Not only does she now do dished (albeit for a fee), she makes her own scrambled eggs, from start to finish!



Despite her new maturity, she looks so small there in the kitchen, standing on her stool.

Not to harp on this not working thing but....

Sweet Pea keeps asking me what I do all day and I simply do not think I need to validate myself to my 8 year old! She was particularly irritated the other day when it was raining and she asked why she had to go to school. She actually does not understand why, or how, she can be expected to go school when it is raining out. It is an outrage to her. Why, she says, does she have to go to school when I can stay home all day and do "nothing." That's right - "nothing." She thinks I do nothing all day. What I want to know is, does she think this because I used to work and now I am not, so therefore I am doing nothing? Do kids whose moms have always stayed home think their moms do "nothing?" That cannot be.

On another note, JJ is growing by the day. I swear every morning he wakes up bigger than he was when he went to bed. I see him curled on the ground, unable to move or get dressed as he should be doing, and cannot believe how big he looks.

Despite his growth, he continues to be the lazy human known to man. For months now Jonathan and I have been a little concerned he is not quite reading yet. Sweet Pea was an early reader so though I know the range of normal is VERY large, our perception is slightly skewed because of her. Every night he wants us to read to him and really not all that interested in giving it a go himself. Then the other day in the car, he started reading signs out loud: "School Bus", "Do not enter", "Open", "Closed". I was shocked. The boy can in fact read and simply just chooses not to because why read himself when we can do it for him. I do not know why I am so shocked. This is the same boy who I took to the doctor when he was a baby convinced he had some muscular disease because he was not climbing steps or even feeding himself. Turns out - perfectly healthy, just plain lazy! And least some things never change.

I think I might be the worst stay at home mom....

My house is a mess. I cannot seem to keep up with the laundry. My kids come home from school and though I have had all day to myself, I really just want to watch Oprah. It is her last season you know.

The problem is, when you have so much time its hard to motivate because you can always do it later. It similar to when I was in high school. The semesters I was busy doing extra curricular activities were always the semesters I did best in school. You were forced to budget your time and get things done when you had the chance. When I was not so busy, there was more time to procrastinate, and thus I was less efficient.

It's not that I am not doing anything....I am busy. I do structure my day; I go to the gym, take the dog out for her exercise, go to the grocery store more times then I care to admit, spend some time networking and looking for jobs. But these boring mundane household tasks, I just cannot motivate to do them.

The good news, I am able to cook more. I made this delicious lemon, shrimp and asparagus risotto for dinner the other night. Of course the kids would not eat it....but Jonathan and I enjoyed it. I love risotto and rarely make it anymore. We just don't do the carb dinners as much as we used to. But this is worth it once in a while. The ultimate comfort food if you ask me.

Creative Minds

After accusing my children of lying to me about brushing their teeth, JJ said to me,

"Mom, we're not lying, we're ACTING!"

Clever....very cleaver.

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We, along with the rest of the world, went apple picking this weekend. I think I am over apple picking. It seems absurd to me to pay $30+ for apples. Most of which will never make it out of the bag. There are just too many to eat. And too many to put into pies. And nobody wants your apples, or you apple pie, because they have their own apples and apple pie.

It's fun as an outing, unless of course you go on Yom Kippur, which is what we did. Thus we could not even eat the apples, or more importantly, the cider donuts they sell at the orchard. This is a mistake I will not make again. That is, assuming by this time next year I forget what a rip off it is, and go back...which is usually the case.

First Day of 1st and 3rd Grades

Sweet Pea let me take her picture:



JJ was not as obliging:



But then gave in to the guilt:




He woke up very early this morning, very excited about the first day. (Though he had to fall asleep in my bed last night because his stomach hurt so much. A case of the hebegebe's is my guess.) He hopped on top of the bed and said:

"I love you like a piece of pie."

"A piece of pie, or a pizza pie?" I asked

"A piece of pie."

"But you don't like pie." I pointed out.

A pause.

"A pizza pie!"

Can't beat a pizza pie.

Top ten nine things about a rainy vacation...

1) Little to no laundry to do.
2) No sunscreen application and no risk of sunburn.
3) No real reason to shower.
4) No pressure to get out to the house by 10 AM for fear the beach parking lot will fill up.
5) Lots and lots and lots and lots of time to read.
6) No sand in the house or car.
7) No traffic.
8) Lots and lots and lots of trip to the candy store. (But note: cut kids off before 8:30 PM or else all hell will break loose at bed time.)
9) No worries about not fitting into your swim suit because of how much you are eating.
10) ........

That's the best I can do. Nine. Can't come up with another thing. We are on day 3 of a week long "beach" vacation and have had little to no glimps of the sun. No even just no sun - a summer nor'easter really. Worst still, the kids have chosen this as the time to decide they do not want to watch, or like, tv. Really? Could the timing be worse?

Here is a picture of the tide during the storm. The picture does not do it justice. Think "perfect storm."



Here is a picture of the other kind of perfect storm - kids stuck in the house for days.



And this.....we packed all this before we saw the weather forecast. Thank the lord. It may be the only thing that gets us through.



Don't worry. It's not just Jonathan and I here. No, we could never drink all that ourselves. My parents are here too. That should be enough for four people - don't ya think?

Wish us luck.

Operation Garage Organization

For the past 6 months we have talked and talked and talked about getting a garage organization system. In fact it was one of those slightly annoying things Jonathan started planning in his head when we first looked at the house. Along of course, with the surround sound stereo system which is still a work in progress. Because, you know, it was way more important than the heating system or the electrically work.

So we looked on-line. We looked through many a catalog coveting the way they made it all look so simple to be organized. We went to The Container Store and after about 10 minutes we were so overwhelmed with both the design process and cost, we left.

But there are some things that can motivate you to take action, fast. That, here in Massachusetts, is Tax Free Weekend. That's right - no tax on most anything up to $25oo. And I can tell you, we had no plans to spend that much on a garage system.

So after failing to motivate on Saturday, on Sunday we moved full speed ahead. After a very satisfying brunch with friends where we totally overloaded on carbs (bagels, coffee cake, french toast, monkey bread......seriously it was a carb-nival. Yes, I totally just made that word up! ) we were off to Home Depot. I think the carbs by the way may have been the secret to our success. Because I am pretty sure I could not have put up with the unruly behavior of my children had it not been for the carbs in my system. They were, the children that is, a NIGHTMARE. Literally, wrestling in the isles. It was horrifying. One the sales people who came to help us said he would have come over sooner but was mesmerized by the wrestling match taking place right before his eyes. It was one of those moments when you want to grab you kid and shake some sense into them. But since that would be child abuse, I went with the eyes. You know that look....when you look them straight in the eyes with a bit of a squint and say, without speaking, "If you do not stop that right now, I am going to make your life a living hell!" And they look back at you in horror and proceed to behave, for about 2, maybe 3 seconds.

Anyways, asking some questions about different options, we went with the Rubber Maid system. It is much more affordable then the Container Store option but just as functional and expandable.

Below are the fruits of our labor. (Well, Jonathan's labor really.) By the end of the night we were fully organized! I post these not because you care about our garage but because I want to remember how it looked that first day...as I know it will not last.