A Little Bit of This and That

Olivia really enjoys the computer. This is Winnie-the-Pooh Spelling. She's working on beginning sounds/letters. What do you suppose they will do with her a year from now when she starts Kindergarten? She's picked this stuff up on her own. I can't imagine what she could do if I got serious and pushed her. (Do not look at the messy desk. Ug! You looked, didn't you?).

Sunday I made chocolate chip cookies. Wednesday it was poppy seed muffins. What should I bake today? Oh and fyi...when your multiple small children distract you and you forget to add the baking soda the muffins will cook and you can eat them, but they look funny.

Good morning little pups.
One child desperately in need of a haircut, but refuses to cooperate. Ah, the joys of the 3-year old.
We played dress-up yesterday and Olivia was so excited about getting many ponies. Elijah thought she looked funny. She did, but we had a good time.


It's been five years since we moved into our home and we never did completely get unpacked. We have eight kids and all have lived here at some point in their lives. (Those still at home we hold tightly, and those who have left we miss with heart-breaking pain). They kept me very busy with dance lessons, hockey practices, motocross and about a dozen other activities...you get the idea...so I never quite got my life organized like I wanted. As you know, it takes a lot of time to care for that many kids' daily needs so the extra doesn't happen. Well, I truly hate mess so I am going to run myself into the ground doing the extra until everything is ship shape. I mean really....how long can it take to muck out 3000 square feet and pick up a yard full of stuff?

We have a lot of VCR tapes piled everywhere in and out of cases. I was going to toss them, but then decided that the little ones don't notice the poor quality. Many of the cases are gone or smashed from years of abuse or never get used anyhow so I tossed what was left and I made labels for each movie with photos for my non-readers. Here's the first batch done and I finished twice that this morning. Just one more little way to be organized. (Ya, I'm sure there is a medication for this type of anal behavior, but I kind of like being different).

Look: Another stack of magazines from 1996. Yup. They're gone.

I made Elijah this ghetto looking hat yesterday morning while cleaning because....well, because I can. Now I've been given colors and instructions for several more for everyone. I love making things for the kids.

Look at this beautiful mushroom growing by the mailbox. It was a tad bigger than my fist.

Actually, there were two.

Lots of cranberries as well.

This morning it was 31 degrees when I got up at 6:00am. Had to scrape windows and warm the truck up to take Elijah to the bus. Hello?!! I am so not ready for winter.

Three beds of petunias look as if they melted. Just nasty so I've been waiting for the sun to warm things up a bit before I head out to clean them out. This is not the fun part of gardening. I guess I should get to it. Have a great day!