saturday in july...

I'm getting too old, by the time I get used to a particular month, it's almost gone. July. The most glorious month of the year here in the northeast. We've had drought conditions, hot days, lots of sunshine, it's almost like we've all been on a month-long Caribbean vacation. Except for the cooking and cleaning and driving kids places, and the E.R. visit, you know. Oh, and Sonja's name is now on a little paper next to the receptionist's phone, to call if there's a cancellation, so we don't have to wait a few weeks for the MRI. I never thought it took so long just to get a diagnosis. The poor girl. She's tough though, she manages to hobble up the ladder and float around in the pool. She's also very kind, if she can get something herself, she does it, I honestly thought she would be taking advantage of her lack of mobility to have the other kids (and me) wait on her. But she tried to carry in bags from the store yesterday...um, no, honey, you're on crutches there, we can get them. I think the novelty is wearing off, she's getting tired of hobbling, and wants to be done...

The older kids all left for the day again, leaving Paul and I here with our two little girls. It's like playing house, playing "small family". Paul has some things to do around here, like order new windows:). We built our house ourselves...well, I took care of the five kids, he worked full time and came directly here to the building site...it was framed in July, and we moved in the following April. My two brothers also worked full time at their regular jobs, then worked on this house evenings and weekends. My other brothers and brother-in-law also helped, along with friends who helped paint, ect. The windows, Andersen windows, were gorgeous. Wood frames, tilt-out, but they have rotted. Some of the sashes have actually crumbled. There are 20 to replace, and of course we are doing it ourselves, with help from a friend...so he's just ordering a few to see how it goes.

It's never a dull moment when you own a home. Last week it was the septic needing pumping, we try to do that every year. The guy came, and there were two vehicles in the driveway that were in the way of the big truck, but when we tried to move them, fun kicked in! Kathryn tried the Bravada, and the key got stuck in the ignition, it wouldn't budge, the car wouldn't even turn over. Then the big van wouldn't start, so the septic guy just hitched it to the back of his son's truck, pulled it out of the driveway. Okay. The whole time he was asking me questions I didn't know the answers to, and I hadn't had time to change from my shorts and tank top to something more respectable, and I was sweating like chubby people tend to sweat on hot days. Then he announced that the septic pump wasn't working ($$$), and he had to get to the fuse box...which is in one of the girls' bedrooms, which meant he had to come in the house, and of course the kitty litter really needed to be changed, but at least the bedroom was nice and clean. Anyway. Turns out it was just the switch on the pump, so the whole ordeal only cost $400, which seemed like a bargain, after us imagining the price of a new pump. The we ordered fuel oil, to get the nice summer price....$300. Then we had work done on the van...it was only $75, it seemed like a give-away!

And you know, all the little things, like the skunks getting into the garbage, and the dogs and their fleas...I buy them the nicest flea-remedy, (I've tried Frontline Plus, K-9 Advantage, the nice stuff from Walmart) I also flea comb them and use flea spray, which Duke doesn't mind, but Suri is terrified of. The fleas are in the yard, and with the grass so dry, they are flourishing. I have been resisting, but Paul is going to spray the yard with something to kill them. It does no good for us to wage this war against them in the house when they are having a big party in the yard.

And here's a funny one: coffee coffee everywhere and not a drop to drink. ha. We ran out of regular coffee. Evelyn has a new Keurig from Grandma, but we use only bottled water in it because our water wrecks coffee makers like there's no tomorrow. We ran out of bottled water. I just make pots of coffee in the regular maker anyway, but we ran out of coffee. Well, we have caramel swirl, and chocolate fudge, and even a bag of vanilla, but Paul does not do flavored coffee, no way, no how. So there's one cup left in the pot for him...I had a pour-over cup of caramel swirl, and it's yummy.

Anyway, after Paul does the things he has to do today, I am hoping we can do something fun with the little girls.

And that's all I have to say this morning.