June 22: Beer and a bagel

June 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Looking at the date I just realized that my grandmother would have turned 92 on this day if she were still alive. Sorry mom for not calling. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Friday and my day off –

Highlights of the Morning:

  • I woke up to Red and Twin Crazy and then also Twin Husky jumping in my bed. They wanted to play with the guinea pig so I got her and we were all in my bed. Then Big Bro came in too and I had all kids plus a guinea pig in my bed. That’s the most action its gotten in quite some time.
  • We watered house-plants since it was too cold to go outside and water plants. Big Bro likes having that “job”.
  • The kids then continued with guinea pig time and I actually had to use the timer function on my phone to have equal rotations. That worked well to avoid conflict.
  • We all got dressed and headed out to drop off Big Bro and Red. Once we got there Big Bro realized he had a splinter in his foot so we were all in the lobby as I was working on his foot. It was a hard one to pull out because it broke and there was just a tiny, tiny piece to grab onto. Eventually I got it. Whew.
  • The ride home was uneventful. Not much traffic. We talked about trucks. I also had a conference call for work that I took with my earbuds in.
  • I did some laundry and Twin Crazy and Twin Husky were enthralled with the new machine that you can see through.
  • They wanted to visit the chickens
  • Afterwards I made some lunch and they took naps – I did some work and then also weeded. I attacked the green dandelions that are beginning to flower….

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    The Rest of the Day:

  • After they woke up we all gathered our things and headed to the car. On the way out I stopped to get my mail and the VENUS FLYTRAP that I ordered from Amazon arrived. COOL! I was excited to show Big Bro and Red.
  • Not much traffic, whew.
  • They thought the plant was cool. Big Bro knew exactly what it was as I was opening it. He guessed it. I said it was something that we were just talking about the other day and he guessed it in one shot – VENUS FLYTRAPPER. How cute.
  • I dropped them off at co-parent’s and he started a fight with me in front of them.
  • The ride home was fine; maybe I’m just getting used to it.
  • I attacked some weeds in the backyard. I have a part of the yard that is downward sloping and I thought it would be fun to make it a garden… with traverse walking stones – the space is really un-usable since there is such as slope so I figured a garden would be the best thing. I first pulled out all of the green weeds for the chickens, and then hatcheted the all of the nasty brown tall flowing weeds. In the end it looked like I butchered a part of the yard. It looks terrible. I have to do something about that.
  • I came in, showered, and had a bagel and a beer. I watered the lawn and I’m now going to put together my composting bin. Again, I am a person of extremes. Prior to this I could barely keep a houseplant alive and now I’m sowing the earth and wanting to compost for fertilizer.

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    I’m going to sleep well tonight.

    The kids will be back with me tomorrow at 4 PM. I’m looking forward to getting some things done in the AM and then seeing them later that day.

    Have a great weekend all –
    – Mama K (farmer)

    Filed Under: Daily Journal Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

    June 21: On the road, again

    June 21, 2012 by 2 Comments

    Thursday not working! Unfortunately I spent most of the day driving.

    Highlights of the morning:

  • The girls woke up first and we sat together in the living room reading books, and then sitting with the guinea pig, still nameless. Red was holding her as Twin Crazy tried to feed her.
  • The girls wanted an activity and wanted to color. I let them know the file cabinet drawer where all of their paper and crayons are. Red found a bag of small colored squares that looked interesting and pulled them out…. she started sorting them by color and Twin Crazy started to help her.
  • They then went on with their coloring activity.
  • Out came Twin Husky with his hair sticking up. He immediately went over to the guinea pig’s cage to say good morning.
  • The three ate cereal like champs. Out came Big Bro half dressed. He wanted to spend time with the guinea pig too.
  • We headed out the door – I’ve been instructed to take Big Bro and Red to daycare even on my days off (don’t get me started….). So off we go…. slowly…. in traffic. By the time we got there it was 10:10 AM and I didn’t know that Big Bro had a field trip (Karate) starting at 10:00 AM. I wish I knew that so that I would have been there earlier. Red’s drop off was fine.
  • Me and Twin Crazy and Twin Husky headed back to my place. We got stuck in traffic again on the way back. Twin Crazy was crying and wanted out of her car seat. We started to sing Old McDonald’s Farm which seemed to work for a bit.

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    Highlights of the Afternoon:

  • The kids found beads and sunglasses and we had fun dressing up. We read books. We cuddled on the couch. I couldn’t believe it was time for lunch. I made burrito ingredients and had fun watching the kids build their own burritos. They ate really well.
  • We all napped.
  • As soon as we got up I shoved some cookies in their faces and we headed to the car. I saw that a flower was blooming off of one of my shrubs that I thought was dead.
  • Our first half of the trip was smoothe sailing but I shuddered looking at the other side, backed up with traffic ALL THE WAY towards the city. On our second highway we got stuck in traffic. This did NOT make Twin Crazy happy. We talked about the diggers, the graffiti, the trucks…. and sang some more.
  • It was great to see Red and Big Bro. Apparently Big Bro hit a homerun this afternoon. I love hearing that about my big little man.

