Turn on the Hearth Light

I suppose I should point out that I began working hard-laboring in my kitchen at around o six hundred hours, this morning.
That information is important to the day's story simply to signify that I should not be held strictly accountable for our minutes, as my world only extended as far as my scrubbing rag, today.
(Not to say the babes were ignored--they were not.  Just that I didn't go out of my way to capture their moments, as I had my own.)

You know how it goes.
' Starts with dishes. 
Which means the the sink, the back splash, the stove, the table, and all the counters must be scrubbed and sparklified. 

 7:30am

Finally, the floor.
Well--while we're down there... let's get those baseboards.
Oh.  And that spot there, on the wall.

Wait.  There's another one.

Turns out, the whole wall needs to be cleaned!  Imagine that.

Doctoring many, many animal friends.

Hmm.  Apparently, there are there are three other walls in the room, too...

Huh.  Wouldn't that be something if I could pull out all the dishes in this cupboard

 

(and that one, that one, that one, and that one), and clean the inside of the cupboard?  (The outsides have already been scrubbed, of course.)

 Wow!  That wasn't too bad.  Time for another one?
Well.... could do the inside of this drawer, been wincing at it for a year or so, now....
Cool.  Ha.  Dare I?
Really?
The cupboard and shelves under the sink???

Dang!  I so win.

Granted, I'm half dead.  Stood up to refill my glass, and realized I can't stand or walk properly.  :)  (And, "No, it ain't from the drink, my friends!"  ;) )

But, you know.
I put in my loving time to the babies today, and the babes had their own loves, too...

and are exhausted from their own 7:30am-and-hit-the-ground-running-and-whooping! day,

so I'm thiiinkiiiinn....
we're good.

So good.

'Til tomorrow, then.

Spring : Transition

Ready?


I'm feeling a little (maybe a lot) panicky and overwhelmed at the moment.

No!, I'm not ready.


Breathe....

breathe deeply...



Breathe...


It's okay...


there's still time.

Tuesday

I can hear the mouse rattling around in the big metal box. I think that's what woke me up (at one a.m.).
We've caught two! Let's hope that's all of them.
They'll be taken to the park, by the way. To find a new home.

So we (er... I s'pose that's the royal We) go from feeling like a smug servant sittin' on the throne to spiritual liberation to catching mice. Is that too weird for you?
I mean - I do know it's weird... but I can just never tell -in the name of full disclosure- what should be left out when things seem significant at the time. It seems as though if one talks the daily Do, then one should share the madness and mundane as well as the magic.
(No doubt it doesn't help that it's smack dab in the middle of the night for me as I write this, so words and thoughts are bound to come out thusly tainted.)

But enough of that.

Monday I spent the day pokin' my light saber around at things. Not fighting anything, really, just needing to be armed, and prodding and testing some things. (That was my metaphorical ashram rooftop.) I came out alright.

Yesterday -today- Tuesday - the babes carried on again as usual - day two of "not much help from me". Which is quite alright for them, as they're perfectly capable of entertaining themselves, but I did look up from what I was doing, at one point, and blanch at what had now become a house of near chaos... two days of not paying very close attention has quite dramatically changed what was my perfectly orderly and clean house. oof.

I was absent because I've decided to cross over. Into hosting ads. Not significant to you, I'm sure - but a pretty big deal to me. Not because I'm morally opposed to them - I'm not - but a big deal because a year ago I had the idea that 400 followers was officially to me a lot, and now I have found myself at that magic number. So that's a big deal. And after writing almost daily for two years (and thoroughly loving it), I don't see myself stopping any time soon. So I'll open up a little more to the Universe, and see what comes of it.
Besides that, I'm linking several times a week to various games, supplies, and books anyway - I may as well have them somewhere handy, where we'll receive a few pennies should anyone happen to want to buy. (And let me just say that you have our most humble and deepest gratitude should you ever do so.)

So - back to that mess I was talking about - the one that is our ordinary life.

There was playdough.

And lego rovers.

And moonsand.

And then -because I wasn't paying attention - moonsand in the playdough box. oof.

And a Buzz Lightyear movie on youtube,

and the new Godzilla game, still,

and Godzilla reenactments,

and the wrapping of presents (she wrapped up a bottle of essential oil and the book I am reading, and gifted me with them).

There's been whistling,
always whistling,

art,

coloring,

the shedding of a tooth (Trev, not Madd, yet, thank goodness)

eating snow,

loves,

polydrons,

laughter,

chasing,

screeching,

jokes,

mancala,

exercising
(indoors, it's like ten degrees outside lately, I think)

and Girl Scouts.
Yay for Girl Scouts!
And Maddie gets to sell cookies.
I'm expecting all family members to order at least a case.
:) Just wanted that out there.

