If I were a steam engine on this fine morning, I would need some steam to get a movin. I got a full nights sleep last night. I went to bed at 9:15 pm. Pathetic. But I had been up since basically 3:45 am when Prince Charming's alarm clock started slapping us in the ears in attempts to rouse him out of bed. He finally got up at 4:11, and there after, I helped make coffee, find clean laundry that was still sitting, folded nicely in baskets, and run upstairs to make sure the kids were still covered up and slumbering soundly. At 4:30 I dropped back into bed. At 5:00 I decided since I wasn't yet asleep, there was no sense in forcing myself. I had to be up at 5:30 anyway. So, I got up and started the daily routine.
Well, that was yesterday. Today is a different story. Today I woke up, got AJ and Coco Bean ready and fed and out the door to the school bus. My plan was to go back to bed. But what was that?? What did I hear?? Curly Top proclaimed, "Mommy! I am awake!" After she ate her breakfast I asked if she wanted to watch a movie. I knew the answer already, and knew that I might be able to catch a few zzz's while laying down with her. I did nap while she enjoyed Barney's Big Adventure. And now I have coffee. I want to get busy. There are sheets to be washed, dishes to be done, and fall projects to sew and craft. I. Just. Can't. Get. Started.
Maybe the steam from the coffee will help.

Lessons for today

• no matter how often and thoroughly i sweep, there is always a stray Cheerio lurking about, waiting for the broom and dust pan to be put away before showing itself
• the trash won't take itself out. so i finally did it. but i didn't pick up what had overflown to the floor. wait til i have another cup of coffee.
  
• the laundry is indeed like rabbits: ever multiplying
  
• feeding a toddler beans makes for a poopie machine
• a clean house is for magazine pictures. i really wish there was a magazine full of regular pics for regular people so i didn't feel so inadequate at times.
  
• ice cream does make you feel better
• i can prejudge my day by the amount of coffee i drink in the morning. 1 cup=not enough, 2 cups= normal day, 3 cups= be on the alert, 4 cups= you'd better stay outta my path
• aveeno lotion is the best remedy for dishpan hands. scratch that. 12 year old is the best remedy. aveeno is second best. (grandma's, don't be alarmed. since aj started school, she has only had to do dishes twice.)
• when curly top makes requests of me (like can i have juice or will you read to me), no matter how many times i answer her, she will make the same demand with increasing volume from the word "go" until I meet that request over and over and over and over. i have no solution for this.
• when trying to teach coco bean how to tie a shoe, i know its time to stop when he falls over playing dead.
• i would really like some french toast right now.
• vinegar and/or bleach work really well at cleaning sippy cups that have been left in a toy box or car or under a bed too long, and when the lid comes off only a person in a special suit who works in a lab 6 levels under ground can identify the contents.
• but sometimes its better to burn that sippy cup and buy a new one.
• warning: do not eat LJ Silvers food and not expect to wake up in the night with bad dreams and a greasy stomach ache.
• the last 2 nights i have prayed that my little curly top would stay in her bed and sleep all night long. the last 2 nights she did. prayer works.
• don't open a new bag of potatoes when the bottom is seeping liquid. a plague of gnats will take you and your house as hostage and plunder.
• when the toddler says "up, up, i want yooouuuu", you know you are loved unconditionally.
  

Decree!!

From this day forth (or until the next time I decide to make a change) my monkeys will be forth known as:
AJ (monkey #1)
Coco Bean (monkey #2)
Curly Top (monkey #3)
Prince Charming will remain Prince Charming as long as he stays out of the dog house.

It has been brought to my attention that my precious babes should have more endearing names. After pondering this, I have agreed, and give thanks to the one who pointed this out to me.

You may now return to your regular daily reading.

Memo: The Mesh Shirt is STILL Out

To the man at Ohio and Broadway today:
This memo is being published to let you know THE MESH SHIRT WENT OUT OF STYLE IN 1987.
PLEASE DON'T SCARE MY CHILDREN AGAIN.