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    Dinner and Bedtime:

  • I decided to pull over and get some food for the way back, knowing that we would be stuck in traffic. I grabbed grapes and mango juice, and some more tortillas. The snack of grapes and juice disappeared in less than 10 minutes. These kids can EAT. The ride back was much better since all four of them were there and there was much more conversation. We talked about the trains, how I take that train to work, the motorcycles, the clouds, … … …
  • We played with the guinea pig as soon as we got back.
  • I then started to make dinner. As I was cooking I overheard Big Bro teaching Red addition and subtraction. He asked her to do it with her fingers. She was answering his questions correctly. I applauded them for learning together and working together. I love hearing the kids teach each other things. We all have things to learn from each other.
  • We ate dinner and afterwards I went outside to weed. I asked the kids to come outside to play. Big Bro did his “job” of watering the strawberry plants and the trees. Twin Husky wanted to “help” me weed so he had his weeding tool and pushed around the weeds that I gathered. We then collected the green weeds and brought them over to the chickens. That was a BIG hit. The kids loved bringing over the weeds and feeding the chickens. I had kids going back and forth and giving them green icky weeds and they loved it. Big Bro then got into weeding himself, and said that he wanted to do more of this on Sunday. He is way too funny.
  • Twin Crazy pooped her pants so that was a good segue for coming inside.
  • I got the kids ready and read to the girls first on the couch. They were VERY serious about not letting the boys in their room. So of course the boys joined forces and acted silly with each other running in and out of their room. It is really sweet to see them interact with each other now – They are 4 years apart but really starting to interact.
  • I read to the boys next; and then the girls again in their own room. Twin Crazy repeats EVERYTHING that Red says. If Red is too hot, Twin Crazy is too hot. If Red wants water, Twin Crazy wants water. If Red has an itch, Twin Crazy has an itch. Again, so sweet. My little parrot.

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    All kids are asleep now and I hear guinea pig rustling around every now and then. I’m not sure what to do about tomorrow. I have to drop them off at co-parent’s at 6 PM but will have little time with them. I’d like to spend time with them in the AM, drop off Red and Big Bro, and then maybe stay in that area and go to a library or beach or something. Someplace where we can grab a snooze. Then pick up Big Bro and Red and do something. Maybe a museum or the zoo. I just don’t want to spend the whole day driving on the highway and also missing out on my kids. Anything to avoid having to take these toddlers on four trips on two separate highways, in traffic each way. I’ll figure something out tomorrow and will likely pack up the car with extra clothes, food, etc. It will be an adventure.

    Til tomorrow –
    – Mama K

    Filed Under: Daily Journal Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

    May 30: Wagons of Weeds

    May 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    Wednesday!   My day to work from home and work 1/2 a day.  I love these days.  I actually get A LOT done!  Some highlights, that I remember:

    Highlights of the Morning:

    • I read a book to Twin Husky, Twin Crazy, and Big Bro.  I started with Twin Husky since he needed some cuddle time and then came Twin Crazy, and then Big Bro…  Red was having a problem so she did not join us.
    • Co-parent left Red sulking so I went over to see what the problem was.  She wanted a containter of cereal to take to school with her.  While I was at it, she said she wanted a bowl of cereal to eat now.   Then before I knew it I had the others back at the breakfast bar eating a second breakfast with me.  Their bellies were good and full.
    • I kissed Big Bro before he left on his bike and did the drop offs – no problems.  Red was a bit clingy.

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    Highlights of My Working Day:

    • I finished up a discussion / sales document for a forum we are launching and also crafted the email communication.
    • I confirmed with members from the other forums that the potential dates for October will work with them and that there are no conflicts.
    • I did some administrative items and then called it a day at 12:45pm

    The Rest of the Day:

    • I packed up the minivan with more stuff from my room.   The room is looking VERY bare – no decorations… hardly any clothes… just my bed, my dresser, Batman’s cage, and piles of books and papers.
    • I headed to Home Depot and bought a drill, a cherry tree (Yeah!  It was on our list!), some tools, grass seed, weeding tools, some houseplants, and other stuff.  I feel like I’m on a learning curve and the drill intimidates me a bit.  But I think I need one.
    • I got to the house and unloaded, organized a bit inside, organized more trash/trimmings, and WEEDED more…. yes more…. unbelievable.  But it is getting respectable again.  It actually feels good since I feel like I accomplished alot of weeding in a relatively short amount of time… I concentrated on the EASY to pull weeds (now I know the difference and can spot the easy ones very quickly).  Ha!  I loaded up my dumpster and also a huge box, which I packed back in the minivan to throw away at the “old” house. 
    • I picked up the kids; Red was happy.  Twin Husky and Twin Crazy wanted to show me how they ride their tricycles.  Twin Husky can actually use the peddles.  He was so determined… his face was so serious as he was “driving” his tricycle.  He also had all three of his animals in his hand (“Tiger”, “Other Tiger”, and “Zebra”) which was hysterical.  Twin Crazy is using her feet on the ground to get around but she’s quick.  She was also very proud of herself and I encouraged her along with her brother.
    • I had Twins for bedtime; bedtime was rough tonight.  Red was crying non-stop; co-parent let her cry it out.  Eventually he went to her.  Her knee was hurting.  She came to my room.  She just wanted a bandaid.   She became happy as soon as I got them for her.  How is he going to do this on his own?   How long are the children going to cry with him not listening to them?????!?!?!?
    • I finished the evening with more work.  I sent out the “sales” document to the potential clients over a series of emails.  I also reviewed our Final deliverable for our client and I’m hoping it will get sent out tomorrow.

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    I’m looking forward to tomorrow with Twin Crazy and Twin Husky.  I am going to focus on getting my room organized since there are boxes everywhere.  If I can bring over my dresser by myself, I’ll be able to cover a lot of ground. 

    Til tomorrow,

    – Mama K

    Filed Under: Daily Journal Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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