if you can't beat 'em...

My kids love chocolate chip cookie dough. I made a triple batch of it the other day, and baked a few batches of cookies. The rest of the dough was supposed to be baked and sent to Benjamin. But Mirielle decided to wait for the boxes she had ordered from the post office to arrive before sending Ben any more cookies. Apparently the first batch she sent him was well-recieved. They aren't allowed to bring any food to their room or bunker or bay or whatever they call it, so he opened them up and shared them. She had baked them on a Tuesday and sent them priority mail, so he got them just two days later, still fresh. Anyway....the cookie dough. It is in the bowl in the 'fridge, covered with foil. With a spoon in it. Everytime I opened the 'fridge, there would be less in the bowl. Well, last evening, I wandered into the kitchen and started opening cupboards, then I remembered the cookie dough....MOM!! yes, I had two spoonfuls....and it is almost gone....

The living room is all painted. From start to finish in less than 24 hours, yay! Not including the spackling and sanding. The furniture is all put back and the mirror and pictures are hung up again. I like the color this time. It is rather darkish, but it is cozy and warm. Ashley was such a help to me. She is tall and thin and graceful and she can just hop up on a chair and reach ......she had a good attitude about it, too. She has a job interview today, too. She was planning to go back to college, but then thought she would be able to go be with Benjamin before the semester would end, but that didn't happen. One thing we are learning about the Army is that you can hear alot of things, but that isn't how it alway goes.

I have to pick Aaron up from school this afternoon at six o'clock to take him to get his contact lenses. He is in the school play this year. He takes drama class, and his drama teacher asked him to be Mr. Salt in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", so he said he would. I think he is having fun with it, but between working at the grocery store and staying after when he can, he is pretty busy. He is also filling out paper work for nursing school and he has his nose surgery coming up...

I feel like taking it easy today. Painting the living room isn't just about rolling on the paint. (also, it isn't just like dinner cooks itself, or the bedding washes itself....other things have to be done, too....kids always still need to eat and be watched and be comforted when they trip in their princess high heels) (and Rosie doesn't just automatically behave, no she still does things like break the chain and visit the neighbors and escape from the deck and run out the door, just to see if we are paying attention) It is about moving everything away from the walls....then when your arms are sore from rolling, and your back is going to break, putting everything back. The older girls went to girls' fellowship last evening, and I was putting the room back together, and asking Sam for help here and there, and he asked why the heck I couldn't just "wait until tomorrow" to do it. I can't do that. When I start something, I like to get it finished and all back in order. Just the fact that I was able to paint yesterday when the kids were around is something different for me, when I had crawlers and toddlers, I had to wait until they were in bed.......anyway, it is nice to have it all done.

As much as I am enjoying actualy being able to do these things around here, I need to clarify that I would rather have babies and toddlers than have a freshly painted room. I wish I could go back and live through all those years over again. I would take things better. I wouldn't mourn the loss of sleep so much. I wouldn't care as much if things got messy. I would hug them even more and listen to their silly dreams and smell their hair......wait, I can still do THOSE things. But all the years I was so tired....the days I longed for naps....little did I know how fast they would go by and how much I would miss them.....