All Our New Goings On

I started walking early every morning with some wonderful neighbor ladies and I'm so delighted getting getting to know them while getting some exercise. It's an answer to prayer! 

We also started horseback riding lessons in exchange for work on the lady's ranch. We put in a good three hours work and then ride for a while and it's been fantastic. My little guy (twin with Down Syndrome) went from clinging on the fence, to barely sitting in the saddle to trotting with no hands and an English saddle in three weeks. Awesome progress!  

And now we are all involved in Little League for the next 10 weeks. All three boys are on teams so we'll be busy for the duration.  We already have double headers for Tristan and Tyler at Fort Bragg and Point Arena on the coast at the same time Jason has his in Willits. If Jaime had wanted to sign up (and I encouraged her to), what would I have done??? 

We are also planning camps and homeschool conferences and well, it just seems somehow to go a little easier when we get busier for some reason.  Unless we all crash and burn which is still a real possibility.  So, that's what we've been up to.  Any newsworthy bashes or fights will be reported first here. Unless you hear it on Fox News while we are still in custody.

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We Have A New Mammal

My ten year old daughter wanted to play a game with me tonight. I needed to choose a common mammal like a cat, dog, horse, penguin, etc. 

Penguin??

Apparently so!

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Early to Bed, Early to Rise

After a comment from one of the Lovely Children about Dad being grumpy when they keep him up past his bedtime, I decided they needed to keep the same hours and then see how they felt about being kept up late.  So we've all been getting up at 5:30a for a couple of weeks now and it has been great. It took about three days for us to be able to go to bed at an earlier time even though they were getting up earlier, but it seems like it has been a good transition for everyone. And nobody is complaining about Dad's hours any more, mostly because now they can complain about their own.  Also, I am putting my coffee maker to good use with the auto start function. It's amazing how enjoyable it is to get up when I know there is a cup of coffee waiting there for me.  

We are all delighted with how much more we are getting done during the day, and how little we seem to miss going to bed earlier.  I jest. Complaints run rampant in some sectors and the 14 year old still needs dynamite to get out of bed every morning. 

Still, it is what we do now and next thing you know, we'll actually be using our time wisely. I'll have to get back to you on that one. 

HoneyHusband's birthday is tomorrow and we are going to go to the beach. Happy Birthday, HH!

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Ollie Ollie Oxen Free O!

By which I think we always meant "come out, come out, wherever you are--all who's out, come in free" in a game of tag, but I didn't know the exact translation until I was grown.  My son obviously has his own similar issues with the same game. His sister counted while he hid, then called out "apples, peaches, pumpkin pie, any not ready, holler aye!"  Soon, his turn came to search. He counted (in a fashion--"one, two, three, eight, sixteen, sixteen, eight, five...") then called out, "apples, punkin pie, macaroni and cheese baked in the oven!"  

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Oh Look! Somewhere To Go!

I have realized a few things over the course of time.  One is that if I have some quirks (rather like "if there are peanuts in peanut butter"), I have come by them honestly.  Precious Daughter 1 has posted something about my parents that may Explain A Lot.

The other thing is that this blog is run on caffeine, sad to say. My best uninterrupted time is late at night. My best thoughts are caffeine driven.  Only thoughts. Tragical.

But now for some really good news!  BooMama, Big Mama and Rocks In My Dryer are going to be together dishing out their particular brand of crazy at a conference in June. I'd love to go. Oh! Would that be too cool, or what? Now, since I am the original white knuckle flyer, I'm going to have to assume I've won the scholarship and start walking now so that I can be there by the time the conference starts. I'm going to go make some peanut butter sandwiches for sustenance along the way. Talk with you later!

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Fuel For The Fire

I've discovered something I'm hoping is simply a coincidence, but this blog may be fueled by caffeine. It was started late one night after having a (double shot) iced latte at 4p. *What* was I thinking??  At 3a I was thinking of starting a blog, is what. 

Caffeine early in the day or none at all? I have a million things to do anyway, I never notice. Caffeine late in the day--I find things to blog about.  Silly me. Like there are no consequences to staying up until all hours and getting very little sleep? I wonder what my imaginary universe is called? If I had caffeine in my system you know I'd think of something. Right now I think I'll go to bed. 

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Diversity in Black and White

Sunday this guy packed everything he needed for church, including a box of grits and napkins, but today he couldn't find two matching shoes to save his life. Plan B was put into place and a successful outing was had. Also, it might be better to just drop the children off and avoid any questions if you have that option. 

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