My Dream

When the girls were littler I used to dream of having a maid. And I don't mean just a Molly-Maid-come-in-once-a-week-and-clean type of maid. I used to dream of having my own "Susan" from the Anne of Green Gables series. A live-in full-time, lived to cook, cleaned for amusement, loved my kids as if they were her own kinda maid.

Now that my kids are getting older and the household duties around here are (a) not so onerous and (b) are shared amongst many hands, I dream of having a gardener. Maybe he/she doesn't need to be live-in, but I'd love to have someone keep my lawn weed and thatch free, keep it composted and fertilized, know exactly how and when everything should be trimmed, and grow me a beautiful garden of both flowers and veggies. Kelly and I neither one are gardeners, but I love having beautiful green grass and weeds embarrass me almost as much as dust on the piano. But I have a grey thumb - not quite black but a definite handicap.

The worst thing is that we didn't have any boys. And yes, I know girls can do yard work too, and I do make them help me pull weeds and such. They help with the veggie beds more willingly. But much of yard work just calls for more of a heavy-lifter than I have ever been or expect my girls to be. Kelly mows and edges, but I think he'd rather put down AstroTurf rather than have to do much more to it - it's just not his thing either. :-)

So until we strike it rich and get a full time gardener (ha ha), we'll have to slum along as is, and Better Homes and Gardens will have to wait.

I am doing another veggie crop this year. I learned a few things from last year, so hopefully it will be more successful this year. I'll post more on that at a later date. But I did add in strawberries this year just for fun. My girls are excited about the three whole berries we have growing right now. ;-)

Look Away, look away, look away

Really, I guess it should be "go away." I gave this command to my husband and myself on Friday night. We had babysitters lined up - Kora is still too young for an overnight babysitting job - and a local hotel reserved. We had gift cards for dinner and dvds to watch.

Man, I wish we could do that once a month. But since we haven't gotten away for even a night in almost three years (right before I found out I was pregnant with Ashlynn), don't worry that we'll go over board and be leaving our kids all the time. But next time I think it should be for the whole weekend. The bad thing is that we are so spoiled by our memory foam mattress at home that neither of us sleep as well away from the house.

Anyone know of a hotel chain that has memory foam mattresses in its rooms?

Family

Last weekend, my husband sent me off for a weekend with my parents. Primarily I went to see my grandmother and mom. My grandmother, who has been in a nursing home since about this time last year, has been steadily going down hill since the first of the year. Physically she's very weak and in a lot of pain due to various problems. Mentally, she's suffering from a dementia that has hit like the proverbial Mack truck. My grandmother was always very active, and now needs help even to eat and can't remember where she is most of the time, and loses track of the year all the time.

Of course, this has been hard for my mom who has had the main responsibility of taking care or her, taking her to appointments, and managing her care as she is the closest family member. Not only is it hard for her to see her mom slipping away, but it's been hard to see her in pain as well.

So I went to see my grandmother for what might have been the last time. And to see my mom, as we just needed some time together during this rough time. Though bitter sweet in many ways, it was a great weekend. Grandmama did know who I was, and told me she loved me and that she loved getting visitors. Mama and I went shopping and ate way too much food. My dad and I got to visit as well. So, thank you, Kelly, for keeping the kids so I could make a stress-free trip up there. And thank you, Aubrey (my pastor's wife and very good friend) for spurring me on to go.

The Idea is....

Today during grammar, I had the following conversation with Hailey, our 7 yo. This is the child that lives in fairy land most of the time.

Me: We are talking about nouns today. Give me an example of a person.

Hailey: Ashlynn

Me: OK, now a place.

Hailey: My room.

Me: Good, now a thing in this room.

Hailey: A lamp.

Me: Good, now an idea. Remember that an idea is something we can think about in our mind but we can't see or touch.

Hailey: A unicorn flying horse.

Yet another haircut

I promise I don't intend to publish every haircut we get in the family, but part of the reason for this blog is for the purpose of family members to be able to be a part of our lives.

Also this is such a huge change for us. For years and years, our girls hated even the mention of a trim. They gloried in their long hair, no matter how long it took to brush or how wild it tended to be. We were not just the family with all the girls, but the family with all the girls with really long hair. I remember almost begging the girls to get their hair cut because I was tired of spending so much time brushing it. Just a couple of years ago they looked like this:
Now all of a sudden, they all want short hair.

As an ironic aside, we are studying the roaring 20's right now. But I'm sure that has nothing to do with it.

So Brynna's been after me ever since Hailey got her haircut to get hers done as well. We measured and she even had enough to do another locks of love donation. Here we are before:

And after:

She declares she loves it. Now that they are old enough to brush their own hair, they see the the virtues of shorter hair. But it really is cute on her!

Olympic Withdrawal

So the Olympics are over now, and I feel the same bereftness (is that a word?) that follows the end of football season. I admit to being an Olympics junkie - both summer and winter. My favorite winter sport, believe it or not, is curling. I started watching it 8 years ago, really got hooked four years ago, and sat riveted before every curling match they showed this year. Kelly is nearly as bad.

The funny thing is that the girls, at least the older two, got into it as well this year. It was funny to hear them discussing strategy, about whether they should freeze the rock or knock it out. But the funniest thing came out of Hailey, our seven year old.

In curling, the team that throws the last rock of an end (which is somewhat like an inning in baseball) has what's called the "hammer" or last rock. This is an advantage in the game. During one game, Hailey came up and asked:

"So which team has the ax?"

Poor girl, we've never let her live that down. Considering the game is played on a smooth sheet of ice, the thought of an ax involved makes it even funnier.

Too bad they only televise curling down here in Texas during the Olympics.

Lauryn, our five year old, had one that I thought was even funnier. As a friend of mine said, this falls into the "You know you live in Texas when..." category.

She came downstairs one afternoon last week after nap and glanced at the tv. I had a hockey game on at the time (as there was no curling going on at the time). She looked at the tv and then to me.

"Hmmm. Ice football."