Didja ever wonder what kisses were for???

Now you know.

See ya around...

Sometimes they are just fun to look at...

Sometimes, when they are quiet, I find pure joy in just looking at them. Seeing the soft, slightly fuzzy cheeks. Marveling at the shiny curls. Smelling the clean hair. I pray I never forget these days.

See you around...

Tough Day at the Library

We had a bunch to do yesterday...Lots of odd chores...Swim Team in the morning...and then a major library run. Now it would seem that a day in the library would be a lovely thing, right? Well, yes and no.

See first we had to go home, gather all the books (we never have less than 50), decide what HAS to go back today, what we want
to keep, what we've already read even if it's not due, separate the piles into "stuff to go BACK" to Library A, "stuff to RE-check out" at Library A, "stuff to go BACK" to Library B and "stuff to RE-check out" at Library B. Then we have to choose who is having which color library bag (we use reusable grocery bags), gather those up, make sure every one has water for the car, get buckled and go...well get buckled and realize someone has to use the facilities...
AND then GO!

At Library A...we have to deal with snarky librarians who A.) feel that we shouldn't be allowed to check out a book more than once (???HUH???), and B.) Don't feel that it's THEIR job to check the book back in so that it can be checked out again...said librarian WOULD RATHER that we checked the books in, put in a request for them and came BACK again...(um, I live approximately 30 minutes away, my thoughts are "Sure, no problem, sweetie, I completely understand that you would rather me drive away AND drive back so that you don't have to CHANGE SCREENS on your computer"...okay really thought, "GET A GRIP").

Anyhoo, during THIS lovely transaction, the girlies were checking out a COOL fish tank (thankfully) and so were none the wiser. I DID get to recheck my library books and I DID make her go get my holds for me in the other room. After which I went to look at the fish with the girls. Bean, understandably, got a touch bored with the fish and asked if she could walk into the children's department that shared a wall with the tank...basically it was on the other side and I'd be able to see her THROUGH the fish tank. I said, "Sure, no problem"...off she went. So we stood there for 5 minutes or so, checking out the wonders that a wall-sized fish tank hold for small children. I decided it was time to go...waved to Bean and started to head out. She came along at first, BUT THEN, Bear had another question or two and Bean thought she'd head back. Well, I ANSWERED the question, grabbed Monkey Face's hand and said, "Let's go"...and we went.

This is the part that gets a little fuzzy. I counted heads...walked away from the fishtank...then outside the doors to the little "friends of the library" shelves in the hallway outside the library, but still in the building. I counted heads again. I told them I was going to see if there was anything of interest and turned to ask Bean to hold hands with Monkey Face...looked again...spun in a circle like I was chasing my tail...she was nowhere. So I dropped EVERYTHIHNG (library bags, books) grabbed the two I HAD and raced back inside...as she was RACING out. Bless her little heart, she had been feeling SO independant and then well, not so much.

I discovered as we turned BACK around, all three children firmly IN HAND, that there HAD been another kid sort of WITH me...but it was just a little girl that was the same approximate size as Beanie. At least I felt better that I wasn't losing my mind and technically we didn't LEAVE her...had she LOOKED out the door she could have seen me, but you know that sick feeling in the pit of your stomache when you think all is well and then realize that it's not...well she is still stickin' close to me today. S'okay, with me, my heart dropped a little, too.

Now that we were all together, I was able to gander through the shelves...and I did find a little gold...Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent by Bill Peet (we love Bill Peet) in hard back and My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara for a quarter each. WOO HOO. And for just a little more icing on that cake, I found out that my library is having it's BIG sale in a week or so...WOO HOO...I LOVE BOOKS! But I REALLY love CHEAP books.

Then off to Library B...where things went more smoothly with the staff, but where Bear decided that she had had ENOUGH and THEN decided that completely obnoxious was a personality she would try. When I said, "Okay, no books, we're going home", she melted down. Thankfully, I'd reserved some Strawberry Shortcake books for Monkey Face, so I didn't lose her, too.

