Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Works for Me Wednesday

Cleaning my glass front door has always been a problem for me until I discovered that yes I can use the same squeegee that I use in the shower on it. I just spray it down with Windex (sometimes scrubbing where little grubby hands have been) then I squeegee it. It sparkles like crazy for at least ten minutes until the kids get to it. For other Works for Me Wednesday click here.

No Longer Fenced In

We get so used to living in our fenced in little world. Growing up we had a back yard with a fence but it was made of rocks and concrete. So my parents would send me out to play without a worry that I would get into any danger. Fast forward thirty years and now it is my turn to send my children out into the back yard where they will play. Meanwhile I am secure in the knowledge that they can't get out front and disappear on me. Even though technically my son's do know how to open the gate they never do it without permission. My runaway two year old would easily run off if given half the chance along with her partner in crime our dog. As of yesterday I am now in for a week of worry and extra hassle. The reason is simply because our neighbor next door decided to replace his entire fence and so we are without one entire wall of fence. While it's great that the fence is being replaced, it is a new found freedom that both children and dog alike are loving. I can no longer just throw them out back to play and burn off some energy this week with out first leashing the dog and going out to watch them. The desire of all involved to go and explore all these new and undiscovered backyards is hard to contain. I know that by the end of the week they will all have peeked into the neighbors windows and sniffed around all the yards. The joy they are experiencing at no longer being fenced in is probably equal to the pain that I feel at having to keep up with them when they go outside to play. So if there is a way to get the fence man to put up our fence any quicker than maybe our helpful children and barking dog will spark the initiative to do it, along with a begging mom of course.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Working towards a Happier Day

There are some days that everything just works out perfectly and the children are all reasonably well behaved. So far today it has been one of those days despite the illness running through our home. Everyone is in good moods even after visits to the doctor's office and pharmacy. Is it because I am in a better mood or is it because I have a different perspective on things. I am going to assume it's a little bit of both. But I will take it for what it is worth and enjoy it as long as it last. Because with four children it never lasts longer than a day or two at most. But my mood is definitely better and I can only attribute that to my Lenten activities. They are very basic and simple activities but I must confess that some days are harder to achieve them. That is until I was reading another blog somewhere and someone made a reference to TiVo' ing their favorite shows on EWTN. I was struck by a lightning bolt moment and realized that yes I can do that also. So that is what I have been doing. So maybe that is why my day is a lot easier than it should be with sick children. Because I have been willing to spend my time in prayer (in particular the Rosary, one of my favorites) and in doing so have been blessed by the Lord's grace.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Oh So Tired

But well worth it. Had a wonderful weekend of fun. Even with the nasty dust storm we had during our party on Saturday. So much food and drinks and all shared with friends we hadn't seen in a while. I was telling one of my friends that I don't remember having so much going on in a long time. It kind of reminded me of a wedding weekend. You know with the party, luncheon and then a shower. The only thing missing was an actual wedding to attend. Thank goodness I probably would have fallen asleep by then. But by this morning it was back my normal routine. Or so I thought. My oldest was sick all day and my baby wasn't much better. Then when I thought it could get no worse, my poor husband comes home sick with the same stomach bug everyone else seems to have. So we are off to spend more money at the Dr's office. But me I can barely wait to crawl into bed and hibernate for a year or two.