hide-n-(sensory)-seeking

Nothing like a rainy day to hang out in the fort and play board games! Some moments are just adorable.

Scene: Victor and I are sitting at the table. Zak walks into the kitchen shortly after being assigned a joint chore with Grace.   Zak: Mama?! I made a joke to Grace, and  then she looked at me all mad. Then I told her I was just kidding and she said, "Before you said that, in my mind, I said, 'I'm telling!' "   Well, glad we got that all cleared up.   ***   Scene: Victor just finished reading my Fix-it Friday post.   Vic: I really like these Fix-it Fridays.   Me: Thanks...It's because of all the stuff I'm getting done isn't it?   Vic: (Laughs) Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Maybe you should add a Tune-up Tuesday and a Mop-it Monday.   Me: Hmmmm...How about a Daily Dish-Pan Man? :) ***   Scene: Victor is typing a text as I enter the room.   Victor: Hey, how do spell "barrage"?   Me: Uhhh...I'm not sure. Maybe like "garage", but with a "b".   A few seconds pass.  

Well, I plead illness.  I felt terrible last weekend. Then, Kit was sick for several days. So a lot of things got put off this week.   On Monday though, my sweet Mom came down and once again saved me from being drowned by the laundry. She also did several lessons for school with Grace which freed me up to tackle a pile that has been sitting (and growing) on one corner of our bench for weeks.   I didn't get any pics of that one though, sorry. But it consisted mainly of boxes that contained items set aside for giving away, misplaced toys, several user guides to miscellaneous appliances, and a lot of items waiting to be hung up (I detest hanging things up, I have no idea why, but it is seriously my second least favorite chore, my least favorite being ironing. Oh the irony!!)   Well, that was the first, and last productive day of the week. Kit came down with what I am now 99% sure was Roseola. But her fever broke, and stayed gone in time for us to still be able to make i

Look who fell asleep on her own!   In her own bed     As most of you know we have been working on getting Kit to sleep in her own bed. To catch up if you missed, you can do it here .   It only took lots and lots of reading/snuggling/wrestling with Daddy. And several twisty nursing sessions where she was sideways, or nearly upside down, and her leg constantly flipping back and forth!   I finally couldn't take it any more. I put her on her bed and told her she could go ni-night there or with Daddy. She settled into her bed. Pulled her pillow up over her, and fell asleep reading her book.   Hip. Hip. Hooray!      

  My goodness! The kids sure think so. You parents out there know exactly what I'm talking about. Some days you ask a kid to make a bed, or pick up a spray bottle and the looks vary from outrage to broken hearted, tears and all.   Nevertheless, we are a community, and we all need to be good citizens and do our part. So like it or not, at some point we all must pay taxes! Right?   Well that certainly doesn't help improve the reputation of chores does it?   Well, let's think about it for a minute. There are some pretty valuable benefits that taxes provide and the same can be said of chores. Let's take a closer look.   1.) Efficiency     The most obvious benefit, of course, is that chores make a home more efficient. As in, more time to spend doing fun stuff because there is plenty of clear space to do it. Plus, no one is wandering around searching for that one critical component that always seems to get misplaced, i.e. the  remote.   Children

We have imperfect children. Our children, have very imperfect parents. And aside from our vertically challenged genes, our kiddos have inherited (or learned) a few other things from us as well.   The eye roll. The shoulder shrug. The growl. Each one is signature Kit. But you know what? They are signature me as well. Uh-oh. It's not just her either. Zak's sigh. The way he snaps suddenly. And the way both he and Grace set their jaw in the "I'm listening, but I'm not going to like it" mode. Grace's hands on her hips. Yeah, regrettably, all me to a T.   Not that they don't also take after their dad. It's just that my flaws tend to be a little bit more...um...   Loud. If I'm lightning, then Victor must be coals. Steady, but still capable of shaping steel. Our kids have a little (and sometimes a lot) of both of us in them. It's true, our munchkins are strong willed, stubborn, persistent, and crafty little boogers. But thos

Welcome to Wordy Wednesday!   Today's subject:   CREATIVE WRITING   Well, sort of.   Between being sick myself over the weekend, and Kit having a fever almost all day and night yesterday, and trying to keep things from completely falling apart, I did not have the time or energy to prepare or research any of the subjects I was hoping to get to work on.  So, I took a couple of sick days.   But, always full of surprises, Zak decided to engage in a "writing" project instead  of doing math yesterday. And photographed his story to share with all of you. He has happily adopted his pseudonym and enjoys signing it to his masterpieces he thinks might make interesting blog material. What a little ham!   So here for your literary pleasure is an original multi-media work of fiction by - ZAK.   ( This has not been edited. I am presenting it exactly as I found it in my photo gallery. So the spelling is, well, creative. As I've mentioned before, that is

 We bought our house almost a year and a half ago. Right away we threw ourselves into making the necessary repairs and upgrades to make our home cozy and fully functional (AKA air conditioned). We gave ourselves a deadline - the end of 2012, to finish all our projects. Why? Because that was the only way to ensure that everything got done.   Well we came really close to meeting that deadline. The only real project left to do is hang all the trim that is stacked in, guess where, our bedroom. Of course! Isn't that where everybody keeps their yet to be hung trim? Neatly wrapped in a bed sheet so that it doesn't migrate across the floor like a giant wooden sea urchin?   I digress. The point is we accomplished a lot last year, and around this time last year we were in a race. A race against heat and humidity.   Inside the house our A/C guys were racing to install a central unit before they spontaneously combusted in our attic as the temperature steadily rose with