Still Tired...

*panting* Cleaned smallish kiddos' room some more; rested, ate, cleaned some more. Watered plants. Folded clothes. Delegated. Organized books in kiddos' room (sell/keep/donate). More laundry (10 loads, probably more) and dishes. *panting* (when will it end?)

*panicking* Toys everywhere! Messy beds! More towels? Sunday tomorrow? *panicking more* Ok, ok, Facebook to the rescue- check on your produce and farm animals, that'll calm you...

Mr. Man called and reminded us that with all his OT, he'll be relieved (and VERY tired) when he gets home, so we headed to Kroger's for some milk, ice cream and more yeast. The kiddos love my bread better than store bought... *being calm* (ya right! woot, woot!!! Thanks again, Michelle!)

That's them, my babies... Just before we headed out. (Our "cloudy" forecast went out the window when yesterday hit 107 deg F!) Hot, hot today! (95 deg F!) This group shot was actually taken at almost 7pm. It's nice to see all three of them in one place again...

Two weeks before school starts for us! How about you?

Oh yeah, thanks for liking my new layout... (Psst... let me tell you a secret... I like it, too! LOL Made you "look"!)

The PC, still temperamental... Laptop, sloooowww intermittently... We think it's the net in this area since it's summer and all but not being able to click inside the site on the PC but ok on the laptop, just plain problematic.

Too Tired...

Between the mountain of laundry to wash and fold, plus sorting through "too small" or "too worn" pieces of clothing and shoes, I am wiped out!

I'm glad we went swimming today and there was another family who ended up playing "shark" tag with us. We had so much fun!

Gotta rest to see if I can peel myself off the bed tomorrow and get some dusting, more laundry, vacuuming and gardening. And oh yeah, the kids' room, still IN PROGRESS... *yawning*

We watched the new season of Monk and the first three episodes of Design Star over popcorn and rootbeer. *big smile*

Getting Ready for Sunday

Today was another hot and rather dry day. But chores wait for no one, especially when Sunday is tomorrow. So... from the moment we all woke up, we were mindful of that.

While the kiddos did their chores, I started the rest of the laundry and watered the plants. I also gave our pets their much needed baths! These two, Cece our "diva" cat and Dexter, our "sound effects" cockatiel are buds, but they do get stinky and shed like crazy!
First to bathe, Cece, in the patio. Here she is, being soaped and cleaned by "Mama". I'm the only one that can give her a shower (no tub for this girl) and stay calm. I shower and she runs around until she is completely wet then settles in front of the patio door and wait for the "sudsing" to commence. Look how calm she is...
Then I place her in one of our patio chairs and let her "sunbathe" to dry off. She stays there quietly and just waits until she's dry. When she's dry, she meows and waits for me to come call her in. I told you she's a diva! LOL
Next, is Dexter. I first clean out his cage of all the litter and poop and spent feathers from preening. Then I hold the hose near my head, set it on mist and simulate a light shower in the tropics. He just loves it and stays put until he gets his body wet then shakes it off and stays put again. It's funny really.
Here's Cece all fluffy and clean! Look at our carpet, also freshly vacuumed by L-Infinity. Cece's on I-Dude's booster seat. Right behind it is J-Pony's seat. They use it for the Wii Mario Kart racing game. My living room's a mess, another sorting project. *sigh*
Yes, they played Wii and also read for their programs. Then, I told J-Pony that she should try to make her own brownies using one of the packets Grandma & Grandpa M gave her.
So, she did! From step 1 to the cutting. We offered minimal help, she got frustrated holding the metal bowl with one hand. She was just in heaven! What word did she use again? Oh yeah, "I was pumped!" I got a clear thank you on this one! Yes! ;-)
Doesn't it look great? She even added 1/4 cup of M&Ms! Of course, I put the pan in the oven for her. Yum!
Afterwards, she asked if she can plate my portion "pretty" like I do and to take a picture of it. I was impressed! What do you think? It looked and tasted amazing with the fruits and the crunch from the M&Ms! Great job, J!

For tonight's dinner and tomorrow's, I made two chicken dishes, Adobo (tonight) and Tinola (tomorrow)(Filipino dishes the kids love to eat) and steamed rice.

