You know that wonderful feeling of a freshly scrubbed floor on bare feet?

We so do not have that going on right now. The bottoms of my feet, awake for two hours, would indicate it’s time to mop. Hello springtime.

Name that photo.

 

Words cannot explain.

Like mother like daughter. Sort of.

When I was about 16 and suggested to my father, he told me if I did that, I had to put a ring in it and then he could pull me around by it. Point taken. No nose ring at 16. So I waited 9 years, until I was 25 and mother of four, when my husband gave his consent and then I pierced my nose… with something considerably smaller. Ever since, my dear daughters use the fake earrings on their noses. Or baby linking toys. You know, whatever. And when they are 25 AND have produced four grandchildren for me, then they can get the real thing.

Unexcitable.

Blaine says you can tell we have a lot of kids by our reactions these days.

Sterling was in the kitchen eating when he started crying. I ignored him. It wasn’t an “attention necessary” kind of cry, ya know?

Blaine one upped me. He hollered, “Is there blood?” and then went back to what he was doing when someone said there wasn’t.

So not our first rodeo.

Who’s who? w/answers.

Eden
Pierce
Sterling
Charlotte
Eden
Liberty
Charlotte
Liberty
Sterling
CharlotteEden
RubySterling
Ruby
Liberty
Pierce
Liberty
I realize this was far more fun for me than for anyone else save, perhaps, Grandma, but if you care to guess, who’s who? Some are more obvious than others… and some fooled even my own children.

Sisters, ya think?

Liberty Skye, cooking enthusiast.

This eight year old girl fails to hit the limelight very often. She’s too predictable, too even-tempered, too behind-the-scenes. Lovely, edible, tasty scenes like the fudge cookies she made this week. Twice. Or the beer bread she mixed up and baked for a side to our soup the other night. Or cooking up a pot of oatmeal for breakfast. She’s quite the little chef these days. One of our chore cards says “Supper Chef’s Assistant”. Pretty sure I’m going to get that one in my pile one of these days. Got a recipe? She can handle it.

Grocery shopping, revamped.

Once every week and a half to two weeks, I go grocery shopping. Almost always, I go during the day with all the kids. We have a good rhythm, and things usually go fairly well. Lately, though, I’ve been less than pleased with how things have gone. Kids asking me to buy stuff, hiding in the clothes racks… it’s exhausting to keep all of that under wraps and still buy food for the week. So tonight, I took Sterling and Pierce and went after Blaine got home from work.

I left my Aldi bags at home and was left trying to contain cans and bags and randomness in one very wide open van. Without a trunk or anything to stop things besides the seat anchors, a can of olives can soar from one end to the other, multiple times, with some simple braking. It’s enough to make you cringe when the funnel from the back that was formerly next to the windshield fluid comes sliding and lands squarely at your feet in the front seat. Groceries need bags. Boxes. Both.

At Walmart. I needed deli meat and a key cut. Both counters close at 8pm. It was 8:05. Perfect. Got the other stuff on my list, got to the checkout… I’d left my wallet in the van. Really? I can do this with six kids with my eyes closed, but two kids has me thrown and unorganized?

So was the trip really worth not taking all the kids? I’m not convinced that it was all that much better, but Sterling and I had a grand time together. I bought him a little cherry pie, and he’s convinced it was the world’s best and biggest cereal bar and I’ve been holding back one of life’s pleasures.