Eat, Clean, Repeat.

When you walk into the kitchen and see this, it can be assumed that they are trying to tell you something.

I should be on the brink of insanity more often.

I don't know why no one in my immediate circle has commented on the tire marks running across by back yet; I am sure they are there. At least they should be there- I feel like I was broadsided by a Mac Truck this past week. Does someone want to pass me a mirror so that I can check?

There have been things going on with my extended family that even I would almost not believe if I read them in print. This, and the feeling that this whole unemployment thing that my guy (oh,and about 15.9% of all other Central Oregonians) has going on is getting old-enough-already, have left me talking gibberish and staring down walls.

Okay, not really, but close.

What it has done is thrown me into this crazy, crazy creative streak where suddenly all those little things that, for years, have never had a place in my home (beyond the rubbermaid in the garage)just suddenly 'fit'. I married a man with a crafty (in the best sense of the word) mother and she always gives me cool stuff that I have no idea what to do with. This week some of it started to piece itself together in a non-cluttery kind of way; Pure magic. It has been a decoupage and scrapbook paper transformation, and it has been the only thing I have wanted to do at times. At my place of employment, this would be called 'distress tolerence,' where you pick an activity and become hyper-focused on it so that you can survive the immediate period of stress on the short-term without going bonkers. I'm happy to report that it is serving me well. Instead of my kids thinking mommy is a basket case, my kids actually think I'm fun, and like a wise Suess once said, fun is good. Besides, they'll figure out the basket case part of me soon enough, I'm going to shine while I still can.


I have been staying up till 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning cutting and pasting away. I do not have a finished product yet because, well, because I have five kids who are constantly asking to eat and such, so I am taking little bites, just like a good girl should. And yes, if any of you are Shel Silverstein fans, you know that just like Tiny Melinda Mae, in eighty-nine years I'll eat this whale, just like I said I would.

Above is a before of our Homeschool Room/ Dining/Kitchen/Family Room. After typing that it is no wonder I have NEVER, in the almost seven years we have owned this house, been able to figure out this space. Those are some serious identity issues, no? This is Eilidh, giving a sneak peak at the improvements. My favorite part of the room so far is this cabinet. Please, pay no attention to the white board behind it, I just don't know where to put the silly thing yet. Knowing me, it will still be there when my baby turns six. Sometimes a girl just needs a little more color in her life.

Cat Nap

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with this picture? That is either one spoiled cat, or one humble little boy.

7 Things That I Can Not Get to Link.

I have decided to participate in '7 Quick Takes Friday' because the thought of doing something quickly has appeal; I can do quick. Quick is good.


1. After several nights of full-nighted sleep I was awakened last night at 2:00, 2:40, 4:00, 4:30 and finally at 6:00. My husband was not home so there was no pretending not to hear the interruptions. I really love full nights of sleep but really, when you have five kids, I guess you are just kind of asking for it.

Besides that, if Early Bird had not woken me up to watch 'Cars' this morning I would not be able to include my second and third thing for the morning.

2. Garbage Day! I almost missed it. I forget to take it to the curb last night. If I had not been pulled out of bed before I was ready, my house would have been passed by and I would not have been awake to see...

3. The other professional team of garbage collectors on their bikes rummage through mine and my neighbors refuse. HELLO. That's mine, even if it is trash.

Thank heaven I have an Early Bird, I suppose, or I would have overlooked it, and that could have made for a very long week around here garbage-wise.

4. Last night, through the (mixed) miracle that is Grandma, and friends who offer you their free tickets, my husband and I boldy got to go where no man has gone before; I highly recomend it! Highly.

5. Sunshine. We are suppose to be smiled upon all weekend. How I love me some sunshine. I can smell the 'Broad Spectrum UVA/UVB Protection' already. MMMMMM...did I mention I love sunshine?

6. Dr. Pepper! I am going to drink a lot of it today because my friend Cammie told me I can, and she already knows my Number Seven, so it is okay.

7. It is my Birthday. I am somewhere close to the middle of my thirties, and that is all I am going to say about that. I will tell you though, that I get to have my favorite food with my favorite people today, and that I will be showered with home made birthday cards. What a Lucky, if not older, Duck am I?

Puppy Dog Tails

It is different having boys in the house after being dominated with girl stuff for almost ten years . Sure, our first little guy is going to be four in December and I should be accustomed to it by now, but every time I get smacked with a flying hot wheel or rammed in the shin by an industrial sized Tonka truck (because our house is shrinking and I am not nearly as nimble as Jack; always failing to jump out of the way of oncoming traffic) you could say that the reality of life with boys hits me.


I have a hyperactive, hyperpokey-prody girl too (who gives her brothers a run for their money) but it simply is not the same. My girls pick at, climb on, and wrestle with their dad. For the longest time I thought I was safe. During my first seven or so years of motherhood my days were relatively quiet until Dad came home, and I was fine with that, figuring it was just 'dad play.' But then my first cub became mobile, and then we added another. Soon I realized that they did not see Mommy as off-limits (in the climbing-wall sense of the word) as their sisters had. How could they not know that mommies are not meant for body slamming!?!



Thankfully, they try and make up for it in other ways. My oldest lives to serve. I have mentioned before that he seems to think I am helpless without him and does not see any need to inconvenience me for anything he thinks he can do himself. I look forward to the day when this does not involve pouring himself milk while standing in the middle of my living room, or having to wonder when a concerned citizen will dutifully contact the authorities because of 'suspicious' bumps or bruises received while scaling the highest tower to rescue the toy that mommy 'couldn't find' earlier in the day. "Look! Si Guy found it, Mommy!"


There is good reason the boy was in a crib up until last week.


And then there is his brother who can accessorize in a way that would make any mother proud. He won't always leave my heels in the middle of the floor for me to trip on; someday he may learn to put them back after he has borrowed them.


Until they grow into their gifts though, I will continue to just lick my wounds. I will try to hold back my tears when I discover that the unnatural combination of milk and Moon Sand were the reason my son did not wake me too early in the morning. I will smile when I hear my son's voice soften as he scoops in on his elbows to get a better look at his baby sister. I will enjoy my one-year-old's sheer bulk when he wiggles his way into my lap and decides to stay for a while.


Most of all, I will continue to wonder: When was it exactly, that I started looking at boys who are taller than I am affectionately; hoping that they have a Mom at home who has been as much changed for the better by their sons lives as I have mine?