my fun and exciting day

1. Charlotte Claire and Camille, who are only 18 months apart, are turning out to be partners in crime. Today, they emptied out two full wipes containers on the treadmill, and Charlotte Claire poured some extra water on them, just to be sure. Be sure what, I don't know. At the same time, Camille found her second favorite purse, and emptied some of that, mostly all my change, all over the treadmill. I did not know I had that much change in there. (Camille's first all time favorite purse seems to be Mirielle's....it has GUM!)



2. I gave the three little ones a bath today. Seems simple. When they got out, the water did not go down....I plunged and plunged....I was afraid to leave it in there, but the kids were shivering. It finally went down later.....I was very paranoid the bathroom door would get left open, and Camille would fall in. I always imagine the worst.



3. I really need to either: not stock up on groceries so much, or get more cupboards. Hot Cocoa Mix, Swiss Miss and Nestle, were $1 a 10 pack at WalMart. I got some last week, then Mirielle stopped the other day and got 7 more boxes. What do you get when you leave a bag of boxes of cocoa mix on the floor? Hint: a toddler who learns fast how to open cocoa, and a two year old who sees the cocoa and thinks a nice bottle of cocoa would be nice.....



4. Benjamin did not have class today, but he had to go in to work this afternoon. When he wandered in here this morning, I asked him for a little help....so he picked up and vacummed. The floor looked really nice, but the couches and chairs were piled with stuff. Thank you, though Ben, I do appreciate it.....



5. It is 5:20, and I do not have the foggiest what's for dinner. The kids were kind of heavy with the after-school snacks today, and sometimes they don't appreciate the nice big meals I cook for them....last night, I had to abandon my meatloaf plans because the oven wasn't working....so I made meatballs, instead, and cooked them on the stove-top. (sometimes I lose my thought train, Suzanne just hit her leg on the coffee-table....and Jon wants help with his Thomas Track)..anyways, some of them don't like sauce, and that is rough, since we have spaghetti or some kind of pasta and sauce at least once a week.



One thing I have been thinking about is how there are trends in parenting.....like breastfeeding, pacifier use, bottle usage. When I had my first baby, 24 years ago, there were not alot of moms nursing their babies. It was a "hidden" thing. I remember the frustration of feeding the first few babies in store changing room, bathrooms, and other dark corners. Somewhere along the line I realized that nursing a baby is such a good and natural thing that it was okay to do, in most places. I always stayed covered, and didn't nurse babies who were too old and wiggly, the blanket-puller-downers. Ususally, anyway. So about bottles: I usually start giving them a bottle when they are weaned from breastfeeding, and that has varied from 11 months to around 13 months.....usually when I am pregnant for the next one. It can be challenging to have an infant, a toddler, a two year old, and a four year old....or whatever similar variation. So I have never been concerned about having kids having bottles for too long. I figured if they were getting comfort from it, and they were done with it by kindergarten, they were going to be okay. Usually they outgrow it at an early age, but some have been more dependant on it for longer. Big deal. Such a big deal, that for the life of me I cannot remember which kids had it for longer times. That is the thing to remember as a parent: each of the present conondrums is just a "tempest in a teacup".....it will pass, and the details will slip into oblivion.

So, now I have to go make dinner for 16 of us, as Benjamin is at work. Hmm....what shall I make?

Oh, I recieved a question about my sister. My sister is Cheryl, she lives 4 miles down the road, which isn't close enough. I don't get to spend enough time with her. We do shop together sometimes. We talk on the phone about 3 times a week. She is my very good friend. She does not have a blog, but she she should get one. She is very funny, and with seven daughters, she has some funny stories. Like the time the guy cashier asked her how she was going to pay for so many weddings, and she told him, "with the money we saved not using birth control..." She doesn't always think before speaking, which is alot of fun. That poor kid did not know what to say next.....I am trying to get her to at least write on here once in a while, but she is sort of private about things sometimes.....

Well, dinner....