Now we're here, after a few days of different and mostly absence, and I think we've gotten the business and hullabaloo out of the way.
Handy that it has come with the sweeping and purifying of our home, too...

So happily and with much hopefulness, I'll just say
"And now back to our regularly scheduled program....".

under

Shall I tell you all about how our day was spent yesterday?
That Trev read for hours and hours,
and that Eric and I spent the day cleaning carpets, and cleaning out under the kitchen sink and behind and under the washer and dryer?
No??
We'll skip it, then....

On to today!!!

oh, dear.

true confession time.

There are tiny bits of jello on the den carpet, under Madd's computer.
Trev comes to me with the tale.

"Maddie..." says her Mama, coming in caked with dirt from spending the day in the garden, "Babe, this can't be here.  Did you spill this?"
"No, I spit it."
"Well, it needs to be cleaned up.  We can't spit jello on the carpet, honey, it will turn the carpet green."
"Okay, Mom!" she says enthusiastically.
Then, "I can't get the rest," as I was passing through on my way back outside, "Could you help me?"
"Sure."
So we're picking up the tiniest bits, and she flings her hands, sending the jello bits to hell and back.
"Madd!  Don't fling it... use your head."
So she wipes it on her head.

sigh.
I do forget, friends.
I do forget that these favorite comrades of mine are just little,
and do not quite come from the same place as I.

Oh, Little Ones.
I love you so.
And I promise I am trying.

promises, promises

started going down early afternoon yesterday
- I think it's the plague -
and while today I feel a mite better,
the children are irritating eachother,
I'm pretending it isn't happening and burying further into my book,
and the house is going to pot.
so we could be checked out for a couple of days.

see you on the other side.


because there is another side....

  the Mirabelle tree has begun to sing.

stop.

Well, I finally decided to just stop the world.
I've had this problem for a long time (two months? three? four???) - this Problem looks like my bedroom, and the invader is Laundry. Now you may shrug off and easily dismiss this Terrible Problem of mine, but I'm quite serious, and You haven't seen it. a nightmare, I tell you. Ask our friends. And I'm not showing you any pictures. not quite "get on tv" bad, but damned near.

So yesterday I decided enough was enough.
I called my friends and told them my plan. told them where to look for my body if I went missing.
"I'm stopping everything. No park. No cuppycakes. No "help me with this, Mama." No library, no stories, no "Yes!"."
You see why I haven't gotten rid of this problem sooner.

"Eric. Take the children away." I didn't want any distractions.

So they went swimming.
And to get a candy and a slurpee afterwards.

And came home to research.

And book making.

And computer play.

And Eric went to work.

And the children proudly and quickly cleaned their bedrooms. I wonder if they were showing off?

And Maddie made me two Valentines. And they're beautiful, and melted my heart.

And she made Valentines for her friends. (You realize that I did not stop to help her, and she did this completely independently, right?)

And I had to crawl (scoot) on my belly under my bed (it's high enough) to toss out the things that were lost under there.

And I cleaned out my sock/underwear drawer, and tossed out the "oh, dear" (holey, past their time) things.

And I pulled out all the stuff that live upon the shelves - t-shirts and shorts and pants, and I threw into the garbage (cotton, so they'll decompose easily) probably close to twenty things. (Lordy, that felt good.)

And I had the side door open, and the sunshine was streaming in.

And when it was sunny the back door was open too, and I could hear the birds dancing and playing (I had filled the feeders earlier - my one concession for the day).

And I folded all my sweaters

and hung up all my clothes

and carried a hundred things downstairs

and took downstairs eight or ten pairs of fall/winter boots. That was interesting, too. After that chore, and chucking old clothes, and having the doors open, I was feeling quite Springy!!

And Maddie came in when I was almost done, and asked if she could help, so I handed her the Windex (the one cleaner I still buy instead of make) and a paper towel, and she cleaned the mirror, the back of the mirror, and the wall behind the mirror for me. That's my girl! Obviously she realized what was going on in this room!

And a little while after dark 'twas done. Done, done, done.

Clean pillows, clean linens, organized drawers, dusted, vacuumed, polished, and potpourri oil simmering in the pot.

now for today - the rest of the house!
and a Love Day party tonight!

[shakes head.] such an exciting life. aren't you so glad you come here to read this stuff?

December 27

Aaaaah, another month week, and everything might just be shined up and organized!

Sometimes it's the little things make you feel like you're making progress....

like tending to tiny paint pots that need to be washed and rinsed and replenished.


Which of course leads to painting.



And going through buckets of magic markers.

And sometimes you can pick up a little paintable tea set or nite-lite and it can help to get a creative flow going.




And sometimes - all of a sudden - your son is interested for the first time in Building.



And sometimes a Mama feels like she maybe didn't choose very inspiring gifts
-and no games-
and then she looks around when organizing and notices that the shelves are now two baskets deep, and that we're not lacking for Juice, and that it's probably going to be okay.