We then watched some "Aaron Stone" on Disney and "The Pacifier" on Sleuth. L-Infinity even managed to find me a game online that I love playing so I can relax. Then our neighbor Annette, came by and let us know that her hubby's doing great at work and how her children are doing.

In between the movies, Mr. Man called and again, we were blessed to pray as a family. (I did gripe to Mr. Man about the in between bickering and "outdoing" of the kids that drove me insane!) In reality, I shouldn't have...

Lastly, the kids are upstairs, getting their Sunday clothes ready and getting ready for bed. Then even remembered to use their mouth rinse!

Mind you, this is not normal for us. But I do hope it happens again! Do I have a fever? LOL

Hope everyone had a great Saturday

Ironing, Me? Did I Hit My Head?

As you know, I don't like ironing, but the last set of napkins I bought at Target (50% off) were so wrinkled after I washed them and since I needed them for J-Pony's 10th birthday party on Monday night...

I had no choice but to whip out the trusty iron and starch spray, and the iron horse. No, no, no... No space to whip that clunky thing out so the dinner table had to do. Much better that way anyway...

And so, this pile of 8 tangled, wrinkled mess slowly was pressed into...

... this and yes, ladies and gentlemen, I went further and ironed each one into...
... Folded masterpieces; ready to party! Yep, I'm goooood.... LOL

Oh, the croissant french toasts that I made a few days ago was a big hit, so I sought out another batch and look what I found- normally $3.49 for 6...

But since I bought it on the "Sell By" date, it was already tagged down to... $2.09! A discount of $1.40. Woohoo! Each croissant was only 35 cents each. Made them today into french toasts again and Mr. Man complained that there weren't enough! ;-)

Coming up with inexpensive things to do with the kiddos, is a challenge in itself, but feeding them for me is certainly not. Yay! Albertson's to the rescue this time- select GM cereals were on sale for 5 for $8.88 with a FREE pound of strawberries! I can't wait to show them how to make their own Chex Mix!

I also started the lumpia filling and will be getting them finished soon for the birthday. I can't wait to get it done as tomorrow and Friday are full!

Rain, rain, don't go away...

Today, right after the kids took off, I blogged, commented on some then joined Charlie for some needed sleep (I didn't doze off until a few minutes before 6 a.m.). After making sure that my kids were awake, fed and ready to catch the bus, I started to question if I should stay up or go back to sleep. Sleep won...

When I woke up at almost noon, it was so dark that I thought I imagined the whole thing, but when I saw Charlie, it dawned on me that maybe, it's raining again outside. Just at that moment, an intense rumble hovered over the complex. I got up to verify that it is raining.

I was so glad the kids needed a ride home since it was Chess Club today, so they didn't get wet too much. Whew! For me, the first thing I did when I saw it was raining, was open up the drier window and let the cool air in. It was quite refreshing! But alas, it was gone in a few hours... In its wake, it left our clearing wet and refreshed. The air crisp and cool...

It was a good day; Ian and Jas got good behavior stamps, Lisa needed to be picked up from Choir again, and she didn't have much homework but type up some terminology for US History. Since we still do not have access to our TV until Thursday night, the quiet of the kids reading was almost heavenly. I love quiet days...

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Day 30
Love Brings Unity

"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be bone, as we are."
John 17:11 KJV

DARE:
Isolate one area of division in your marriage, and look on today as a fresh opportunity to pray about it. Ask the Lord to reveal anything in your own heart that is threatening oneness with your spouse. Pray that He would do the same for them. And if appropriate, discuss this matter openly, seeking God for unity.

What I Did:
Of course, when you're a zombie like me, remembering that you have other parts of the house you need to clean sometimes, don't. Charlie told me on Day 3 that he wished I did more housework. I think it's because since Lisa's chores are the dishes and she doesn't do it well, we are conflicted on if I need to take over or not. So, lately, I've been impressing on Lisa that dishes come first as we need clean dishes and spoons to eat with and I've also been reteaching her how to rinse and stack if she does need to delay doing the dishes so that there are no "surprises" at the bottom of both of our sinks. We have discussed it and through prayers, I've decided that teaching Lisa to find other acceptable ways to do the dishes is the best compromise. They get done, she gets to keep her phone, and Charlie doesn't complain about the dishes...