The self appointed fashion police

It's Monday morning. (I accidentally started typing Monday Moron. oopsie. Glad I caught that one.) I have been up for 3 hours. I am nursing my 3rd cup of coffee. And I left the pot on thinking I may have to have the dreaded 4th cup today. I rarely EVER have 4 cups of coffee in a morning. I can't remember the last time I had 4. Sometimes too much coffee in the morning can really make guts hate the person they are indwelling. You know what I mean???
Well, this entry was not intended to make you think of my guts. So, I'd better get on with it.
Remember the mouse from the other night? 2 mornings later (which is now 2 days ago) my prince charming was still sleeping, and the oldest monkey was out feeding the animals. The younger 2 monkeys (is the plural form of monkeys: monkeys, monkies, monkey? Just wondering because of the whole fish/fish, deer/deer, goose/geese thing) and I were finishing up our breakfast at the table. Middle monkey got up to go get his cowboy gear on. Hat, bandanna around the neck, boots and lasso. er, uh jump rope. We improvise around here. As he was turning around to come back to the table to ask me a question (probably "where are my hat, bandanna, boots, and lasso) he started screaming like a neanderthal yet again! Which in turn scared monkey #3 into screaming at the top of her lungs as well. My seat is at the far side of the room. (at the table, but if I so choose to do a 180, at the keyboard of the computer desk. quite handy, I might add.) As they are screaming, prince charming shoots straight out of bed again, and as I see him trying to throw himself into his jeans (our room has a door leading to the dining room), I am trying to ask what in the world they are screaming at. Having heard the screams, my oldest monkey runs into the house to see what's wrong. Monkey #2 finally spits out, "Its the mouse!" I start laughing as I get up to come see it/figure out what to do with it. I get to that side of the room and there is indeed a mouse, and once again it is running in circles! Its the funniest thing I've ever seen! I think the high pitched screams of little children scares the bejeezers out of the poor little thing, and all it can do is RUN! In Circles!! Prince Charming and I were both barefoot, and I was trying to find something to do something to this unwanted-in-my-house creature. While I was looking around, my #1 monkey, wearing her mud boots (because she'd been outside) stepped up and stomped on the little thing. Shock and awe filled my hubby and me. And then she said, "It's still moving. I have to put it out of its misery!" So she stomped the thing again. And then she did the most responsible thing she could and picked up the little mouse by its tail and threw it outside. Then she cleaned the floor where the stomping occurred. What a gal!!!
P.S. I know the plural form of monkey is monkeys.

Beware of traveling on the stairs!

(note the rusty orange color to add to the spooky factor)

As most of you are aware, my youngest monkey desperately believes there is a gorilla in the upstairs wings surrounding the steps. We've tried to calm her fears. We've searched for this gorilla. I even thought the mountain in the recently hung Ansel Adams picture might be what's frightening her. But, we haven't found the gorilla or anything that resembles it.
My husband, the man I thought was mature in his age, had to rummage through some boxes and totes in the storage closet that is nestled in the wing upstairs. While he was looking for his treasure, he came across something that he couldn't put down. He not only decided right then what he would do with this item, he enlisted the help of our oldest monkey to be an accessory in his crime.
The smallest monkey, only being 2 years of age, went up the steps to go play with her babies in the play room. However she did not make it to the play room. Her older, wiser, protector of a sister steered her instead to "show" her where the gorilla was upstairs. When my little, poor, unsuspecting monkey got over to the area where her gorilla resides, the older monkey gave some sort of signal, and all of a sudden the door bursts open and my masked husband, in a scary old bald man mask, jumps and snorts and yells, scaring my baby sooooooooooooooooooooo entirely much that she trembled and ran in a circle and screamed at the top of her lungs. She continued screaming and saying, "I want mommy!!!" over and over while her daddy tried to console and comfort her. Much to his dismay, he could not comfort the frantic baby. I took her from his arms and went straight to the rocking chair. The poor thing whimpered and frantically sucked her thumb for what seemed like an hour.

That was yesterday before supper.

My small monkey WILL NOT go upstairs. She wouldn't play last night, she wouldn't sleep in her bed (so I let her sleep on a pallet in the living room), and today she will not even go to her room to pick out her clothes for the day, which is usually her favorite morning activity. The poor thing is truly scared. The husband still thinks its funny. agh.

