Pictures

Haven't Been Posting Much

Because I don't know what to say. How much do people really want to know about every detail about a day in the life of a broke housewife? It's the end of the month, so I'm just trying to scrape out the innards of my pantry and refrigerator before I can venture out on Wednesday to go grocery shopping....which is, in fact, my favorite kind of shopping.

Here are things I could have written about:

1. I have had two items in my kitchen shatter into a bazillion infinitesimal pieces in the last week. One was Corelle, which I didn't think breaks, but apparently, it does and when it does it's not just one crack down the middle. OH no. The other was my glass cutting board (I didn't know it was glass!). It took me all day to figure out what it was that broke, since the incident happened after I was trying to sweep behind the fridge and my crock pot fell off and landed on the floor along with all the glass. I had NO idea what the glass was from until I noticed, later today, that my cutting board has disappeared.

2. My kids are the messiest kids on the planet. Please tell me why Audrey finds it necessary to take a large deck of UNO cards and toss them into the air with abandon. I was still finding cards behind stuff and under things for 3 days. Needless to say, I can add that to the list of things being withheld from my kids for the time being. We had friends over the other week and my kids (and theirs) took out a bunch of [washable, thank goodness] black paint and soaked through their paper and decorated my basement carpet. They also managed to decorate my poor friend's daughter. Punishing my daughter by putting her in her room, even when I remove every last toy, would not prevent messes, because I would inevitably walk in to find a landslide of clothes tumbling out of her closet and uniformly blanketing the bedroom. It's not unusual for my kids to be seen in public with all sorts of gunk plastered on their faces and stuck in their hair. Yes, I do have some control over their appearance, but remember, I have 4 kids 6 and under, and not quite enough energy.

3. I actually inventoried every last grocery item in our household. And I've been keeping up with it. This is easy to do when it's the end of the month and, as I've said, we're scrounging until paycheck day. Now, you might refer to #2 and think, if she has time to inventory her pantry and fridge, does she not have time to brush her poor child's HAIR? Well, yes, but I can type and nurse/cuddle/entertain a baby quite easily, while I find it rather difficult to pin down Audrey and attempt to brush a moving (screaming) target and simultaneously nurse a baby. Anyway, in addition to making an inventory, I've been updating an ongoing grocery list (I take my grocery shopping WAY too seriously) and I've made my February meal plan. All this basically points to a sick obsession with food, an obsession that only escalates with fury when I am nursing. I daydream about food. I watch Food Network. I scour the internet looking for dessert recipes that I can make with the ingredients I have on hand. In fact, I just finished a slice of brownie pie.

Well, I'd better stop here. Baby is screaming and my kids, way past their bedtime and on a brownie-pie-high, are bouncing off the walls. Catch ya'll later.

Don't need to say much about this ;-)

What My Kids Aren't Doing For a Week

1. They aren't eating dessert, because when they asked for a bag of popcorn and I said yes, they proceeded to microwave four bags of popcorn while I was upstairs with Cole and then spent two hours at the dinner table later on, full and not wanting to eat.

2. They aren't having chips, since while I was upstairs with Cole another time (we're upstairs a lot, I guess), Wesley got on top of the refrigerator and pulled out the chips, and I found a huge stash of Lays and Doritos and Cheetohs in a pile in the basement.

3. They aren't watching TV, since yesterday Wesley poured an entire bucket of water on the TV while it was on, because he wanted to make it "nice and shiny." I'm thankful he's still alive and have since given him a stern briefing on the dangers of putting water on anything that's plugged in.

Ugh. If I didn't love them so much I'd sell them to the gypsies.

Conversations with my Daugher and Other Stuff

Me: (rubbing Cole's almost bald head) I hope that Cole has blond curly hair, just like yours!
Audrey: You want Cole to be just like me?
Me: Yes!
Audrey: But..I make messes all the time and I like to play with girl toys!

Well, true....

