Piano Movers

What could be more thrilling than Saturday Morning Cartoons? Why, watching the piano movers lift the piano up the stairs, of course!

Mother's Day

I had absolutely the BEST mother's day. It wasn't overly planned and good things just seemed to happen. I have my husband to thank. He is the most wonderful friend I could ask for. Thanks babe!

My present from my man:

Why yes, that is the 1961 Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica with custom book shelf, World Atlas and two-volume dictionary. It's dedicated to John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth II "the two leaders of the English-speaking world." And the USSR is quite large in the Atlas shown above.

This is the Muggle world version of "Hogwarts, A History." I like to let my inner Hermoine shine.

My present to myself:

The girls spent the day with their mom and Frances was very obliging with an extended nap and the hottie and I took the time to read from chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel which is all about time management and goals.

I am happy to report that since then, I have kept my kitchen clean (no dishes undone when I go to bed), the Living Room liveable and made a solid attempt at going to bed at a reasonable hour. I have felt so much happier and definitely more able to maintain a bright attitude of kindness and to truly enjoy time with my kids.

Gardens By Moonlight

I planted my gardens today! The girls loved helping and I am so glad to have finally done it! I went to this outdoor gardening store and spent $67 for flowers, vegetables, herbs, fertilizer, and a spade. Then, the wonderful owner of the store gave Bethany and Mandy a three pack of flowers for free. I love it when people do such nice things for my kids.

We filled the front flower garden to the brim so now it looks much more fun and welcoming.

In the back I started hacking at the ground with a shovel when the next-door-neighbor appeared on the scene with his rototiller and just got to work on it. He was so nice to take the initiative and help us out, he's very quiet and also very kind. I loved the way the ground looked so fresh and healthy.

We have some friendly neighborhood rabbits so to protect my garden I planted lavender at the corners of the garden. I hope it's enough, if any of you have a professional opinion on what a good amount of lavender would be, let me know.

In the corners of the yard I planted watermelons, pumpkins, zucchini and straight neck squash.

The patch garden got basil, cilantro, parsley, mint, tomatoes, bell peppers and banana peppers.


Today we also found a piano on Craigslist and went to look at it. We took the whole clan and the woman invited everyone in, let the girls play with her dog, and then when we were leaving gave me a bunch of other games and things she was trying to get rid of. I really believe people are mostly good and I love it when I get to see it in the way they treat me and my family. Here's to countless happy days!

Home Alone and Sleepless Nights

I had been married over a year when my husband and I spent our first night apart. Since then I think we've missed sharing dreams no more than ten times. And it's always awful for me. After almost three years of marriage I just can't sleep when he's gone so I stay up looking at the news, reading books or in tonight's case: writing a blog about my loneliness.

I love him so much. I am married to an incredible man and I hate missing any moment with him. When we're together I am so happy and we have so much to share. Throughout our marriage we have had so many moments where we start talking about a topic and we find that we share very similar opinions. I can only think of a handful of things that we disagree about which are mostly things like when to let Esther take the Sacrament (like Catholic Communion) at church or if it's legal for me to steal my parents' Netflix account. I'm such a rebel.

Anyway, I just have so much fun with my hubby. We do the silliest things together. Today while I was dropping him off at school we shouted "Tree!" every time we passed one on the road because it was making Esther crack up. In Kentucky, there are a dang lot of trees lining the streets.

During his first semester here we listened to an audio recording of Dune together every night. Then we read Great Expectations and Ender's Game. He opened my mind to the idea that maybe Science Fiction isn't actually a totally bizarre and unappealing genre.

When he comes home from school I take him on a tour of the house, bragging about all the things I did that day and he graciously strokes my ego with generous amounts of appreciation every. single. time.
I love teasing him about his obsession with these horrible ugly Nike shoes that were hand-me-downs from his big brother at least five years ago. They're two sizes too big but since what's his bucket Lafferty from "One Tree Hill" got 'em for his brother he won't throw them away and he won't replace them.


He is so gifted at loving people. When other people would just get fed up or irritated with someone he can honestly, sincerely say there is something good to found in that person. He isn't false about this at all as I once suspected. His concern for others is real and he hopes so much for those he knows to live the best lives they can and to be happy because they are living true to what they know is right.


For all of you who know my husband, I want you to know that he really is the man he appears to be. He really is as good as he seems and so much better. I am so glad I married the man who is now my best friend. And I'll try really hard now to go to sleep like he told me to do before he left tonight.

Lying

So my girls have a problem with lying. I see something wrong, I hear someone crying, I rush to the scene of the crime and ask what happened. Cue dramatic re-tellings of current events. And not just one version; we're talking multiple recitations of possible scenarios that get much more interesting as they go.

I don't know if I'm going about it the right way to encourage them to tell the truth. I'm really not going to freak out if they just give it to me straight, but they absolutely don't believe me. They also have a messed up idea of honesty. Simply not telling or claiming ignorance is not lying in their book.

This gives me two main reactions:

--I could really do some angry things to your family for the things they have done to you and your concept of the world.

--I have my work cut out for me in terms of helping you become functioning members of society.

I have nothing more to say but, "If any of y'all know what done happened to my broom, y'all's better fess up!"

Sugar Rush!

My legally and lawfully wedded husband doesn't like to give our biological offspring sugar. We'll call her Esther. His theory (which I agree with) is that if she doesn't get it she won't care about it. However, it is difficult to give Bethany and Mandy cookies and the like in front of her and I'm not the best at being deceptive about what I'm eating. So she pretty much likes sugar.

This morning while I was trying to recover from a nasty illness, Esther came in holding a donut. I have absolutely no idea how she attained it. But I followed her back to the kitchen and found that she had been alternating between three different donuts--just in case one was better than the other. 

I'll Take that Leg

So a few of you might remember how Angelina Jolie did that weird thing with her leg at the Oscars last year...or was that this year? I can't remember. Anyway.

I totally know why she was doing it, because I've been doing the same thing for the last week (without the crazy dress). My teensy one who is now 18 months and still 16 pounds has decided that if she goes anywhere she needs to bring my leg with her. Just in case.

So everyone should just lay off poor Angie, I mean she has like 24 kids, so one can understand if she gets perma-baby-leg.

P.S. It was last year.