back.

That is actually a funny story in itself. My sister had People PC dial-up internet and decided to go to DSL so she called to cancel and they kept offering her the service at a lower and lower price (down to $1.99 for 6 months or something outlandishly low), and then she had to lose her temper to get them to just cancel her. So, of course, my thought is, why am I paying so much, dealing with only one dial-up number, and feeling lucky to get speeds above 50 Kbps and still paying full price for it? So I called and explained the problems, knowing that when they offer the service to me at a lower price I would “decide” to take it for a couple of months at least. Only, go figure, they said, “you’re right, there is only one access number for your address,” and proceeded to then and there cancel my account and reimburse me my payment.

I had to do some pretty fast back tracking just to ensure that I had internet for the rest of the month while I looked for something else; thus the current upgrade. Ah, well, it’s typical enough for my life I should have expected it. So, here’s to modernization and zippy fast speed (or as our new internet calls it “VROOM internet, feel the wind in your hair and the bugs in your teeth.” Yummy!).