Small Successes!

“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes, they forgive them.” ~Oscar Wilde~

Sometimes they don’t.

 

Being at the “end of the time zones” is irritating. When I read my favorite blogs I am reading what *you* did that day. When you read my blog you are reading what I did yesterday. Why do little things like that annoy me? CALM…the word is calm.

I was in tune with calm when the day started. I checked my dishes in the oven and I had yogurt! I did not strain this batch as it will all be used in smoothies anyhow. Without flavor no one is going to eat it plain. I finished with 3.5 quarts so obviously some was lost in the heating process.

Then my calm was tested. Lucas stepped in a mess that Sophie had made, then proceeded to wipe it down my couch ‘cause that’s what 5-year olds do (he’s not my first, ya know). That ended my cheerful kitchen cleaning. I had to scrub the carpet, the couch and then I coated it all in baking soda to soak up any smells. Waited. Vacuumed. Much time was lost and my calm was shaky.

Emily had the first smoothie from the yogurt and then the three of them made bracelets for their teachers while I vacuumed.

Talk about disaster. Emily’s room is tore apart. The guys carried out one desk and we need to bring in a different one, the computer and the fish tank. We have been avoiding it for many days now, but decided it was time.

 

But first, how did my laundry soap turn out? Absolutely perfect! Am I getting rich making yogurt and laundry soap? Absolutely not. Is it fun to make something so simple that brings me .00000312 % closer to being self-sufficient? You betcha. (Wait for it….wait for it….I’m expecting some kind of Sarah Palin joke).

I’m also hanging up my clothes again to dry. I then toss them in the dryer for a 5-minute fluff. Our $528 electric bill last month was just too much. Of course, we do have seven people in our house…. that’s a lot of laundry, hot water for showers, cooking, dishes, computers, televisions….raising children isn’t free, but the love they give me is worth every penny! Or hundreds of dollars. :) But if I can find simple ways to cut some corners, I will.

Look….we turned the bed around and brought in the desk. Holy cow is progress slow!

Nick gave Emily the computer and desk (he got a lap top for Christmas) and decided to rearrange his room. Homer was helping him put up a dart board.

It took awhile to put the fish tank together, but I wanted Emily to do it. I took the time to teach her (like my mom did me) rather than rush through it. I feel confident she could set one up herself now and know about the filters, etc..

 

There are really only 5 tiger barbs, but with the mirrored sides it looks like more.

She picked an ocean background that looks so real.

Nick gave us a box of aquarium stuff he had from his tank years ago. Olivia picked out two pieces for her tank.

So did Lucas (yes…we have to get another tank. The sharing thing isn’t going to work out). And there we are…all piled in Emily’s room. We have this great big house and you can usually find us all in one tiny space. Well, everyone but Elijah. He’s very sick. He slept all day and got out of bed once last night to try and eat. He thinks he might be getting an ear infection, too, so we’ll see how he is when he gets up today. (Shocked I let a photo of me slip in here? Hate, hate, hate the fat photos, but I guess it is who I am so why hide?).

 

We did get the computer set up and all the furniture in place. Now just the details need to be finished in Emily’s room. Today, we will work on Lucas and Olivia’s room, and their tanks. It’s –42* in town this morning. Perfect weather for aquarium shopping.