bullets

• We inherited an outdoor cat to solve our mouse problems from some friends who moved away.  Our outdoor cat has suddenly become an indoor-sleep-on-Rufus's-bed-22-hours-of-the-day-until-I-put-her-out cat.  My husband likes We like her though. 
• I've decided that my favorite daytime listening Pandora station is "70's easy listening" - there is rarely a song I don't love.  I know, I should work in a doctor's office.
• I'm seeing my sweet Squirt blossom at four and a half years old.  I agonized over the thought of him going to Kindergarten this fall, but now I think he's really ready.
• Two weeks ago a dear friend and I set up a "let's meet for dinner come hell or high water" night.  That night was last night.  It was blissful.  We ate lots of food including fried green tomatoes.  We talked and talked and laughed until the restaurant closed and then we walked to my car, I drove her to her car, and we talked for another 30+ minutes.  I left with a smile on my face.  It was a treat.
• Fifth grade homework sucks.  I hate that projects become MY work and I wind up caring more about his responsibilities than he does.  Then again, I thought that midnight feedings sucked until I was on my third and fourth child and then they were easy.  So maybe fifth grade will be like that.  Or maybe not.
• I hate the school science fair.  Please refer to my previous bullet.
• My kids are so hungry when they come home from school.  Today I have dinner prepared for them at 3:30 so we can eat for real and then a snack later.  I'll report back with how that works.
• One of my older children still wets the bed at night and I've gotten my hands on a "potty pager" to try to train the stubborn child out of the habit.  Last night was the dry run, except it wasn't dry, it was wet, more than once, and he hates wearing it.  I hate pee, so there.
• The first part of January was spent painting Mrs. Nesbit's room, and since we've lived in this house six and a half years and I've been looking at dingy not-so-white walls and ugly light fixtures in my bedroom, I just decided to push on through and paint that room too (which happens to be a rather large bedroom).  Ceiling, trim, walls, outlets, light switches, and light fixtures are all new now.  I was an aching, messy, paint covered, non-showering woman on a mission for an entire week, but it is done and I love it!  Now we are drooling over the thought of new carpet, and I hate to drool.
• Because I know you're wondering, our adoption paperwork is in the final stages and we look on track to leave for China on March 14th.  My waves of anxiety have started regarding our/her transition and I'm clinging to the proven fact that God works good through the hard stuff in life.  Not that I wish it to be hard, but I want more of God for sure, so pretty much I can't lose, right?
• The ski season has been a total BUST so far and I am actually praying for several big, powdery snow storms to crush our little town so that I can frolic on the slopes sufficiently before I bring a precious two year-old home from China.  Have you ever known me to pray for snow?  It's bad, people.

friends, flowers and fats

I needed a good day.

After a week and a half of wrestling my second grader into his position in life as a second grader, I needed a pick me up day.

My dear friends Christa and Jenny brought me lunch and cake (see above) AND presents. Then Ashley topped it off with my favorite junk foods delivered to my door. My hubby came home with flowers and I got to order chinese food for dinner (we don't eat it often because he doesn't really like it).

After dinner my sweetie gave me the present that I knew was coming (after all, sometimes I actually do DO the budget and he can't hide a purchase this big even if he doesn't give me the receipt!) - new FATS (or powder skis for you non-mountain people). They're the Volkl Aura in a 156 and they measure 130-94-113 (if you know what those measurements are, you're a real skier).

They look good on me don't they? Bring on the pow!

I needed a pick me up - because today it went a bit downhill. I was having some tooth pain and after a trip to the dentist, not only do I have a cracked molar, but he's sending me to see an endodontist (code for REALLY expensive) to confirm that I need a root canal.

Oh, then I just have to come back and get a crown put in.

I think I may have to sell my new fats to pay for my bad tooth.

I did get some good drugs to "bridge the gap" until I can get in to see the endodontist. So at least I will have a good buzz not be in pain for the next few days.

We did take a nice walk this afternoon over to the resort to get the boys their season passes and sign them up for their ski school programs for this year (cough, cough, cha-ching).

I'm thinking about selling my eggs to pay for ski school (just kidding honey, I'll keep them just for you!).

I took this picture of some of my men on my phone - not too bad. Check out the chair lift on the ridgeline up ahead.

Hopefully, the weekend will settle down though because after my husband left for his first second third fourth weekend of deer hunting, I was in my jammies by 7:30.

Then my entire bottom half got peed on while putting my youngest in his p.j.'s.

Oh, and another son thought his brother should brush his teeth with Baby Orajel tonight.

Without telling him.

Yeah, it's settling down just fine.

Extra Credit

I have realized that I fell short on my curriculum design in my last post. I've added an additional section for extra credit. It outlines as follows:

1. When using the bathroom, please use the toilet to pee in. Please do not pee in the trash can just for fun or for reasons you "don't know."

2. Before peeing in the toilet, please lift the seat.*

3. Please aim your stream of pee DOWN into the toilet. For reasons women cannot understand, your pee often ends up here:

4. The wonderful modern technology of toilets allows us to NOT have to live with the smell of our bodily waste. PLEASE FLUSH when you finish.

*In our home, because I do not like sitting on a wet toilet seat am outnumbered, I lift the seat when I am done, so this shouldn't be such a challenge to all of my men.

crucial school curriculum

You know, I'm fairly new at this homeschooling stuff. In the last couple of weeks I think I have seen a gaping hole in early elementary curriculum. But don't worry, I'm up to the task - I've adapted and added my own content.

We've had to cover three major lessons - simple but important:
1. Do not drink your pee.
2. Do not pee in the corner of your bedroom so many times that mom has to rip up the carpeting and the tack strip because it is so saturated with pee. To avoid confusion when discerning that point, do not pee in your bedroom at all.
3. Do not stand on the top railing of the playground in the backyard and pee into the grass.

If I ever write a curriculum someday, I'll be sure to include this unit study.

p.s. girls' weekend anyone??? help!!!