And sometimes you get to feel very, very grateful for your helpmate.


and sometimes in the midst of This you get to stop what you're doing to meet friends at the movie to see Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.

and sometimes you're invited over after.



And you play and visit and make plans for hosting a small New Year's Eve party....

and then you wake up in the morning, and think,
Oof... I have work to do.


Such is our Life right now.

december two

advent calendar

beads
-again and again and again-

a calculator math game
which led to wanting to check out multiplication problems
which led to "Hey! This is kind of like a video game!"
Which led to "Hey Mom.... 81!"
"Nine times nine."
"Correct! Nine times seven times five!"
"Uh... 315."
"Correct!" And on and on it went.....

more lights up

gingerbread cookies

running (the first time she's even been able to walk since she hurt her leg)

notes

knots

invitations

Sound experiment

the first three chapters of The Cricket In Times Square

painting

pms

annoying Daddy (thankfully it's him and not me)

and I don' know what else.

Let's call it good, shall we?

I have a long, quiet [please?] date with Doctor Watson and Mr. Holmes...

:)
We're still good.
Even though.

september 14: Make

Since there's all this Makin' goin' on, I felt compelled to start stuffing jars with herbs and liquids, too.
Maddie and I are on our way to stocking up our medicine drawer.
We started an infusion of yarrow in vodka for cuts and scrapes. (Yarrow is one of those especially fine plants -- it is used here for cleaning and relieving the pain of wounds and sores. It also contains silicin and silicylates so it eases feverish aches and pains.)

We also made a brandy cold medicine.
Brandy is great for a sore throat, so we stuffed bunches of herbs in a mason jar and filled it with a couple of cups of brandy (hollyhock: for colds and chest complaints, sage: sedative and helps remove toxins from the system, lemonbalm: sedative and induces sweating to reduce fevers, peppermint: removes harden mucus from the alimentary and bronchial systems and used for discomfort during colds , yarrow: eases feverish aches and pains).

Just in case you're interested, one more bit: soaking herbs in alcohol or glycerin extracts the medicinal alkaloids and the volatile oils (essential oils) from the herbs. After they sit for two weeks, we'll strain them and store them in a dark glass bottle.


We have a couple more to make today.

Books!
We read some good ones today-- Trevy and I both loved Is A Blue Whale The Biggest Thing There Is?. Which puts into perspective the size of things (kind of young for him, but still cool). We also read a pretty cool one called Math For All Seasons, which is about recognizing patterns and grouping numbers together quickly for easy counting, and counting by twos, threes, and fives. Maddie read with us Even Steven and Odd Todd... and of course we read the next Circus chapter of Pippi.

Then the rain came.
How lovely.
Breathe it in.

I showed Trevelyn Matching Fractions, which I got from Tara (at Periwinkles and Pine). So we played that for a minute or two.

We started water-color pictures for rainscapes.
And the rain stopped.
And it came again in a light sprinkle.
And it stopped again.

So we took took some water color paper, ran it under the tap to wet it, and took it outside to play.

Maddie's

Trev's

And we meant to go outside and ride bikes in puddles and make splashes and get muddy...

but instead we stayed in and made sculptures.
Very fine sculptures.

From left to right: Mama's spider and tree, Trev's monster, Mama's pink monster, Maddie's witch.

(We'll show you all about that a bit later.)

Maddie has started designing invitations for Halloween.
They're planning a party, those two.

There has been lots of tellie watching today, and not much computer play.
Lots of noisy,
and lots of quiet.

There has also been a bit of a funk, as the Mama has quite forgotten herself, and has chosen to experience some moments in pressure or frustration (so much to do), instead of Joy.
Silly Mama.
That will be quite enough of that!

We'll see you tonight.

september 13:

well... it's 7:14... and I'm ready for bed.
no, i didn't drink the brandy meant for the pears.
or the whiskey meant for the mirabelle cordial.

Here's our day in pictures, too tarred for thinking words.

BaffleBlox
Maddie has been totally digging this game since we got it a couple of days ago.

Maddie restrings her favorite jewels.

a new book

Qwirkle.

It may not look like much, but I tasted this fermented mess today (before it was blended with the whiskey), and it is delicious. :)
Can't wait to check it out over the winter holidays. (Has to sit a spell.)

We've had books together, and books apart.
Every one of us has gone off to ready by ourselves, today.

Madagascar,
play with Annabelle,
and some serious mess making has been going on.

The first batch of Mirabelle Cordial is just about ready to be capped and put downstairs 'til the holidays.

The first batch of brandied pears are made

and jars of (garden grown) raspberry jam are ready for storage.

The apples are drying...
and the mess is waiting.

And it will continue to do so 'til tomorrow.

A busy, exhausting day.

'til tomorrow, then.