...and Now For Something Completely Different:

We like to say our youngest son is a little different. He most likely has dreams of taking over the planet with the use of 6 story tall robots and some cool magnetic devices. He is also fascinated with hammocks and escaping from them, as we discovered during our family reunion in July. So, I present to you (pretend you hear the fanfare playing):

Noah Taylor -- Mindfreak


Text: Noah's idea of a good time had some escape artist overtones. He asked Michael to take a carabiner and clip him into the hammock. After about 20 minutes he couldn't figure out how to escape and he needed to go to the bathroom, so he called for help and Michael released him from his self-requested confinement.

Text on photo: You have to Start Somewhere!

_{Criss Angel logo from the internet (modified)
Background Paper: Oil Paint paper by Gina Miller
Frames: Photo Cluster 5 by Nancy Comelab
Rubberband by Kate Hadfield
Numbers: Old Proof Sheets by Christina Renee
Font: Arial, DJB ANNALIESE, DB Michael by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick}


:::::::::::::::::Cookies:::::::

Today I made several dozen peanut butter cookies. Noah was my taste tester and with his mouth full gave me a thumbs up and walked off with two more clutched in his little hands. I had promised a week ago to make him some peanut butter cookies and I also had an appointment to go visiting teaching, so the whole two birds with one stone analogy worked quite well.

::::::::::::::::::Eye Update...Update::::::

The doctor said the abrasion has healed. I can read to the fifth line down on the eye chart. Things still have a bit of a ghostly doubled effect, but that should be gone soon. And lunch with Michael and the kids was nice.

::::::::::::::::::Right, They're Cleaning:::

The kids have been given the task to clean their rooms. It has been slow going...think continental drift since the time of Pangea. They have assured me that they are on task, and to prove it they have brought me photos of Jasper, or very cute ferret, sleeping upside down on a grocery bag in Aaron and Noah's room. They are trying to prevail on me with cute furry photos, but I'm not falling for it. Well, he is quite an adorable ferret.



:::::::::::::::::The Best Time of Day:::::::

Here is a great article from Real Simple about what times are best for certain tasks. I thought I started cleaning at 4 p.m. because Michael got home at 4:30 p.m., but now I know it is just the right time to get started. I love that!

Smiles!

Bathroom Rant:

What do most folks do the first day their kids are off school? If they are sane they may take the kids to the park or to the pool. I let mine watch Jeff Corwin movies about bats (they watched this one twice because they love flying foxes), amphibians, and different animal encounters. Aaron was off to a friend's house most of the day and Noah played computer games, which he kept asking me to read the directions. So, while they were mostly being self-sufficient I cleaned my bathroom and theirs.
Now for the rant: ARGH! I always cringe when I clean the bathroom knowing that in seconds the surfaces will be defiled by my family members. It is the same reason I hate doing laundry. You clean it. They put it on, then get it dirty and it winds up on the floor in just a few days for the process to start over again. The other thing I hate is that anyone can miss the large hole in which to deposit their offerings to the porcelain g*d. I'm thinking it wouldn't be so bad to build a guardrobe, but we don't have that much room between our house and the neighbors to let the smell waft. Also, my dear husband chooses to trim his own hair in the bathroom whilst sitting on commode, or standing in the shower, so fine black and grey hairs get sprinkled like some pepper around the bathroom and in crevices. It's kinda of like a chihuahua blew up! In the kids' bathroom there is a smearing of different colored toothpastes on the counter and the mirror behind the sink. You know the culprit by the toothpaste colors. Green (watermelon flavored Colgate) that would be Noah's, Red (strawberry favored Colgate) that would be Eve. Toothpaste spit on the mirror that is usually Aaron. Rachel's M.O. I'm not so sure about.

Product endorsement for the day is a nice, but not overwhelming smell and cleaning ability of Lysol Bathroom Cleaner.

:::::::::::::::On the Bright Side::::::

My name was the first one picked from the hat for a gift certificate to 2 Peas. I'm so excited!

Noah is demanding to be back on the computer!

Later, Smiles!