I am not complaining, no sir. I am just saaaaaying. It's busy. There are hugs and snuggles and sweet giggles, and we are in the land of being careful not to say the word NO, because it just might trigger a tantrum...we try to re-direct:) One is in diapers, and oh yeah, bring that diaper bag along when you leave the house, along with the sippy cup or an extra water bottle with a straw, and some crackers, and a banana is always a good bet. The other is potty training, and has to go in the middle of the grocery store, for sure.
(all happy with the dark and quiet morning, making the coffee, mm hmm.)
There are books and toys strewn on the couches, and dollhouse stuff set up, train tracks and dollies, and coloring books on the table.
Having young children in the house makes the house seem alive.
But when they go home, ahhhh, I can relax, ha.
It's a strange time in our house. Joseph's absence is still glaring to me, and now Kathryn has up and gone to visit her brother in Oregon for a week. Evelyn works now, so during the day it's just Jonathan, Char, Cam, me, and either Lyd or Anne or both. Or, some days, neither. Today, Jon went to help some of our friends move into a new house, so it was just the girls and me. And next week, Evelyn will be house sitting and watching the dogs for Margaret and Adrian while they visit his family in Winnipeg, with baby Wulf.
Tonight, I cooked up some nice dinner...mashed russet potatoes, green beans, and some pan fried steak, which to be honest, was a little tough. There were seven steaks. At first I was thinking there wasn't enough, then I realized: Kathryn is gone for the week, no Joe, just Paul and I, Evelyn, Suzanne, Sonja, Jon, Char, Cam, and Lydia, who eats like half an ounce of steak.
Anyway, different times, for sure.
The girls sure are lively around the dinner table. Jonathan knows how to egg them on. One of his sisters was lamenting how girls are expected to be thin, and she is fine, and Jon replied that she could actually stand to lose maybe ten pounds. Oh no, Jon, do not go there.
He's the last boy left at home, with six sisters.
We are planning all sorts of things here. Apple orchard trip again, to a far away one that has gorgeous view...a diamond mine, Herkimer Diamond mine, to search for crystals, which are actually very cool. We might go visit Sam in Virginia soon, and then there is a weekend in Saratoga Springs with Emily, she's going to a medical conference and has a nice suite reserved and asked who wanted to go...um, me?!
There are plans to rent a house for a weekend and wine tour, and to go to Norway in March.
Then there are home improvement plans. We are getting a new roof, a blue roof, a metal blue roof. Can you say CA-CHING? But, we've lived here for a loooooong looooong time, since Joseph was 11 months old, and he's 27.
We are also renovating the foyer, meaning new ceiling paint, new wall paint, and I want to take down the chandelier and spray paint it, give it a new look, since it needs to be cleaned anyway. The stairs have their original carpet, was thinking to just get new carpet on them, that's easiest. We're re-doing our kitchen floors, and want to do the foyer floor too, because some of those tiles are cracked. We're ripping up carpet in bedrooms before kids move into them, as Joe's empty room creates a whole whirlwind of bedroom moves, a chain of them. (His room is much bigger than the one Char and Cam share, so in to there they will go, after the room gets a make-over. Then Sonja K. moves into Jon's old room, while he moves into the girls' old room...whatever. New paint, new floors...)
So there isn't a dull moment to be had, except for maybe right this very minute, before the van pulls into the driveway, and Evelyn, Suzanne, Sonja, Jon, and Miss Char come tumbling out and up the deck steps, the dogs barking like idiots. Lydia left half an hour ago, and Camille is having some quiet time too. The dogs are snoring right now, Paul is reading about bow hunting, and ahh, I'm doing my favorite.
I'm trying to eat better, but today, a big bag of Hershey's kisses happened. I've had six. No more. No more.
This was this morning, we had such a dark, dreary, deliciously rainy morning! The girls got on the bus, Evelyn drove Kathryn to the airport then went to work, Paul left for work, and the homeschool kids were still asleep...ahh.
A string of orange, brown lights makes it cozy.
Pumpkin spice!!!
1 comment:
Your house looks dark and cozy! It makes me want to get decorating! 🍁
Post a Comment