Lacking Motivation and Thumb

I planned to go pick strawberries today and make jam and strawberry syrup. Then I remembered my aching thumb and realized that cleaning the berries would be next to impossible. So that's pushed to next week. I hope they still have berries to pick.

I hung a load of clothes out on the line. Of course pushing the clothes pins open caused spasms of pain through my thumb. I guess I won't be doing any more laundry today.

I have 3 loads to fold...should I do them or have the kids? It might aggravate my thumb, you know.

I did unload and reload the dishwasher. But that caused pain too every time the water hit it.

Actually, my thumb is healing very well. If I keep a couple of band-aids on, it creates a nice protection from bumps and bangs. I think I had better go get some band-aids on it, lest I moan and groan all day.

I think my to-do list is just longer than my motivation! It's hard to get busy when you have the sweetest little baby sound asleep on you. She is so cuddly and quiet and still right now. Very rare now that she is mobile.

Plans for today:

-weed strawberry patch

-weed potatoes

-till up spinach (didn't grow well)

-plant sweet potatoes, melons, more cucumbers and squash

-put newspaper and straw around green beans, beets, peas and potatoes

-make home made pizza

-clean kitchen

-mop floor

-clean my room

Well that should keep me busy for a while. If I get done, maybe I'll surprise the Husband and mow the neighbor's farm for him. I mowed ours last night instead of cooking supper. Mowing doesn't bother my thumb at all.

Food Choices

Well Leenly is turning 6 tomorrow. In honor of her special day, she is having her best buddy over for the night. Tomorrow we are heading to town for ear piercing, pina coladas (non-alcoholic of course), riding the carousel at the mall and a trip to Sam's (not sure how excited they'll be about that part).
So tonight we decided to eat at Dairy Queen. The husband's idea for cooking. I chopped off a hefty chuck of my right thumb (OUCH!!!) and cooking, (zippers, hair clips, diaper changing, dishes, etc.) is pretty difficult. On the way there, Tiny (the friend) tells me that she doesn't eat hot dogs because they have animal hair in them. YUCK! Then she tells me that hamburgers are out too because someone ate hamburger and died 12 days later.
You should have seen the look Leeny gave me. It was a "I can't believe you've fed me that stuff!" kind of look. I told her it was okay to eat it. She just gave me "the look" and ordered chicken. She's always been my least likely to eat meat, now I think it just got worse.

Leeny-isms

Bubby has been interested (again) in the Titanic. He checked out a couple of books about it at the library. One book was a really interesting interactive book. Leeny sat down and looked at it. Seeing the picture of the Titanic sinking, Leeny remarked, "That boat is popping a wheelie!"



While driving to town the other day, Leeny told me how the farmers leave "hoops" in their fields. Finally, I figured out she meant where the farmers turn around in the end rows, the planters leave round markings in the dirt. Not only did she think that the "hoops" were new this year, she also informed me that the farmers were wrong and should instead, turn around in the grass. She carried on about how when she is a mom and farmer that she wouldn't leave hoops.

Running Out of Money

Driving home from Springfield today, Leeny was listening to her Wee Sing Cd. When the song "Hush Little Baby" came on, she quit singing along and just listened. After the third or fourth thing listed to be bought (mockingbird, horse and cart, etc), Leeny said, "Well that person is going to run out of money!"
Is she starting to understand the value of a dollar? Maybe.

Not So Lucky

I loved Lucky Charms as a child. Truthfully, I occasionally like them now. Maybe a couple of times a year. But they don't like me anymore!
I guess it's too much sugar and not enough protein and healthy stuff. Every time I eat cereal for breakfast (the good sugary kind), I end up shaky and weak and can't think straight. One time I had to call the Husband home from work. I thought I was going to pass out. Then it happened the other day and I was in the truck in another town. Very scary!
So, I guess I'm getting older. No more sugary cereal for me. I have to eat grown up food now - always. I'm going to the Doctor next month for a check-up and plan to discuss this with her.
I'm not sure I like this getting older stuff.

7 months

The Baby was 7 months old on Saturday. My how time flies! She loves to stick out her tongue and blow raspberries. Needless to say, I am always ready for a shower to wash off all that spit.

The Baby is my little leech. She is happiest when mommy is holding her. Even when she sleeps.

This is actually her "new" smile. She closes her eyes, wrinkles her nose and shows off her two bottom teeth. It cracks us up, which of course, makes her do it again.

The Baby has also discovered her thumb. It doesn't fall on the floor like her binky. I love watching her pudgy little hands and arms whether it's playing with a toy, sucking her thumb or all relaxed while she sleeps.

She's about to crawl. Right now she only goes in reverse, but it won't be long.

I'm loving every minute of having a baby in the house. I feel so blessed to get to experience all this again.

Happy Mother's Day

This is what I woke up to this morning.

