tiffany's spot

I admit it. I'm one of those losers who really likes her spouse. When he's not home? I'm instantly bored. Kinda lonely. A little pouty. I confess. Someone should just show up here with a movie. Even a shitty one would do. Maybe don't look at the floor, I haven't vacuumed it in about a week and a half. It's shameful. I'll have to smarten up a little once Elliot starts crawling and eating every random thing she can get her little pincher fingers on! My kids are reaching their arms into the recesses of the couch and finding "treasure". I would never have the nerve. I hate basement furniture, I'm convinced that there are things down in there just waiting for my hand to dangle in. I don't even like sitting right against the crack between the back of the couch and the sitting part. Realistically I know it's probably not a huge problem, or else I (probably) wouldn't let my kids do it.

My kids are perfect . I had a fabulous weekend. Reeaallyy . They certainly did not drive me to tears. They did not dump out an entire can of ice tea powder onto the kitchen carpet. Good thing too, even though I certainly do not buy the biggest cans they make. They did not advantageously eat a bunch of sugar out of the sugar bowl and pour tea into it and pour exorbitant amounts of sugar into the tea pot. I know this, because my husband would not promise me that if I fed the baby he'd clear the table and then not put away the tea and sugar. They did not sneak cups of water into the basement and then accidentally spill them. Of course not, because they know they're not allowed to take food and drinks down there. They did not take all afternoon to clean their toys up in the basement, eventually needing "Angry Dad" to come and hover over them before they got the job done. They did not try to hang off the cross beams in the basement ceiling, causing the beams and a...

. . . cuz it was awesome! My brother and I were standing in a ditch full of water. You know, there seem to be a few similar themes running through some of my memories. Ditches full of water could pop up a lot if I let them. My brother and I were standing in a ditch full of water. It wasn't a ditch really, it was more of a low spot in the middle of town, next to the laundromat, across from my house. There were weeds and reeds and it probably stunk during the time of year it was filled with sludgy slimy water. You had to pick your way through and try not to slip on the algae on the bottom. Definitely a place for kids to muck about. At least there weren't any leeches. Once we found a turtle. Weren't really sure how it found it's way in there. Whatever. My brother and I were standing in a ditch full of water. We had a length of black pipe. It was flexible. PVC or something. We each held one end. He put his end to his ear, I whispered something into my end. We never had wa...

When I was a kid and my brother was an even littler kid and we were less than perfect I think we drove my mom a little nuts from time to time. I know we did, because she said we did. I don't know how, we were generally so angelic . We didn't do things like dump dry cheerios on the kitchen floors in the wee hours of the morning to make an ice rink, or push each other in the ditches full of water or yell and scream or fight in the car or spill bowls of cereal and watch the milk drip through the cracks in the table. We certainly didn't sneak chocolates a little by little until the entire box was empty in the cupboards. Nor did we dare each other to eat raw eggs. I know I didn't make my brother accidentally swallow a dead worm once. I know we didn't. Because we were generally perfect. My kids are "perfect" too. They're perfectly kids. Now I know why my mom would sometimes say (a little angrily, odd that) "You're going to send me to the mental!...

The pantry closet has been the bane of my kitchen existence for some time now. It kind of turned into junk drawer meets catch all meets black hole meets confiscated items meets " we have nowhere else to store this crap so let's cram it in here and shut the door really fast so nothing falls out " closet. Why didn't I just tidy it up sooner? Well, I don't know. Probably because it seemed like a big job, and I was pregnant and tired for the last five years and was proud of myself some days for just making it through lunch. I'm going to use this pregnancy forever, so get used to it. Anyway, this is the before shot: And this is the after shot: Hallelujah. *** By the way, did you notice all our games? I love playing games. If anyone ever wants to play one and I haven't invited you yet and you're not offended by my lack of invitations just invite yourself over!!

T: Do we have an old sink? S: What, like a kitchen sink? T: Yeah. An old one, just kicking around? S: I know where there is one. T: Really? S: At Christine's, in her basement, but it's a double. T: could we get it? S: What for? T: I want to put it in our front yard. S: Do you want a toilet to put beside it? T: yeah! And a bathtub. And a stove - tipped onto its side. S: You're weird. T: I lost Mitchie in the yard yesterday. S: Huh? T: Mitchie . I lost him for a few hours. I finally found him in the lawn. S: Wait - - - are you making fun of the un -mowed- ness of it? T: Oh. My... Are you only figuring this out now? Yeah Steven, because it's totally not that bad . Everyone's lawn looks like this. We are officially hillbillies. Only, we don't have the luxury of having old kitchen sinks kicking around to toss into the front yard. This is a weed - you'll notice that it's actually flowering . Isn't it pretty? It probably helps keep ou...

