I mop my floors every day, and make homemade bread.

I'm a mom of 3 little ones who makes homemade bread and mops the floor every day.

HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!! No, seriously, ha ha ha!

Okay, now that we've all had a good laugh...

I guess I could say that statement dabbles in truth from a certain perspective. You see, my almost 3 year old drenches my floor almost daily. ARG! WATER!! I have a love hate relationship with H2O. Diego loves it unconditionally: in the bath, falling out of a cup, puddled on the kitchen floor, dripping into the cupboards under the sink, cascading down the front of his clothes, in a kiddie pool, splashing onto the bathroom floor from tub waves, from a sprinkler, at the beach, in the fountains at Sea World, from a pitcher, from a jerryrigged sprinkler (this one is a real gem, he covers the bathroom/kitchen faucet with his fingers to make a "SPRINKLER!"), from the water fountain at the park, from the inside of his mouth ("it's raining!")

Well, you get the point. These are getting funnier as I type them out. So anyways, I like water just fine, but my love is not nearly as all-encompasing as my little dude's. So, in truth, a portion of my floor gets mopped each day as my little one lovingly supplies the water, and the "dirties" supply a towel waiting to be washed for me to mop with. Wow, my homemaking skills estound me.

Meanwhile, the bread thing is true occasionally. More especially since Jason and I made a bread for dishes pact.
I make bread = Jason automatically does the dishes.
I like the simplicity of choosing which one I'd rather do. I like having an escape if I REALLY DO NOT feel like doing dishes. Heck, yesterday when I didn't want to do the dishes and didn't have to (because I had made bread that morning) it was so liberating that I really did mop my floors instead- no puddles to clean even. Go figure. On a side note, I've tried to find that same liberation in just deciding not to do the dishes until I *feel* like it, and that's not at all the same, it does about as much good as waving a fist at a rain cloud; it's still looming overhead, not so liberating!

Well, it's almost 10pm, and there was no breadmaking today, so I guess I'll go wash those dishes.

New video

I have been trying to catch Athen standing up on his own for weeks now, and I FINALLY got it! So here is his latest trick for all the grandmas and grandpas and aunties and uncles out there!

You are about to be susan boyle's newest fan!

Have you seen this you tube video of Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent yet? Well, you NEED to watch it! Right now would be an excellent time, so click on the link... wait, you might want to go get a tissue first. No really, we'll wait for you.

Okay. Are you back, and ready? Good. Now clickety click click click!

Clip of Susan Boyle


Wasn't that so great?? Hooray for going after your dreams!

We have a couple extra boys to play with today. The kids are at the age where they LOVE having friends over. My biggest amusement today is how Brooklyn, although she is definitely outnumbered, is still running the show. A minute ago she very sweetly instructed all of them to sit quietly on her bed, while she stood on the other side of the room and taught them a "music class" and they actually did it! Do you know anyone that can get a little boy to sit still for a lesson, let alone 3 little boys (Athen can't reach her bed yet, but he would have been there if he could, he is also totally wrapped around her finger) I am basking in the cuteness.... and slightly worried about future teenage years. Do you really want your 16 year old daughter to have an arsenal of boys? Yikes. Maybe we'll pray for acne :o)

What to do, what to do?

With more grad school in the planning stages, we've been measuring a lot of possibilities for various situations. For example:

Pro: Going to a great 3 year program in sunny southern California.
Con: a ton of student loans to afford the closest safe apartment and a long commute.

So many things to think about and the planning is almost dizzying, but what's really pressing on my nerves right now is this: What to do, what to do?And this:

I'd prefer a box of corn starch snowed into my living room over this right now. VASTLY prefer it. I keep hearing how patient other moms think I am, but a mess like this really erks me and is amplified by the HOURS I spend cleaning, sorting and undoing just such a mess just a few short days ago. Not that there's any evidence of that today.

So back to the main question of " what to do? "

Well, eventually I decided exactly what to do:

1. Make flowers, bugs, and shadow outlines with sidewalk chalk.
2. Fly a Lighting McQueen kite.
3. Sweep my steps.
4. And after 2 + hours outside, we went on a wagon ride to the park, but never made it past the kiddie pool in our friends front yard.

Can I just say, I LOVE Spring for avoiding the inside of my house. Now we're back, all cantankerous feelings dissipated, and I'm ready for a late nap and snuggle time with my kids.

*ah* Life is good.

Sometimes the sailor needs more calming that the storm does.

Athen's Birthday

It is hard to believe that Athen has been in our family for a year, and even harder to imagine our family without him. He is so pleasant and such a little peacemaker since his happy manners are absolutely infectious! We all just love him more than words can express! Happy Birthday baby!

You really can't turn 1 without getting free run of some cake!