Then, in the middle of the night, well, it was about 4:00am, my middle monkey came down the steps into my room to wake me and tell me he was scared and asked if he could sleep on the couch. I didn't argue because I wanted to get back to sleep as soon as possible. Little did I know he went back upstairs to retrieve his pillow. Upon his descent, while I was returning to my slumber, he started stomping and screaming at the top of his lungs. My husband and I shot right out of bed and tried to get into the little space at the foot of the steps. My prince charming made it in front of me, so I was left standing in my dark room without my glasses on. They were all the way across the room on my nightstand. When we finally got my son to speak, after all his shrieking, he yelled, "There's a mouse!!!" All I saw was my hubby high footing it, as he was barefoot. He told ME to do something with the mouse! I couldn't see the mouse and I had no idea where he was at the time. Then hubby says, "It just went under the fridge. I don't have anything to stomp it with. I don't know why I told you to get it." Then he starts laughing as he tells me the mouse was on the 4th step up, ran down the stairs, and once it was on the floor it started running in circles until it finally shot under the fridge. He couldn't fathom why the mouse would be running in circles. I was rolling, and shot out that the poor little thing was probably scared to death of our son screaming at the top of his lungs.
The middle monkey was still freaked out, so I walked him to the living room and bedded him down on the couch with his pillow and a couple of blankets. Then I went back to bed and drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face thinking about the gorilla and the mouse.

Its Unanimous!

Many thanks to all who took precious time out of their day to vote!!
The vote is unanimous. Tara K., author of Sew Long Fare Well, will now be blogging on a regular basis. The allotted time will share "drink coffee" on her schedule.

Please keep in mind that while she is desperately trying to follow her new schedule, there may be days when the schedule is thrown out the window, or when things like "cleaning up spilled juice" or "sewing is too important" or "the kids missed the bus" may take precedence over coffee/blog time. She promises to make these days few and far between.

And as always, each and every one of you is important and valued and massively appreciated. Without you, this blog would be just an outlet; words aimlessly thrown into cyberspace. Thank you!!!

There is a little monkey sitting in the dining room floor coloring. She has changed her clothes 3 times so far this morning. And she has sported a little white straw Easter hat, a straw cowboy hat, and a black and white polka dotted bucket hat. And to complete each ensemble, she must wear the princess tennis shoes. At one time, she carried her favorite blanket, her baby doll with hair that she rubs and pulls while sucking her thumb, and her over sized purple stuffed cow. Then she threw all those aside to play a game of Hungry Hungry Hippo. What a busy little monkey. I cannot complain. She is keeping herself occupied while the other monkeys are at school.
Real school.
Public school.
The first day of school, the youngest monkey was just fine. She stayed by my side and talked and sang, and was ever so excited when the older two were dropped off by the school bus. The second day she was a different story. She wet her pants twice and threw horrible fits. The third day she was just a little cranky. But now, two weeks later, she is getting used to time alone. Without her older brother to mimic all the live long day, she is learning to think on her own. She is telling tales, playing with her baby dolls, and taking wonderful long naps. One day last week she watched a Strawberry Shortcake movie and learned some big words. When I went to get her ready to go "bye bye" I said, "Lets get your socks on." She stated, "Deese are not socks. Dey are imagination!" They were gray and pink and white striped; ever so cute. How can one argue with that???

While I am enjoying some peace and quiet, I am trying to get used to my new "schedule". There is time for cooking and cleaning and sewing and reading. Or if the weather permits (like yesterday), just reading. I can feel some sanity reentering my brain.
I have made a meal plan for the month, have been keeping up with the dishes (so I no longer wake up to last nights supper dishes telling me hello on the counter top), and I've started baking some again. My next goal is to start sewing for the fall craft show.

Speaking of reading, the book I just finished is titled "Before Green Gables" by Budge Wilson. This book is about the life of Anne Shirley from the time she was born until she was on her train trip to Green Gables. The author wrote just like the original Anne author, and had my full attention from the first page. So, if you are an Anne of Green Gables fan, I would definitely recommend this book.

The older two monkeys are enjoying school. My oldest has asked everyone, including the teachers, to call her AJ. And they do. She loves her music and art classes, and next week she starts volleyball. She's never played before and is ever so excited to start.
The middle monkey was so thrilled to get a Buzz Lightyear lunch box that he didn't care what else kindergarten consisted of. He's learning his phone number and address, and how to tie his shoes. This morning he was miffed at me because I made him a bowl of Malt-O-Meal instead of letting him buy breakfast at school. If that's the worst thing he remembers about his first year of school, then I think we're doing ok.

Well, I didn't have "blog time" on my schedule. So I must bid farewell. Or, maybe I should change my schedule??? Should I take a vote?? My devoted readers, all 5 of you, would you vote to "get a move on" or "change the schedule"?
Until next time...