Bubby and The Bug got up at 6 am and did all their chores. Then they came in, shut my door and proceeded to make me breakfast in bed. All of this was going on and I had no idea (their dad didn't either). Talk about a surprise when they knocked on my door!

They were smiling from ear to ear. Bubby made scrambled eggs with cinnamon (interesting flavor) while The Bug toasted waffles and spread peanut butter and drizzled syrup over them (my favorite way to eat pancakes or waffles). There was grape juice with a straw and some lovely little weed-flowers in a vase. The flowers smelled really good. When I commented on the scent, they let me know they'd sprayed the flowers with vanilla.

Here are the two little chefs.

As an added bonus, they didn't leave a mess in the kitchen. I could get used to this.

Work

I'm thankful for The Husband's job. Really, I am. I know that without that job, I probably wouldn't be able to stay home with the kids and live where we do. I love being home with my kids and I love where I live.

Sometimes, his job terrifies me. Not, "just makes me a little nervous" kinda scared. But "makes me sick to my stomach, paralyzed" kinda scared. Especially when he gets called out at night. Even more so if I haven't been to bed yet. Because after I've been asleep and he gets called out, I can usually go back to sleep. But if it's right before I go to bed when he's called, well, that's a whole nother story. I am wide awake and my mind goes lots of places it shouldn't.

What a good opportunity to practice "taking every thought captive."

So tonight he got called at 10:30. He was just falling asleep. Poor guy was not feeling too well. He has a cold as well as some muscle spasms in his chest. And like always, he put in a full day today. Somebody hit a power pole. It's not even in The Husband's territory. But no one else is answering their phone and the police need someone to come. So he goes. It's a 1 1/2 hr drive just to get there. Who knows what he'll find once he arrives. Setting new poles? Nothing major?

So here I am, praying for my man. Praying for my kids daddy. Because I don't know how he does it. How does he stay awake driving that far when he's exhausted and it's so dark? How does he work like he does? How does he skip a second night of sleep this week? He's a one-in-a-million kind of guy with a work ethic that's unusual in today's world.

"Ahhhh, Don't Hurt Me!"

Apparently during indoor soccer season, Leeny had a run-in with a little boy. The boy was punching and kicking at her, The Bug and several other children while we were watching Bubby play his game. Leeny isn't one to be bullied. She let him know that "I broke my dad's nose and I might do yours too."

*The Husband's nose was broken by someone else and Leeny re-broke it while wrestling with him*

Fast forward to today. She goes to a friend's 6th birthday party. The bully is there too. He takes one look at Leeny and says, "Ahhhh, Don't hurt me!"

That's my girl!

339 Days Later

Leeny got a horse swing for her 5th Birthday. She was very excited to swing on it.

26 days before her 6th Birthday, it finally got hung up.

I think the wait was worth it.

Water

Oh. My. Gosh! These critters drink way too much water! I'd like to post a notice that their water supply is rationed and they'd not be getting anymore today. So make it last!!! If only critters were like people and could understand. *sigh*
Poor Bubby is off to water again.

A Great Invention

I wish I would have had this for the other 3 kids. The baby loves it! I don't even know what you call it. This contraption has a mesh bag and you drop food into it and let the baby chew on it. They get the food with no choking. The Baby loves cantaloupe, likes grapes and tolerates raw sweet potatoes. I even stuck a piece of cracker in there. She polished it off but was pretty messy. The other awesome thing about it is that it keeps The Baby occupied for about 30 minutes. She doesn't even cry when I leave the room! Maybe I'll get some spring cleaning done.

Growing

My kids are growing up. Bubby just took off to go work on the pasture down the road. The Bug is peeling potatoes and is waiting on her cake to come out of the oven. Leeny is putting away socks (probably not in the right drawers, but she's trying) and entertaining the Baby. When did they become so independent?
I think I like this. As long as The Bug doesn't push me out of my kitchen because that's my favorite place to be. I wonder if I could encourage her to like cleaning more than cooking? Then all the bases would be covered around here.

Dual Purpose Shoes

Over the weekend I purchased Leeny a pair of flip-flops that light up when you take a step. I knew when I bought them that they were poorly made and wouldn't last long. But my mom thought that Leeny and cousin K would love them. So my sister and I each bought a pair. Well I don't know what K thought, but Leeny was pretty impressed with them.
They didn't even last through church! The heel fell off and out came the light. They are fixable, just not during the sermon. Leeny stuck the heel and the light in her pocket assured that mommy would fix them later with the Gorilla Glue.
Well we got home and I was exhausted. A nap sounded better. When I woke up, Leeny greeted me with her new invention. She found a police car that belonged to Bubby and a roll of clear tape. She taped the light to the top of that car. And when she pushes the car, the red and blue lights flash. It looks pretty real.
I guess that pair of shoes wasn't a waste of money after all.