new morning...

in my new green living room. It isn't quite finished, but almost. The hallway is half done, and the stairway is started. I don't love the color, but I don't hate it anymore. Which means it is staying. We are much too lazy to change something we don't absolutely hate. We keep walking around looking at it and saying things like, "hmm, it's not TOO bad..."...and well, it is fresh and clean and handprint-free! So, I don't hate it.....

The kitchen and dining area are going to be the same color, again. 'Cause I like it. It is called English Ivory, but it is like a buttercream color...not off white, not yellow, but in between. The kids just call it yellow, but it is very pale. Mali tried to talk me into a warm red shade to draw the living room colors into the kitchen and make it cozy, but I hadn't thought about it long enough and it seems pretty radical...so, for now, the same color...when we get to it....

This is the older kids' project, we are paying them to do it. Mirielle, Aaron, Mali, Samuel, and Margaret...and Kathryn and Evelyn like to help, too. They start each evening around 9, 9:30 after the kids are in bed....it works well that way, because the paint is dry in the morning.

So, this morning the house looks as bad as it did yesterday morning. Only worse, because nice Mirielle has been doing laundry and there are piles on the couch, again. And there are sheets covering the couches, to keep the paint off. And I found an opened can of vanilla frosting in the kitchen....and there are chip crumbs and sprinkles on the living room floor....those big kids have a party every night after we go to bed...they paint, and they eat, and then watch a movie...then sleep half the day...and when I tell them they should go to bed earlier, they just tell me, "MOMMMMMM! We can never do this! When school starts we have to GET UP in the morning again!!!" And I really don't mind that they eat things at night, they just don't have to leave so much evidence. The other night they made Cook'n Serve chocolate pudding.

Mirielle made the most excellent blueberry pies with the berries they picked, which I think is one of the most delicious things in the world......it was very very good. Not too sweet, not to tart. Speaking of Mirielle, she is leaving again!! She has accepted a nanny job in England. She will be going in September, and then leaving from there to go to Norway around December, and staying Norway for a year! That is way way too long for my dear friend and daughter to be gone! It is just plain not fair, and it actually hurts me. Like a punch, a physical pain in the stomach....I know that it has nothing to do with me, she has always wanted to travel. She tried some college, didn't love it, and insists she can pick it up again later. I know she will keep in touch, but it still is very painful. Who will cut coupons for me? Who will think it is a fun adventure to go grocery shopping and save lots of money and buy all the good shampoo? Who will listen to my dreams and laugh at my jokes? She is a rational voice here, sometimes irrational too, but she is responsible and funny and just a sunshine. Great, now I'm crying.....

So.....we are going to the beach today. These older kids are really wanting to go, to enjoy the summer since we are not going camping....so, since I listen to them and try to do things they want to do, we are going to the beach. Since I am so nice, I am also taking Caleb and Nathaniel, sons of our friends who have their hands full right now. Their dad is in remission for esophogeal cancer, and has a long appointment today with a scan, ect. They have eight kids and if we take two for the day, it lessens the load for the ones at home. So our 15 passenger van will be full to the brim.

Yes we are going to the beach and here I sit....I got up earlier than the kids today, took a shower, visited Miss Rosie out on the deck, made some coffee and got a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. And here I sit. I need to gather suits, and towels, and pack some lunch. Ah, I'll get to it. That is one thing about myself that has changed over the years....I have turned into a procrastinator. I have ceased to get things ready the night before because each day is just enough, I can't seem to make myself add more to it in preparation for the next....the exception to that is the school clothes, it is easier to get those out the night before.

I did not go on my walk yesterday, because I went in the pool with the kids three times. Not necessarily because I wanted to, but I have to be in there when Charlotte Claire and Camille are. They are like these little bobble-heads with their floaties on, even a wave of water or a good splash and they are sputtering. I have them either in my arms or in my reach.....sometimes I will give one to Kathryn and one to Evelyn and swim and do some excercises....Rosie the dog came swimming twice yesterday. She loves the water...she jumps up on the side of the pool and whines.....so I had Aaron lift her in for me a few times....she can swim across the pool, but she get a bit nervous and wants to be held.....she just loves it....when we put her back out, she jumps right back up and wants to get back in......

Part of me feels like we shouldn't go to the beach because we are in the middle of this painting project and we have so much to do around here. And I despise that because that is GROWN-UP thinking. I do not want to think like a grown-up. So, we are going to the beach.....