home sweet home.

I had so much fun emailing with Tania this afternoon [as we do each day and every chance we can]. During one of our emails, we started discussing our homes. While our homes may not be perfect by all standards of our society, they are just that, our homes and perfect for us and our families -- full of chaos, laughter, spirit and love.

If you peeked into our old country home, you'd find:

• painted walls, but bare of artwork and only a handful of photos
• stacked layouts waiting for a home
• red Ikea cube tables in the living room for the kids to move about
• three small rockers, gifts for the kids on their first Christmases
• two hampers full of dirty laundry
• unmade beds [still, even at 7:30 pm]
  
• K-boy's Pokemon drawings, carefully drawn, colored and cut, all on the red tables
• K-girl's messes in various places
• a mismatched, cluttered master bedroom
• red metal stars
• rusty, old stars above the dining room window
• a messy, yet creatively cluttered, craft table
• a K-boy reading a book from a new series
  
• leaves from yesterday's wet shoes still on the back entry's linoleum floor
• ugly blue and white wallpaper in the kitchen and dining room [not enough to motivate me to remove it]
• mismatched and/or old furniture, mostly inherited from my mother-in-law
  
• cluttered closets, but tidy-ed toy boxes
• two stacks of paperwork, mostly school memorabilia, on the kitchen counter that need attention
• photos, menus and kid art on the fridge
• K-girl's shoes next to the shoe shelf
• a sleeping K-girl in one of those unmade beds, fallen asleep during a movie
  
• white cardstock butterflies on K-girl's bedroom walls
• three or four or five outfits of the K-girl because everything felt icky this morning
• a stack of magazines atop the toilet tank
• various crayons on top of the plastic ornament bin - temporary housing
• candles and a glass vase filled with found acorns and pine cones on the kitchen windowsill
• floors that need to be mopped and carpet that needs deep cleaning
• bags filled with projects in progress and for traveling, belonging to the girls in the family
• a colorfully decorated Christmas tree, but no other evidence of the upcoming holiday
  
• a wheeled yellow crate filled to the brim with Cub Scout stuff
• a basket filled with felt pieces cut by the K-girl
• a sewing machine ready to repurpose a sweater and start on a Christmas gift
  
• some sassy talking and joking by the K-kiddos
• lots and lots of love shared

Thank you, Tania, for always inspiring me!

not-so-lovely letters

I'm feeling a bit under the weather and cranky. While emailing a friend about insurances, I started two short letters of complaint. More followed.

My dear K-girl,
Must you really whine about everything? Every.single.thing. Every.single.day. Must you? I love you dearly, but plucking my toenails one by one sounds more appealing than listening to the whining. Please stop.

Dear dental insurance,
Your coverage is almost useless. Paying $18 as your portion of a $2000 procedure is ridiculous. It's not like my hubby pulled his tooth just for the fun of it and it's not like he wasn't already having it fixed in the one-year process the dentist mapped out for him. Take your $18 and shove it --- the least you could pay is my monthly premium. Thirty-two bucks will not kill ya.

My sweet children,
Where is my beloved white cardstock? I know you all like to draw with markers and I love your artwork, but could you please use Daddy's white copier paper instead? Although, it really is fine since your white cardstock drawings and alien cards get seen more often than the white-background layouts I make.

To health plan,
Why do you not cover the H1N1 screening for my elementary-age son? You say he's not in a high-risk category, but hello, have you seen the germy kids at school who cough all over the place, touch each other with boogery hands and come to school already sick? And, why is it that my doctor can deem it necessary for the H1N1 culture [which you cover], but only after we pay the $40 for the screening that is not reliable?

Uh-huh, Aunt Flo,
I am tired of your monthly visit. Please go away.

Idiot driver,
You know who you are --- yes, you, the smoking, cell phone talking girl who thought you needed to ride my car's bumper on the winding road around the airport. Why? I was going the speed limit. If you were in such a hurry, you should've started your trip a few minutes earlier. And, do you know what double yellow lines mean? It means no passing ----- really, you shouldn't pass me, through double yellow lines while going over a hill. You were lucky this time.

Car repair shop,
Enjoy my $500 for the car repair [that I diagnosed myself]. I'm sure your technician that did the $300 worth of work will only see about $30 of it in his paycheck. I will be taking an auto mechanics class to show you up.

Dear self,
Patience. Repeat it after yourself time and time again [mainly when that cute K-girl whines or when you can't find white cardstock or when you have to pick up piles of toys and dirty clothes] --- P A T I E N C E. Take a deep breath and enjoy those cute, sweet K-kiddos -- they're growing up way too quickly not to enjoy every single ounce of them.

My dear lovely hubby,
I love you to pieces. And thank you for putting up with me. *smooch*

Ah, lovely Friday.

october | get it done

My to do list for the month. When broken down into smaller sub-lists, it isn't quite as daunting. There is still lots on it, but it is manageable.

