So Piper went to Ann Marie’s for a girl baking day. Turns out to be a baking the lamb cake thing and go to church day. What a new experience for her. She said that [catholic church] was weird! Meanwhile at home Kheon locked himself in our closet for about three hours. I tried everything I could to get him out and then I resorted to tools. I finally drilled the lock out a couple of times and then bashed the crap out of it when that didn’t work. I couldn’t get him out! Finally I broke through the wall in the front closet that connected to our closet and was able to pull him out. He was slightly traumatized but is fine now. The door is STILL locked. Both children are doing fine despite their traumatic experiences.
|
|||||
 I am a stay at home mom with four awesome kids that absolutely fascinate me. I have a wonderful husband who is my best friend. A day just isn't right without him in it.
There isn't anything I won't try. And there isn't enough time for all the projects on my list. Today is my favorite day and as Abe Lincoln said, "It isn't the years in your life that count, its the life in your years". I love that! |
I am so excited about this year! And so glad we don’t have to build beds! The seed catalogs came in and the orders went out! Here is the selection for Garden 2010: TOMATO’S Amish Paste PEPPERS VERY HOT HOT MILD SWEET Melrose DECORATIVE BEANS CUCUMBERS PICKLING Delikatesse Cucumber EATING Suyo Long Cucumber BRASSICA Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli CARROTS ONIONS + Jaune Paille Des Vertus Onion RADISHES Giant of Sicily Radish You might find a mouse. You also might find boxes in various places. Projects hastily strewn in one of our cleaning races. There are toys on the floor, along with books and papers galore. The dishes aren’t done, my bed is not tidy. I can’t find the toothpaste I think it is hiding. The counters are covered with dishes from last night. If you came here you’d see the fruit flies are a fright. My laundry is usually piled to the ceiling, I know I can do it, but I just have this feeling: That tomorrow I’ll have energy abound But the kids clamor that I’m never around So off we go to the basement to paint They are here now but tomorrow they ain’t Dad will be mad ’cause he likes the house clean The things we have done can not be seen So when you come over take my advice: Tell me you love me and the house looks so nice. (with apologies to Shel Silverstein) I didn’t feel like making dinner last night so I asked the kids if they wanted dessert instead. Um, duh, was pretty much the response I got. So I searched for a recipe and came up with a combination of recipes and a couple tweeks. It turned out soooo good I thought I would share it. First thing though: the pan I used I call a “big 9 x 13″ so technically it’s not a 9 x 13 as Gina pointed out but something a bit bigger and short of searching for a ruler we’re just gonna stick with that. Okay?
I’ve got another twist for this up my sleeve. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Enjoy! Last week Piper and Daniels garter snakes gave birth to ten little ones. We got to see one still in it’s sack! I had to rescue one that had it’s ‘cord?’ tied around its tail. We didn’t think it was gonna make it but with a magnifying glass and scalpel we were was able to free it. His name is Crooktail. All of them are eating worms like crazy but we will take them down to the swamp and free them soon.
This morning there was a sparrow stuck inside the bird feeder. I brought it in and put him in a small bird cage so the kids could watch up close for a little while. He escaped once and perched up on the ceiling fan, oops! Piper wanted to tag him so we found a tiny, silver jump ring but it slid right off his foot. We named him Captain Jack Sparrow and took outside to set him free. The boys all yelled, “bye Jack”, even Kheon said bye, “ba, ja”.
