Things Unblogged

It has been almost a MONTH since I blogged!  I'm sure the one or two people who read my blog have already given up on it, so I'm just sending this post out into the void.  But whatever.

The first thing unblogged: I read the Hunger Game books.  I enjoyed them.  The first two better than the third, though the third was necessary.  I sat on my couch and read for 3 days straight.  I stayed up too late.  I ignored my kids as much as legally possible.  I let dirt and dishes and laundry accumulate (more than usual).  I had a vague rememberance that I used to be able to sit and read as much as I wanted.

I wish I could say that I've been crafty or have sewn, or at least STARTED Moose's scrapbook.  But no.  Nothing.  The frame to repaint is still on my kitchen counter.  The dress pattern got cut out, but not the fabric.  It did get washed, though.  The scrapbook is still a little nag at the back of my head.

I HAVE been doing something exciting, but I can't tell you what it is yet.  It's a surprise.  Just a little something that I'm working on that I don't want to blog about until y'all can see it with your own eyes.  But it'll be good, so wait with baited breath (but don't hold your breath completely, because I have no idea how long it'll take me).

And that's me.  My month in a nutshell.

Thankfully my kids give me ample things to blog about.

Like this one. 

He's a big nine-month-old now.  He claps, sometimes he waves.  He signs "eat" and "more" and likes to do just that (eat more, I mean).  He isn't so into walking yet--he likes to have something to hold onto, but he is quite a good cruiser in the meantime.  He likes his sisters, though it makes me wonder if he's crazy.  He's good at hugs, as well as crying really loud like he's being murdered.  I really like him.  Oh, and he gives kisses.  Big, sloppy, wet, open-mouth kisses.

This one is starting to count and tell us the color of everything that she sees.  It's quite a relief, actually, because I was starting to think that she might be color blind.  She's also doing pretty well with potty training, but some days she's really not good at all.  I don't know why.  Kids are complex.  She's a super funny little person, and is getting to the stage where she can talk a lot and says really funny things that aren't funny but they're funny because she's little and cute.

She's also the fall guy for her sister.   Tonight HH had to explain that Chick would get in trouble not only for getting out of bed herself (which she didn't do) but also for telling her sister to get out of bed (which she did do).



I guess Chick hadn't gotten over wanting to go to McDonalds for lunch and not getting to.
"There's no I in Team McDonalds."



And Chick.  She's reading more and more.  She's learning about things like earthquakes and counting in Spanish.  She gets her sister into trouble, she loves brussell sprouts.  She's good at walking on tip-toes and copying her dance teacher.  I got to sit in on a class during observation week and it was really fun to watch her.  She helps a lot with Moose, and is young enough to feel special for it, rather than underpaid.

By the way, Moose must be old enough that life feels more manageable to me.  I say that because there comes a time when I start thinking of things that we can do BEYOND basic survival.  It was after 9 months with Monkey, too, so I guess that's the magic number.  When your baby is 9 months then life can start to resume.  That's just a theory.

Anyhow, some of what I want to resume:  working on the house.  I'm hosting a party for my sister at the end of April.  I didn't want it here, because of the added stress of cleaning and fixing things up...but here it shall be anyhow.  Sooo, I've decided to fix up the downstairs.  It'll double our party space.  But that means that I need to clear things out, paint, carpet, make curtains, and do other general decorating all in 6 weeks.  And some of it (getting rid of the ripped and somewhat broken recliner) is against the wishes of my husband, but I really see no compromise available.....



This is probably the last time you'll see the dark panelling....

By the way, this is off the subject (Squirrel!), but I love this house:


I'm a sucker for black shutters.

Ok, other projects: teaching my girls some earth science in preparation for visiting BioSphere 2 (in Tucson) later this year.  If there is any upside to the earthquake in Japan, it is that it started discussions about our Earth.

Teaching them Italian.  Something that I've always planned to do, but have yet to make it much of a reality.  But Chick's window of prime opportunity is narrowing, so I need to get on it.  What I'm thinking of doing is one day a week of immersion.  That day will be entirely in Italian.  Including any books read, movies watched, etc.  I probably won't blog those days, because I think the people that read Italian AND that read my blog are scarse indeed (but not non-existent, so who knows?)  Anyhow, if you have successfully taught your child a language that is a second language for all in the household, please share your tips with me.

Ok, so do I have other news?  I've bought several things on Amazon.com.  I daresay that's my favorite place to shop lately.  Yesterday the DVD version of A&E's Pride and Prejudice arrived (I've only had the VHS all this time).  Also yesterday came  a little emergency radio to keep in our 72 hr kits--it cranks up really easily, and has a flashlight, and a solar-power option, and can also charge a cell phone.  Here's hoping that I don't ever need it. 

One thing that I'm still waiting on is a butterfly garden.  I'm pretty excited about that.

Ok, I think that's enough.  I wasn't meaning to make this post so long that it would replace the length of a month's worth of posts...but whatever.  It just feels so good to be blogging again that I'm swept up in the euphoria.  Deal with it.

Love you all.  Ciao ciao.