All posts by Nichole

Family matters

Tuesday doesn’t have nearly as many songs as Monday

Yesterday was drizzly and gray, which meant that the kids slept in a bit. Which was a good thing, because I slept in, too. It’s a habit I’m trying to break.

Anyway, yesterday was rainy, and it was considerably less active than Monday. After breakfast and some history work, we ventured out for Poppy’s haircut. I forgot to take my camera; I’ll try to remember it on Friday, when Pete gets his trim. (I couldn’t get them in on the same day. Good thing the salon isn’t far away.) After the haircut, we headed home for lunch. Poppy had a peanut butter and honey sandwich, as usual. Pete requested a bean & rice burrito, though, so I pulled a few out of the freezer for the two of us. I made the burritos on Saturday, and the recipe made enough filling for dinner that night and 7 extra burritos for the freezer.

The kids had some computer time after lunch. Poppy did her Teaching Textbooks lesson first and then played some games at Webkinz and on the Sesame Street website. Pete generally sticks to PBS Kids or Disney Jr. They usually get 30 minutes of “free time” on the computer every day, but I gave them extra yesterday since it was raining and we couldn’t go out to play.

While they were having computer time, I crowned myself the Queen of Laundry. A few of Rockford’s work shirts came out of the laundry the other day with big, blue blotches on them. I’m pretty sure it was the Downy I’d been adding. A little Googling suggested rubbing a paste made of vinegar and baking soda on the stain and then rewashing it. And it worked! I was rather proud. And grateful for the internet.

Pete went down for his nap after his computer time, and it was one of the rare days that he actually went to sleep. He must’ve been exhausted, too, because he slept for two hours. While he was napping, Poppy took to her room for her daily Quiet Time. It’s supposed to be an hour long, but it’s usually more like 10 minutes of quiet followed by 5 minutes of “Mommy, Can I Have a Snack and Is My Quiet Time Over Yet?”, etc., until the hour is up. Today, though, I told her she could take pictures of some of her favorite things in her bedroom. That kept her pretty well occupied for awhile.

After Rockford got home I went out to fill out the paperwork to cancel my gym membership. I like going to our gym, and the kids love the kid-care area. I haven’t really seen any improvement in my shall we say “fitness” in the 3 years I’ve been a member there, though, and that made it kind of hard for me to justify renewing the contract. (And yes, I know it’s my own fault that I’m not seeing any improvement, but there’s still no reason to pay them on the off chance that I’ll get my act together.)

The rest of the evening was a dinner of crispy garlic chicken, mashed potatoes & green beans with carrots and cranberries (Poppy ate the world’s smallest bite of a carrot!); a trip to Target for paper towels, milk and Count Chocula, which is my favorite thing about Halloween; bedtime for the small people; and baseball-watching for Rockford and me. And also a bowl of ice cream, a.k.a. the perfect end to a rather nice day.

I’m linking up with Adventuroo’s Week in My Life again!

Family matters

Monday did not live up to its bad reputation

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"Circus Museum - Bandwagon" by Roger Wollstadt
You know I love a good bandwagon, right? This morning I found a new one to hop on, via Fadra. Melissa at Adventuroo is hosting a “Week in My Life” roundup, the point being to give a small (or giant and detailed) look into your daily life. Since I didn’t know about it yesterday, I didn’t take very many pictures. Today, I’ve already taken pictures of: burritos; the children; and a bowl full of random stuff. I know. The anticipation over this week’s posts is almost unbearable, isn’t it?

Let’s begin!

It’s a ButterscotchSundae.com Monday!

Usually we have homeschool co-op on Mondays. Pete takes a class called “Around the Farm” and then a yoga class, and Poppy takes a class about jungles and then Outdoor Games. I’m assisting in “The History of Video Games,” and I’m co-teaching Outdoor Games. But this week my sister-in-law and her children were visiting, so we didn’t go to co-op. Instead:

We went to our local discount grocery emporium, where Chloe stocked up on gluten-free pasta and assorted goods.

My oldest nephew, who is taller than me by a large margin now, spent most of the day in the basement, because that’s what teenagers do. (Right? Who knows. They’re mysterious.)

Pumpkins were decorated, using a kit Chloe found at Goodwill. I’m not a fan of the carving o’ the gourd, so I think I might invest in something like it every year. (Or these spider stands, which are hilarious and even easier.)
So much better than carving.

The oldest niece — also taller than me, but only by a skosh — was busy trying to make me adopt her. By which I mean she entertained the small kids for most of the day, and then she helped me make dinner. (Sliced chicken from the CrockPot, Parmesan risotto and honey-glazed roasted sweet potatoes. Yum.)

The younger nephew apparently also wants to live with us. He weeded two of the four flower beds, and he mowed the lawn. He is industrious, and he accepts candy in lieu of cash as payment.

The littlest cousin, who is just a few months older than Pete, played with Pete & Poppy all day long. (She also spent some time trying to smash Marsha T. Cat with love, but we will forgive her for that.)

Chloe used her massive reserves of gogetterocity to help me to cross a few things off my Master List of Things to Do Around the House. We disassembled some of the very very floral curtains that were left by the previous owner, and she drove them over to Goodwill. And then! She fixed the doorknob on our bedroom, which was backwards. As in, you could hypothetically lock someone in, like say for instance your mother who is just trying to fold your laundry. Fortunately, Pete only realized that was possible one day before Chloe rendered it impossible.

Today has been considerably less action-packed than yesterday. But you’ll have to tune in tomorrow to find out just what the future had in store for that burrito. (It wasn’t anything weird.)

Also: “These Are The Days” has been in my head ever since I started writing this post.