Now, if only I can find the time to manage all of these bits and pieces along with our family's daily life needs.

home
 insurance paperwork/enrollment
 plan out events at state fair
 paint wooden chest and shelf
 measure bathroom floor and buy flooring
 caulk shower
 trim tree branches
 check heater, clean air conditioners

crafts
 make bead bracelet for M
 add binding to K-girl’s quilt
 start quilt / Christmas projects
 make Christmas gift list
 open etsy shop
 make rose shirt
 convert K-girl’s white overalls to dress
 sew K-boy bag for hand-drawn alien cards
 card/stamping project for October NEWS craft day
 make / package cards for giftgiving
 start December Daily album
 make Fiesta Texas/Six Flags mini album
 make card for A
 crochet scarf or necklace

cub scouts
 meeting email to parents
 update advancement charts
 call fire department
 call hardware store
 call police department
 print belt loop information
 make mask prototype
 make leaves batik prototype
 write lesson / meeting plans for year

misc
 send card to R
 send card to D
 buy / make Halloween costumes

he said. she said.

If you were a fly on the wall in our home, you'd hear some funny [and not-so-funny] things being said. Most of them are humorous only to the parents of the K kiddos, but nonetheless, they are things to be remembered.

K boy said:

• Mom, you're always worrying : said when I was tucking him into bed one night when he was still sick
• I love you : said very struggingly from a boy who does not like to be cuddly or huggy or mushy
• The best part was no sister in my hair : said about a sick day at home with just momma
• That was the most awesomest hit! : exclaimed when practicing batting with the small red bouncy ball and he hit it across the street
• Kooooooooooonaaaaaaaaa : said when not getting his way with K girl or when she is bothering him, but said with lots of love, I'm sure
• For the last time! : said almost daily as the boy wants to make his point
  

K girl said:

• These make me feel icky! : said about everything and anytime a fit happens
• I hate you : said when one cute girl doesn't get her way [hurtful to this momma]
• I will miss you : said when leaving day care each morning
• Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai : said when not getting her way with her brother, but said with lots of love, I'm sure
• I know what I'm doing! : said very matter-of-factly while making rice krispie treats the way learned in kindergarten, no stove required -- and she knew what she was doing
  

Momma said:

• Did you hear what I said? : repeated constantly on a daily basis
• I'm gonna throw it all away! : said each time a toy has to be picked up from the floor
• I'm gonna get you! : said as hands are in air, fingers moving and the tickle bug is about to attack cute K kiddos
• Dad, ___ needs you : insert a kiddo name and use whenever kid is pitching fit or whining or needing something unnecessarily
  
• I love you : said to each kiddo each morning, each night and anytime in between
  

Daddy said:

• What can I throw out? : said each time a cute K kiddo isn't listening or pitching a fit or ignoring parental units
• Listen to your mom : said a bazillion times when the kiddos aren't listening [again]
• Honka-honka-woman : said to wife and followed with a hugemongous cackle in hopes to stay out of the doghouse
• Hi beautiful : said to one cute K-girl
• Hey handsome : said to one handsome K-boy
  

tgif.

Thank God it's Friday.

Ha. The F in that wondramous TGIF exclamation has been replaced with the following F words:

fever
fits
fatigue
flu

The K-boy started this morning with fever, then sore throat and sore tummy. No strep though. Fatigue and pink eyes set in. Quickly. H1N1 culture has been done, but we await results. Hmph.

The K-girl started with a "little" headache and started feeling warm while we waited in the doc's office. Fever set in shortly after our arrival home. Then fatigue. Hot, cold.

This K-momma is heartbroken her babies are sick. I ache for them.

INfluenza, get out!

finally.

Finally Friday.

And finally a fitless morning.

Right then I knew all would be okay today.

Sunshiney day.

haning by my toenails.

When the kids get a bit obnoxious or overzealous or too cranky and whiney, I always tease the hubby that I am going to hang them by their toenails. Joking, of course. I thought the new day, the turn of the daily calendar and clock hands, would bring a new attitude and some sunshine.

The K-girl proclaimed very loudly this morning that she does not like wearing those 'skirts with shorts under them' [skorts, that is]. They make her feel icky. I guess she'll be going to school in her grandma panties because that is all we purchased for her school wardrobe. That is all she wanted to wear this summer. Once that was resolved with some worn out, hand-me-down denim shorts, she moved on to complain about her shoe.

Her shoe felt like it was falling off. Her skinny feet were situated in them and the shoestrings pulled as tight as they possibly could without leaving any spare room to wiggle her toes. Tied in a neat bow. Oh no, they were falling off. I did not retied them for her; she continued to whine. Finally, about 20 minutes later and at day care she said, "My shoe feels better like it's not falling off anymore."

After the shoe isssue, it was the car door. She did not want to enter the car through the door on her side but that on the driver side. She stomped over to the passenger side and flopped herself down in the car seat.

I was hanging by my pink polished toenails, each ready to be plucked one by one. But, the daughter kissed me farewell and said, "I love you."

We had a peek of sunshine in a rough morning.