monday....and the natives are restless...

They have this really good idea that they want to go to the drive-in....blah, I don't feel like it....I stayed up too late last night, I need an afternoon coffee.

We went in the pool for a good long time, then I went to pick up a nice Little Tikes playhouse for the little girls, one without a roof. Friends of ours put it out by the road to sell it, and someone cake along and stole the roof off of it! So they gave it to us. Now the little girls have two playhouses on the deck, and they have been fighting over the new one. Sonja BIT Charlotte Claire, so she had to come in and go into her room, no more playhouse. Then Charlotte Claire BIT Jonathan, and she is sitting on the couch, no more playhouse.

So no quiet afternoon here.

We are, however, having a good day. Kathryn just made me a coffee, and we are each having three chocolate mint cookies. The biters are not happy because I have chewed them out, appropriate, eh? Charlotte Claire is sorry, sorry, sorry. hmm. I am glad she is sorry, but she is NOT going back out the the new playhouse yet. (it is one thing to put my foot down, but keeping it down it the hard part.)

I washed lots of clothes and bedding and towels today, it is perfect weather for drying things outside on the deck. We swept up and cleaned up just a bit, and at one point I was getting the vacuum cleaner out and I decided not to. It is summer!

Paul has to go to a meeting tonight, but I am going to make a nice dinner. I have pork chops marinating in lemon pepper sauce. Rice and veggies? I like grilling, now that I have the time to do it, no baby fussing for me...wah...no more baby fussing for me! I would take the baby in a second! But since there is no baby fussing for me these days, it seems easier to do things like grill....and take kids in the pool, and go shopping.....Camille is getting more and more independent and grown-up. She still likes to cuddle with me, in fact this morning she woke up singing and playing with her dolly, and I called her to come into bed with me. We snuggled up under the covers and I showed her pictures on my phone. That is one nice thing about summer days, no hurry to get up.....

Margaret is playing the piano, Joseph is loading the dishwasher, Kathryn and Evelyn are trading silly bands, Suzanne is playing in the playhouse with Camille, Charlotte Claire is sneaking out there, Jonathan is riding the trike, yes, in the house, Sonja is lying on the couch......Mali was considering going for her run, but it is very warm out right now. Benjamin just left with his friend....

My sister is back from her trip to Norway, so we talked on the phone for a long time today. She liked the bread over there, it is hearty and truly whole-grain. She said the warmest it was there was in the low seventies...but it is lovely country and she saw good friends and made new ones. Plus she heard good encouraging things, and she saw many nice prams.

It is so distracting in here, and these distractions have names. The distraction named Kathryn has Camille's princess crown on, the distraction named Evelyn has the phone in her hand and is asking if she can invite her friends over....the distraction named Camille is crying her eyes out.....Suze took her into my room to play night night, but she does not want to play that game. The irony of that is that she is crying because she NEEDS to play that game....oh well. No afternoon quiet today.