friday!!!

Tonight is the firetruck parade in the next town over. We go every year, the kids get lots of candy and we get to see people we know, as in the rescue workers and ambulance drivers...it is great fun.

It is a beautiful day out, nice and sunny, a few clouds floating by. The pool is getting ready to swim in, the kids tried it out last evening, got really cold and stirred up the remaining leaves on the bottom, we put more chlorine in afterwards, and it is looking good. After school, we are going for a dip!

But...in the mean time, I have cupcakes to frost. Around 120-130, I counted but lost count and decided it didn't matter. I did let the kids split a few of the ugly ones when they got off the bus yesterday because they walked in right when the last batch was coming out of the oven, and we all know what it is like when we smell heavenly smells and cannot have any.

A quick trip to the small city with Mali and Camille yesterday afternoon....a stop at the craft store for sprinkles and ribbon for the cupcakes, and to Walmart for chlorine...and a watermelon, a honeydew, some cherries, and some peaches. (we all started singing the peaches song that Benjamin used to play all the time, which lead to all the other songs we remembered him singing, (Knock Knock Knock on Heaven's Door, some Green Day, Pear Jam...)Mirielle and I started crying, seriously. We miss him so much. It is just hard to have him gone, and even harder to have him where he is.)

Anyway. Before I left, I assigned some girls to make dinner. I gave them some suggestions. well. When I got home, there were pot pies in the oven. Paul had run to the store in the next town to get them because when he got home, no dinner, girls didn't know what to make. I felt like the huge failure, but he didn't mind. He doesn't eat pot pies, he made himself an omelet and some salad from the garden. I had: melted butter in a frying pan with fresh green peppers and onions, two tablespoons of leftover brown rice, some leftover chicken all ripped up, and half a can of green beans...I then added a few chugs of hot sauce, mixed it all up, and ate it steaming hot. It was very good, just a little salty from the hot sauce. The kids had some green beans with their pot pies, that made it a healthy dinner, right?

Today I am being a little more proactive about dinner, there are pork chops thawing. Perhaps I will get down to the hardware store and refill the grill propane, too. Right now, I have no vehicle...Emily has it because she is finishing the grill shopping for me today...Abigail has her car. Abigail is getting out of work early today and trying to purchase a new car, or a used one, depending on what kind of deal she can get and how much money she gets for her smashed car.

Anyway, I have cupcakes to decorate. I enjoy it, but will be glad when they are all finished and packed safely in their bins.

I bought Camille the book, "Little Mommy" yesterday, one of the classic Little Golden books. ($3.99! When I was little, they were .69 cents!) She is waiting for me to read it to her. She is feeling mighty sorry for herself because I just shoved her over a little and she fell right off the arm of my chair, I totally did not push her off, I was just moving her off my arm and she went overboard. Yes, I feel horrible, but I didn't mean it. She isn't hurt, thankfully, I wouldn't want to explain that one at the ER, and besides, my hair needs washing...and I have my slobby shorts on...