Tennyson stands on the edge of the picnic table and waits. Mitchie gives a little push, Tennyson jumps in. Mitchie squeals with delight. They do this over and over. Tennyson is such a good big brother sometimes. Jordan sits on the edge of the table, her knees pulled up under her chin, her arms wrapped around her legs. She's chattering away with Tennyson, who's splashing around in the pool. Mitchie is standing behind her. He gives her a gentle little push in the small of her back. She sways slightly, otherwise she doesn't seem to notice, and keeps on talking, animated and excited. Mitchell rethinks, and gives her another push, higher up, by her shoulder blades. He grins, expecting that he's pushed her into the pool. Again, she sways a little under his push, but doesn't really seem to notice, immune to the constant presence and jostle of siblings. He gives the back of her head a shove. Nothing. I watch silently, expecting her to turn around and scold or shove him, ...

And went to the library for Walsh's other book . I find it so interesting, and I can't wait to declutter some of the areas of my house. I started the kitchen a little yesterday by pulling out a boxful of stuff from the cupboards that I know I'll never use again. I still need to spring clean them, and I intend to find more stuff for my garage sale. I made a menu for the next week. I usually do that - but mine is usually chalked full of pasta and sauces and stuff. For next week I have five new recipes on the menu, all of which I took out of an eating healthy cookbook. There will be lots of veggies. The kids will eat veggies if they have to, and this week they'll have to start getting used to more fresh veggies. If I make spaghetti sauce I generally throw in onions, tomatoes and bell peppers, but they sort of hide in there by the time it's done cooking. Or I'll just heat up some frozen veggies. Or I forget them altogether. I always want to cook more stuff that in...

I've been reading this book by Peter Walsh called Does this Clutter Make my Butt Look Fat? and it's fantastic. It's a weight loss book - sort of. His approach is very different. He talks a lot about organizing your kitchen and your life, and taking control of your menu and what you want to eat. He doesn't give recipe ideas, tell you what to eat and what not to, or map out a workout routine. It's more about organizing your kitchen and making it the kitchen you want it to be, and organizing your life. I may not be describing it that well. Click on the link to check it out. In chapter 5, he talks about the kitchen. He highly suggests organizing it in a big way and more importantly, decluttering . The first step is to quickly go through your cupboards and do an initial purge. Get rid of anything you don't actually use - goofy gizmos , anything you bought off TV after 8pm, anything you haven't used in the last year. If pieces are missing or something doesn...

Ever snap at your kids? I do. Probably too often. My new all-time low was that I kind of yelled at the baby the other night. I'll give some back story. I had been at the campground where my grandparents and a few other relatives were camping. By the end of the evening we were all holed up in various campers around the campsite watching the torrential downpour happening outside the camper windows. Of course my baby was crying, cuz she does that (a lot). My older kids were head to toe dirty from playing in puddles, one of my kids had crapped itself, we were trying to feed dinner to six kids (under six years old) and four adults all within the confines of a small camper. On top of this, my three older ones were crawling on top of and under the table, making loud poo jokes, squabbling, spilling and wiping their hands on the fabric of the benches they were eating on, all while I'm trying to feed my baby on and off on a separate bench. She doesn't like to be covered, I don'...

It's true! Steven says she's a weenie. Don't get me wrong, we love her to bits, and she's freakin ' adorable with those blue eyes and those big full baby lips and her ever softening cheeks, thighs and baby belly, but she's kind of a sucky . Elliot does not like to be put down. She'll tolerate it at times if her tummy is full, she's burped, she's got a clean bum and there's no pooing left to be done, but even then it's only for a moment. Once she figures out that she's been laying on her own for a couple of minutes and maybe just maybe I'm not coming right back to pick her back up the crying starts. Even when she's being held, it very often takes a lot of jiggling, bouncing and entertaining to keep little miss princess happy. I should probably get some pictures on here, but that would mean I'd have to put her down for a sec to grab the camera, and then the wailing would start again. Maybe I should just take some pictures of he...

Do you ever get where there's big things going on but you just can't really talk or blog about them? That's how I'm feeling lately. I feel overwhelmed by things right now and can't bring myself to go into detail. Maybe it's because as much as I get somewhat personal on here about mushy stuff or kid stuff, I can't really get really personal. You know? I've always been one of those "strong" people. I've been told how strong I am numerous times in my life. I hate it. Don't say it. I actually fight tears when I'm told that. You know what a strong woman is? One who is expert at hiding everything. It's not someone who isn't bothered by anything, it's someone who just doesn't show it. I know I should have loads of happy little daily anecdotes on here, but I'm having a hard time finding the humorous quirky little writing voice lately. I could give you facts and dates and tales of the things my kids say, but it's re...

I haven't exercised since July 23rd. It's terrible. My ticker mocketh me. I counted calories today, and am reminded how much calorie counting sucks. The kids were sort of evil tonight and by the end of the evening it was all I could do not to line them all up and shake them. I didn't. But you know what might have been nice? A tall glass of iced tea and maybe some chips. And dip. I didn't. But I want to.

Tonight I went to take out the compost. I had lots. I dumped the first bucket into the compost bin and noticed a spider dangling by it's little evil thread. I jumped back. It sailed through the air after me. I'd rather have it on me than attached to a string which is attached to me. Ever see the movie Ever After ? The scene where the sister finds out the prince has been dating Danielle? You know, she jumps up and waves her arms and freaks out just a little and then tells the queen that there was a bee? I did not look like that. The rest of the compost came back to the front step with me and is now waiting for Steven.