But I've learned my lesson...this is what happens when you do a BIG library trip after lunch and it crosses that 1:00 pm hour. Now quiet time is NOT until 2:00 pm here...but apparently 1:00 has it's own special KIND of magic for little girls. Bean was just glad that they FINALLY fell asleep. :D

See ya around...

A Sad Day in Potty Training...

And I blame the parents...

Monkey Face the miraculous, potty-trained HERSELF some 6 weeks ago. She noticed that Mom didn't care much for the activity and that both Sisters 1 and 2, being "Big Girls" seemed to accomplish the task with ease. She set about a campaign to convince her mother that not only was she fully CAPABLE of going to the restroom at the proper time, she was willing to face the death-defying task of wiping herself if no-one was around. This task made even MORE dangerous due to her dimunuative stature and slight build and the large, child-swallowing size of the commode put in by the builders of her home. All these things were WORTH the danger, if only her mother would bestow upon her the trophy of pony panties.

There were only a few hiccoughs in her crusade. There was the Hiney-Dipping incident that really tested her metal and convictions. There was the unfortunate "Toll Paper" incident...where she discovered that if you just KEEP rolling, all said "Toll Paper" will completely unravel...and if by CHANCE...it was a new roll...the paper will completely fill the waste basket and you will be forced to call on mom to help you extricate the proper portion with which to wipe.

And then there was last night's incident. She had somehow ducked mother's eagle eye and managed to go to bed in said "pony panties". Also, she had managed to escape the mandatory evening potty duty prior to retiring for the night. This, due to the he thought/she thought nature of the parent's supervision of the bedtime chores...he thought mom had done it/she thought dad had done it, Monkey Face found it easy to sneak through the communication cracks.

And sadly, Monkey Face awoke in a pool of...well...you know.

Hopefully she will take it in stride as just another lesson in the long road to potty freedom and the pursuit of pony panies.

See ya around...

Was gone but now I get to GO!

Well...hmmmmph...I had every intention of doing more blogging, not less...I'm not even sure where I left off.

Oh well. I did get a new computer. It's a laptop...VERY exciting. The first MODERN laptop that I've had since about 1995 or 1996 when I had one that ran Windows 95 and MS Office of the era and that was about it. I'll have to ask my dad but I think it had about a 250 MG hard drive...it COULD have been 500, but I'm pretty sure it was not a GB, because I REMEMBER my first 1 GB hard drive and it was on a desktop that I had at work at about that same time, 95-96...but they were expensive, so we didn't have them at home yet.

Let me say...THIS is better. I am not in love YET. I'm a little cynical to fall TOO hard for a shiny new case no matter HOW cool the computer...ESPECIALLY if the "cool" part includes a brand-new-to-me MICROSOFT operating system (this is usually BIG points off)...but I must say, being able to cart this one around is a definite plus...now I can curse Vista ALL OVER my house...at least until I figure it out. The older I get, the less involved with the day to day tech stuff I am...the more I realize the truth to the cliche "Can't teach an old dog new tricks"...it's not that you CAN'T teach them...it's that we old dogs just don't wanna learn 'em. Oh well, deed is done, better get off my XP high horse and see what this baby can do.

Ain't she pretty in the gloaming light of morning??? I really like the turtle...but Vista doesn't have the "Aquarium" screen saver...(sigh) the girls'll be sad.



Hey, maybe I'll have a better chance at blogging. Well here's hoping...

See ya around...

Hello Blogger...

Well, I've had this blog for awhile and not done anything with it. I've been interested in the various features that are here that are not available on my current blog site.

So, for the time being, that is what this blog is; ME trying to figure out some features. I'm not sure how much time I'll have for new content right now (not that that is different from any other blog.) But I am copying posts back and forth and thither and yon.

If you are interested in the older posts before I get them copied...my other blog is at Sentiments a la Stack at Homeschool blogger ... you'll notice the newer stuff is doubled up.

See ya around...