The Clean House

Following a Saturday morning of full tilt cleaning by everyone.....

Dill: Wow.... Our house is so clean!

Pepper: Yes, wouldn't it be nice if we all kept the house clean all the time?!!

Pete: Naw, then we'd have nothing to do the day before Nana came over.

:)

The Baby Dream

Last night I dreamed that we had a baby. This is a surprise to me on a couple different levels. First, I never remember my dreams and this one was vivid. My whole family was there waiting to meet my new baby. We were at my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Sue’s house. Everyone from our old annual family clambake was there. My grandmother who recently died and my grandfather who died 20 years ago were there with matching blue and white striped shirts on that said “Mexican Hotel” .  I have no idea why their shirts would say that but in the dream I did not think to ask. Aunts and uncles and cousins I haven’t seen in years were all hanging out at the house and looked happy ~none of them aged a bit.

The baby itself was quite a surprise. Besides the fact that I wasn’t trying to have a baby and am at this point to old take on such a huge endeavor....she talked to me on the way out of the hospital! I am holding her as we were going down in the elevator, she was quiet so only I seemed to hear her but she said the numbers that lit up as we headed down. “Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…. Bye, bye”  Then as we walked to the car she was telling me that she was very excited to meet the rest of the family. When we got to the car I sat down in the backseat and explained to her that I was a speech therapist so I knew that she should not be talking yet. She was just too young. She rolled her eyes at me like the most skilled teenager and told me the car seat I was putting her into was just too ‘strappy’. Yeah…. we’re so done having kids.

Family Pictures

I love group pictures of our whole family together… but here is some advice from Dad B. I always try to keep this in mind especially since cameras are easy to lose:

~Always find someone to take your picture that you can outrun! :)

Scrubbing Bubbles

The first time I can remember being mislead by an advertisement was when a childhood friend and I first saw the Tidy Bowl Scrubbing Bubbles commercial on television. The announcer assured me that the actual scrubbing bubbles removed mold and mildew and left behind a shiny clean surface. These adorable little tribble-like creatures with big eyes and scrubby little feet started zipping around a grown woman’s bathroom sink and yelled “Your wellllllcome!” as they spun away down the drain.

My eyes went wide at the sight of them. I was in love. I wanted those cute little critters at my house. My plan was to use the sink stopper to keep them from being whirled away down the drain and keep them as pets. I remember grabbing my allowance and my friend and I riding our bikes to the Pick-N-Pay….. the grocery store my mom always went to. I am not sure if the cashier even wondered why two 11 years olds were buying bathroom cleaner…. But we managed to get it back to my house without to much trouble.

I could barely contain my excitement when we sprayed the stuff into the sink. As I watched with anticipation, all it did was foam. No cute eyes or scrubby feet. No tribble-like creatures that talked to me. I was very disappointed. At first, I actually considered going back for a different can and telling that cashier that she gave me a broken one. It took me a minute or two to realize there never were any real creatures. It was very disappointing…. To this day I still refuse to use that cleaning product. I still think the little critters are adorable.  :)

Wearing out the kids

Jay, Pepper and I took the kids on a day trip... here are some pictures of our adventures. Here the kids are climbing up the 272 steps to see the springs.

Sand Dunes the kids ran down:

My Favorite Hike Picture

Yesterday I posted the pictures from our recent hike contest. Today I thought I'd post MY favorite picture from the hike. We came to a tree that had fallen across the path and it made a perfect arch. It was a great place for a photo op! It was before I fell but after we'd gone about 3 miles so we look a little warm. Thanks Macy for taking the shot! :)

The Photo Contest

Pepper and I had a few hikes planned for our latest vacation. Dori stayed home to work and take care of things at home, but the other three kids joined us and were pretty willing to try all the activities we had planned with very little argument.

The first hike was not too long (about 2 miles) and included a great walking path, a couple scenic overlooks, over 220 steps down to the waters edge, a rustic campground and a very nice covered picnic area. The weather was perfect and we ended with a picnic lunch that everyone was looking forward to. (It is amazing how great a PB&J sandwich tastes at a picnic table after a walk). It was a great day.

The second hike was a little longer (about 5 miles) and did not include so many amenities. (The path was more difficult with roots and prickers very common along the way.) To make that trip a bit more fun, we had a contest for the best picture found along the way. Everyone got 3 votes to choose the order of  winners. We decided the prizes together:

1^st prize- any ‘reasonable wish’

2^nd prize- choose where everyone sleeps that night

3^rd prize- Had to do no dishes that night

4^th prize- pick the movie/game that night

5^th prize- a hug from everyone else

(here are the pictures in place order)

:)

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Pete (at 14) in pictures

Pete pulling a comb from his bathing suit and fixing his hair:

...and he is ready for a picture, handsome and mature!:

Friday, August 3, 2012

Tents

I scared Pepper the other day by hauling up the tents from the basement and seeing if they were still in good condition. They were. Pepper fears that we will soon be heading out with them since we no longer have the RV.

The boys were all for taking a trip with the tents and practically pulled out a map and their sleeping bags! We already have quite a few things planned this summer so I am not sure we will actually get out and use them.... but I am glad they are still in good shape. I might slip in a trip with them sometime this summer (but I won't tell Pepper about the idea yet!) :)

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Pepper and my pickles

I am usually the driver when our family travels. Even before the kids were born I would be the one that usually drove. When we would make quick stops at fast food restaurants I would order at the drive thru and then hand the bag of food over to Pepper while I drove away from the window.

Pepper would then ask me what I wanted. She would hand me my fries and open the straw and put it in my drink as we were getting under way again. I would eat my fries and she would eat hers. Then she’d go back into the bag and get out the cheeseburgers. She’d open the wrapper, take off the bun and remove the pickle that she would then pop into her mouth. She’d put the bun back on and then hand the sandwich to me. I said thanks, then she’s get out her own cheeseburger and we’d both eat.

The funny thing is… I love pickles! For more than 15 years this was our fast food drive in routine! I eat pickles at home- I am not sure why she thought I wouldn’t want them on my burger. I mentioned it to her after a long time and she said she just thought I didn’t like them in my cheeseburger (I have no idea why I wouldn’t!) She asked why it took so long for me to say anything and I told her that as much as I like pickles I enjoyed watching her do the routine more. She just shook her head. The other day we went through a drive thru. She gave me my fries and put the straw in my drink just like usual. When she got out the burgers she unwrapped it and just handed me mine. I missed her pickle removing routine almost enough to have her take it off…. But I didn’t. I really do like pickles on burgers.  J

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Pink Eye

We were traveling and the kids were all in the backseat with assorted technology pillows and blankets. There were many interesting conversations but this one made me laugh out loud.

Macy: Stay away from my pillow if you have gas! Farts can cause pink eye, ya know!!

Dill: Really? That’s how people get pink eye? By people that farted on their pillow?

Pete: No, that’s not true. I farted on Macy’s pillow last week when she told me that and she never got pink eye.

Macy: WHAT!?!?!

:)

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