New Philosophy

I talked to a good friend today who mentioned that she was trying out a new philosophy on keeping a clean house.  She was trying focusing on the fact that if she let her friends see her house messy, they would feel better about their own houses.

We all know that despite our efforts to present a pristine home to guests, on a day-to-day basis, anyone with more than one child struggles to maintain a perfectly tidy abode.  I have been guilty of making excuses:  "Don't mind my house--I've had a really busy day,"  "My house isn't always this messy," or "I'm sorry, you can't come past the doorstep because you can't see my house today."

Why can't we all just be honest?  There really is only a small percentage of parents who really and truly have a beautiful house every day--maybe 30% or less.  And I believe that a third of those hire a house cleaner.  The other third are extremely strict or their kids watch a lot of t.v..  And the last third are truly inspiring and organized parents whose kids play with one item and return it smiling before getting out something new to play with.

The rest of us get a call from someone who is going to come over, after which we race around madly picking up, wiping up, and sweeping up.  And even then, when the guest arrives, we still make excuses:  "Don't mind my house."  I admit I do that too when someone whose house I've never seen messy comes to my house.

That said, I've always been very conscious of others' feelings.  If I've managed to truly clean up my house before another parent visits, I usually just explain that I spent the morning cleaning because I wanted to impress them.  I've always done that.  However, if my house is messy, maybe instead of being embarrassed, I just need to embrace the fact that I'm making someone else feel good about their own situation.

Thanks, Anna, for the idea.

Circle of Life

Tonight after dinner, the kids headed upstairs to get ready for bed.  As Matthew and I were working together to clean up dinner dishes, he commented, "I haven't heard the baby birds lately  . . . "  My heart sunk immediately.  He was right.  Usually we hear the birds chirping each time the mother returns to our hanging fern.  But they have been quiet.  

Here is what I found:

Only one of four left.  I'm not at all sure what happened to the other three.  I guess another critter needed food.  As I think about it, I'm not surprised.  I remember finding a broken egg on the ground at one point and wondering how it could have possibly fallen out.  Maybe something ate that egg too. 

For those of you who didn't see my previous post, here's the life cycle of our little sweet birds, who nested in our hanging fern.  

That last egg hatched, and there were a total of four babies. 

And tonight:  Only one tiny dead bird left.  

I haven't showed the kids.  Yet. 

First Swim Meet

The truth is . . . I've never wanted to have my kids in swim team.  I hate the heat.  I hate the idea of sweltering fully clothed by a pool while I wait for hours with the only reward being a couple of  two-minute races.

But my little Jackie, who hasn't yet discovered an interest in my favorite sport (basketball), begged and begged to do swim team, so I acquiesced.  Then I decided . . . if I'm going to put one kid in swim team, I might as well put them all in--either way I have to drive, and they might as well all learn to swim fast.

So I forced Morgan to try for a week.  I told her that if she tried and didn't like it, she could stop, and I wouldn't complain about the wasted money.  And I put Henry in, thinking that he would just enjoy doing what his sisters were doing . . . that . . . and, what else was I going to do with him while they swam?

It turned out that we have some friends from church who are doing the same swim team.  So after the first day, this is the conversation Morgan and I had:

Me:  "Morgan, you didn't like swim team, right?  You're not going to do it next week?"

Morgan, sheepishly:  "Well . . . actually, I did."

Me:  "You sure?  You don't have to do it."

Morgan:  "Yes, yes, yes!  I loved it!"

Henry, on the other hand, decided he did not  want to do swim team.  He has played with a friend instead for all the practices.

So tonight was our first swim meet. All the kids decided to participate.  Even Henry.

Ironically, Morgan got out after her first race, walked around the pool, and said, "That was awful."   She chose to leave the meet and go to her basketball practice with me instead.  I honestly was happy about that because our original plan was for her to swim one race and then leave to attend basketball practice.  (I'm the coach, so I care.)

Morgan's races

Jackie's races

Jackie ended up swimming Morgan's leg of the big kids' freestyle relay.  Notice that she and Morgan both have a 76 on their arms--that was the freestyle relay.  Jackie also competed in freestyle and backstroke races.

Henry also swam freestyle.  Before he raced, I came over and reminded him of a few of the swimming techniques we'd been working on--reaching far, keeping his legs straight, flutter kicks, etc.  When the start buzzer went off, he looked around, saw other kids jumping, and jumped straight down  into the water--a slow start.  But he worked at it and made it across the pool next to last.  Afterward, he walked around to me.

Me:  "Nice job Henry!  You had a great first race."

Henry, with a cute incredulous smile:  "What?  That was a race?  Mom, why didn't you tell me!"

Henry was in race #11.  

Pet Desire

Since Hershey (the Chesapeake Bay Labrador Retriever) died over a year ago, my kids have begged off and on for a pet.  I guess the beta fish just haven't been satisfying enough.  My husband is extremely allergic to cats, and I'm not interested in scooping poop again with a dog.  

So the kids created this trap for the cute rabbits that traipse unaware through our yard looking for something to nibble.  

In case you can't tell what it is--that is a bathroom container that you might see at the dollar store.  It is barely supported by two sticks which are wrapped in the plastic string.

The kids didn't catch any rabbits.  

However, we did adopt somone's pet frog recently . . . more about that later.

Our New Babies

Every year we get to enjoy baby birds nesting in some random spot on our front porch.  This year they chose the hanging fern.  This poses some problems for us--I have to take the fern down and water carefully so as not to give them a deluge.  But it is fun too--I can take it down and give the kids an up-close look.

This is what we've seen the past couple of weeks:

  

And this morning:

Every time I bump the fern a little bit, they reach up for food.  

Comments

I have heard from some of my friends that they couldn't leave comments.  I think I have fixed that.

I love to hear from you!

Bright Spot

I just returned from a women's church activity, where we ate summer salads and cheesecake dripping with blueberry sauce, and then listened to inspiring stories of brave and exemplary women.  At the end, I stayed to help clean up, and admittedly participated in some discussion of the work we usually come home to after enrichment night.  

Here's what I found at home.  Dinner dishes are mostly done, except a couple of things in the sink, but the kitchen is a disaster after a very busy day.  Not that I expected anything different--the mess all belongs to me and the kids.  Yes--if I were really good, I would have it all cleaned up before I left.  But I only had time tonight to throw some hamburgers on the grill and cut up some strawberries before I ran off tonight.  That  . . . and . . . where in the world am I going to put those three cantaloupe, a honeydew, a watermelon, and a box of oranges from Costco?  The kid stuff . . . I don't want to talk about that.

But there, among the leftover pancakes, cantalopes, swim goggles, and even an extra vase:

My glass is half full . . . I have flowers from my two men.  I guess I'll conquer most of the kitchen tomorrow.  

July Fourth Blueberry Pie

For the second year in a row, we ate the yummiest blueberry pie at the July Fourth party we attend.  I wanted to post the recipe because it was so unusual.  I wish I had a picture, but when I saw it placed on the dessert table, all I could think about was eating it.  I completely forgot about taking a picture.  By the time I was done savoring my mouthwatering slice, the pie was almost all gone! 

Blueberry Pie (Ann's)

Bake one 9-inch pie crust according to directions.

Wash, drain, and place in pie crust:

2 cups fresh blueberries

Heat the following ingredients until the sugar melts and the mixture thickens.  Then pour hot over fresh blueberries in pie crust:

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1+ cup blueberries

Fourth of July

Fourth of July

Fourth of July this year included water slides, water balloons, yummy food, pop-its,
grandparents, and cousins!