Things around this household are becoming much more predictable and pleasant. I'm cooking, all the time, and entertaining, just like I wanted for the New Year. Cole is smiling and cooing and generally a lot more fun. He started sleeping 7 hours at a stretch this week, up until last night, that is. Just as I was getting good and used to sleep, he woke up at LEAST 12 times last night, until I was sure I left a groove in the carpet from walking up and down the hallway all night long. Of course, hubby didn't wake up at all, except the one time I tapped him awake and begged him to go stick that darned binky back in Cole's mouth so I could eliminate one trip.

His new "milestone" has been to bring his hands together in front of him and attempt to suck his fingers, but he can't figure out how to un-clench his fist in order to do it. So he gets mad and wakes up repeatedly looking for something to suck. So...it looks like I'll be employing my swaddling blanket again for the time being. That fist is just too darn distracting and he keeps knocking out the pacifier. Ugh...two steps forward, ten thousand steps back. One of these days (perhaps when all the kids have left the nest and gone to college) I'll get some sleep again.

I have some creative projects in the works. I'm in the middle of a canvas mural for our church nursery, and I've got two commissioned projects coming up, as well as some "doodles" for my sister, which she will use for digi-scrapping. See here for examples of what is popular in the world of digi scrapping these days. It's good to do a little bit of artwork again after a long hiatus. It's also nice to be able to contribute to the family in any small way I can (financially).

Not much else going on around here. Working on my resolutions with mixed success. The diet and bible-reading resolutions definitely need some work.

6 Weird Things About Me

If you have been "tagged" on your blog, and you're reading this post, this is how it goes. I was "tagged" and am now supposed to write 6 weird things about myself. In turn, I am to "tag" 6 other bloggers and they do the same. I don't know six other bloggers (I think I know 4), so if you've been tagged, try this!

1. I am an awful finicky eater. I hate beans. All beans, except green beans. I also hate soft white cheeses, sour cream, most cooked green veggies, avocado, sweet potatoes, squash, nuts IN things, beets, olives, and countless other things. But I grew up eating (and loving) peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. Go figure.

2. I am an NFP geek. This is not so weird to some, but to many of my evangelical buddies, it is rather strange that I enjoy talking about mucus in everyday conversation. But I love the whole charting process and am a very enthusiastic proponent of this very natural way of acheiving/avoiding conception.

3. I am a morning person, through and through. It is not unusual for me to wake up refreshed at 5:30 a.m. and burn through my chores at lightning speed. With a new baby around, I don't do this so much, but once he's sleeping 12 hrs a night, I will likely resume my early, early routine.

4. I can watch Food Network for hours on end and I am never bored. Before this I could go for weeks without turning on the TV.

5. Like Megan (who tagged me) I enjoy childbirth, and I really, really looked forward to the event - pain and all. I just love the whole process and seeing my body do such amazing things, and of course, a baby emerging is a very sweet reward at the end.

6. I am an artist but I'm not creative. I can execute a project with no problem, but I can't think of ideas very easily. People are always saying, "you're creative, what would you do with such and such?" and I'm just blank. ;-)

So they aren't so weird. But my mind fails me here. Maybe other people (who are more creative, lol) could think of stranger stuff about me.

Showing Off

Finally, some smiley pics!!!

Can a Breast Explode?

That's what my left boob was wondering as Cole slept his first-ever 6 hour stretch last night. I think that "sleep" would have been much more enjoyable if my skin wasn't threatening to break with the weight of all that milk. So what was the magic? Was it keeping him up until after midnight? Or was it the threat of sleeping in his own room that made him want to shape up in fear of losing prime spot next to Mommy in bed? I don't know, but if my boobs would oblige I'm still going to evict him tonight. If I'm not too tired.

Today I get to take down Christmas! yes! I love having all the decorations up during the holidays, but I am so excited to put it all away now and reclaim my tiny family room. I think the house is going to look so BIG without all the extra decor. I like that I'm going to be busy today because it's the first day of my "diet" and I don't need idle time to send me to the refrigerator in search of chocolate.