The poor boys were kinda the outcasts for the weekend because the girls wanted to be alone but I think they had fun too because after they pulled out of the driveway Journey sat in the driveway and cried. He was sooo sad and he wouldn’t take any comforting. Meal times were especially interesting. Everything was an assembly line. It was easier in a way; not as many choices, take it or leave it, definitive organized meal times rather than just sitting down to dinner and passing the dish or snacking all day. I see how important it is to buy and cook in bulk! I think that’s how my boys will be in a few years. Oh boy! I hope I learned a lot this past weekend. We knitted a lot. I finished a sock, Gina made baby hats, and Rora, Zoe, and Piper worked on their knitting projects. The kids played outside on the swing. They made buttons for their parents with Piper’s badge a minit machine. We all took a walk down the speck road and picked blackberries then climbed the “rock” and took some pictures. I hope they can all come back soon. My house actually seemed quiet after they left and that’s saying a lot. I miss the hub-bub. Kids are fun! Continue reading Sleep Over My step son who recently turned 18 tried to kill himself 2 weeks ago. He works at a bar. He lives with a room mate. He left our house when he was 16. My husband and I have 4 other child 8 – 1. We were coming back from getting groceries and getting an ice cream cone when the bar called. They couldn’t find him, he just disappeared. There were several suicide notes. My husband had just seen him a few hours earlier, he was fine. We drove and we searched, thinking of places he might have gone. We went back toward the bar and someone yelled he’s in the ditch. He had cut his neck many times with a steak knife and laid down to die. His smoking saved him. His lighter wouldn’t work so he walked back into the kitchen of the bar for a new lighter. The waitress saw him and called 911. The kids were in the van so I brought them into the empty bar so they would not see anything. They played pool. Only Piper my oldest knew what was going on. Danny thought he was covered in mud. Thank goodness for my quick thinking daughter, she said, “well of course he’s covered in mud, it was raining and he was in the ditch”. Any way he went the ER and was sewn up by a surgeon. I never would have imagined how bad it was had my husband not snapped a picture with his phone. It was disturbing and definitely a serious attempt. He was put in the psych unit for a few days, diagnosed as bi-polar, put on a new regime of drugs and released. He tried to party with his drugs. He seemed angry. Saturday we got a call in the morning. His roommate couldn’t wake him, he was hot and having seizures. My husband left work only to miss the ambulance. He arrived at the hospital just in time to see helicopter lift off. They were transferring him to a larger hospital. He had overdosed on a bottle of Seroquil. I was able to see him on Sunday. It was so scary. He seemed like a vegetable, stuck between sleep and wake. He couldn’t hold onto where he was and kept looking for things that weren’t there. I was afraid he was going to stay like that for the rest of his life. I don’t think that was the ‘escape’ he was looking for. Fortunately he came around by the next evening and was transferred back to the psych unit. He’s there still, in the ICU side. He wants to get out of the ICU side so he has more freedom. Mike drives there every night after work to visit till 8:30 then comes home. We went last night just for the ride, an hour there and and a hour back. I thought I could knit or read but I just feel to depressed to do anything. Hopefully I am a comfort to my husband, I know how I feel going through this and can’t imagine what he is going through. My step son said he only wants to talk to his Dad or his Mom (who took her own life when he was 5). It is so sad. To comfort my daughter who I’m sure finds this very confusing and upsetting, I told her, “He’s just a little boy who needs his mom”. I can’t imaging ever leaving a child, I am so angry at her for that. We found out that there’s a girl out there that may be carrying his child. I don’t feel like he’s gonna live. I hope he ends the cycle. I need to write him a letter, whether he reads it or not. So, I guess this is just me gearing up to do that. [album gid=1] [garden] It has truly been a busy spring! We went from a barren back yard composed of nothing but sand and some persistent weeds to about 30 12 inch raised beds. We hauled 33 yards of soil with a wheel barrow.
It was quite a sight when all the beds were filled
And even more amazing when those tiny little seeds poked their heads out of the ground. I find this part to be the most miraculous.
So much to do so little time. Trellising, straw spreading, etc., etc.
We are actually starting to do “serious” harvesting not just radishes and lettuce. I’t looks like a jungle because it IS! There are vines crawling their way over into other beds. This is so much fun! I think I better get that straw spread or the weeds will take over. |
   |
|||
|
|
|||||
It was a very busy weekend! There were 8 kids and 3 adults in our house for 3 days! Wow! It was so much fun. Gina brought her granddaughter who is 4 and 3 of her nieces; ages 6, 8, and 11. So along with our 4 there were 8.
I know Kheon had a good time cause Zoe was his buddy. She held him and carried him around and even held his little hand as they walked together. I think Danny played the classic “annoying little brother”.
