Mothering Many

My oldest two boys collect state quarters, and I guess that makes them nu-num-numismatics (yeah, I had to look that up, LOL). I still have to remind them occasionally that the quarters need to stay in their folders, because they enjoy comparing who has what, but I am also hopeful that what began as a Boy Scout project may turn into a lifelong hobby for them. See, numismatists don’t just collect coins (which can get pretty expensive); the term actually refers to those who study currency, which is actually pretty fascinating, and also free, if you use the library and internet.

I went to Monaco Rare Coin tonight and while I found the rare gold coins interesting, I also enjoyed the article on getting started in rare coin collecting. And it was much easier to understand than the overly excited guys who come on the tv at 2am, selling coins one night and knives the next. Obviously, it’s a long jump from quarters to rare coins, and that will come later, if ever for my sons, but it’s never too early to get them excited about learning more about something that interests them. I think I need to capitalize on their current interests and help kindle a flame, don’t you?

Spidey is eight years old today. It doesn’t even seem possible. He enjoys Cub Scouts, card games and sword fights. He likes POTC and Nash Bridges. He’s super smart, and promises to use his super spidey powers for good. He’s busily planning a movie/sleepover party for his birthday.

Yep, still cleaning. I finished the boxes of clothes that dh brought in from the shed this morning, and then went in to the boys room and helped Batman with his dresser. I gave away anything I did not have a child waiting to grow into. It felt wonderful. I sat a bin with maternity clothing in it aside, but I may go through those before it’s all over, too. Not sure how much, if any, of it is fit to hand down, because I have totally gotten my money’s worth out of my maternity wardrobe. In fact, I had to replace some stuff last time that was worn out. Yes, I actually wore out maternity clothes. Not many women can say that, LOL!

Once I get my blogging done, I plan to head back into the boy’s room and do some more in there. BUT! It’s somebody’s birthday, It’s not the child I am supposed to write about today, but I think a birthday justifies going out of order, don’t you? Hold on, there’s one more post coming up!

I told the children today that we are not putting the tree up until the house is clean. Judging by the lack of hop-to-it-iveness, only one of them actually believes me. Nonetheless, I am committed. The house will be clean, and it will be clean before the tree goes up and if I have to do it myself, so be it. I have until the 13th of January when the extended family arrives to get my ducks in a row, and I figure 4-5 hours a day oughta take just about that long. Ok, maybe not that much, LOL.

I have a huge container of clothes set aside for goodwill, and will likely have several more. I have decided that if I am not actively waiting for a child to grow into something, it’s outta here: stained stuff to the garbage and good stuff to someone who can use it NOW. We have reached a crisis of space and something must give. I kinda like all the people, and so it must be some STUFF. Unless, of course, you have a hot tip on some Wilmington NC real estate, and then we can chat. Hurry up though, because tomorrow, I’m going back to it.

As for the weekend, I was up at 7am on Saturday, and I walked in the Christmas Parade with the Cub Scouts. Two miles. And that was two miles that I had intended to sit for, LOL. Here’s a picture of the float before the parade started. Did I mention I walked two unintended miles? Yeah, and also, I did not wear foot gear designed for such a walk. I ended up with a blister on the bottom of my foot.

After the parade, with it’s unintended two mile walk, we went skating with the church youth. Now do you see why the unintended walk was a big deal? Here’s photographic evidence of that excursion, so I can use it for a reminder later.

I was in bed by 8:45.

Sunday: church, run see Grandmother for probably the last time, grocery shopping, and church business meeting. I think I saw my husband for about 10 minutes, total, broken up into 3 segments, but I am not actually sure. Silly me, I thought the weekend was for relaxing!

Here’s Diva, making the “cheer face”. She’s 12.5, all that and then some. She enjoys writing and television and reading. She’s a little social butterfly, and enjoys interacting with others, as well as tormenting her brother. She is such a help to me, especially with the babies, and I’d be lost without her. I’m not quite sure where she got tall and thin from, but I’m happy for her. Usually.

Mrs. Mecomber called me out today about only having 5 of the children up on the Meet the Family Page. Oops. I always meant to finish that up, but, umm. Yeah, ok, I am a big slacker mom, and I apologize. Country, Diva and DaBaby are missing, and the rest need updating. Except TheClone– that picture was taken the night before she left, so it’s the most current one I have. We’ll count her done, and move on to Country.

Country is 14 and earned her nickname because of her penchant for country music. Now her musical tastes are expanding. She enjoys cheer leading and reading and television. She is as addicted to the internet as I am. She is an awesome cook, too!

Some hysterically funny moments just don’t translate well into print, but I feel compelled to try, considering that .. weell, it was really funny, and resulted in the purchase of a new domain.

So, Diva and Country and I were cleaning the kitchen this afternoon, and Country was pretending to brag on herself for cleaning the counter. I played along with her game and said something about bowing down to her for her awesome cleaning skillzzzzzzzzzz. Well, Diva had her back to us putting flour in the canister and I guess she didn’t realize we were playing around, and she started getting offended, and asked what about all she’d done. So I made some crack about her cleaning and she was still miffed, so Country and I started giggling. I finally asked her if she realized that she was jealous because I was picking on her sister. So then she started giggling, and so I admired her for her “slenderocity” and then. And then, Country, she said, “oh, it’s like travelocity, only for slender.” And then I said, “OH SNAP, I am so buying that!” And I did. I imagine Diva will get it for Christmas.

Now onto the cookies! I got a package the other day from the fine folks at Reynolds. Now, I am not quite sure how they knew this, but I love a tin, so I was especially thrilled when I opened the box to see this :

Wicked cool, right? Wait until you see the inside:

Recipe cards, invitations, party tips and a sample pack of their parchment paper! I had talked with a friend of mine about co-hosting a cookie exchange, but we haven’t ironed out all the details yet. Let’s see, I have 8 sheets of the parchment paper. What if we do 8 days of cookies? I’ll post 8 cookie recipes/tips/ideas between now and Christmas. Sound good? Okay, works for me, too. And no, this doesn’t count as the first one–it’s a freebie, LOL! Look for the Christmas Cookies category to find the goodies.

Technorati Tags: slenderocity, Reynolds, Christmas Cookies

Oh yes. She did say that.

My mother brought little plastic tiara headbands over for all the girls yesterday, and Drama and Diva were over the top impressed with them. Last night, Diva leaned over to get something out of the dryer, and when she stood up, she looked at me and asked, “Is my crown on straight?”

Oh yeah. She’s allllllllll that.

Today’s plaything: marbles . Did you know marbles have been found in the ruins of ancient Egypt? Talk about a popular toy! And since marbles are beautiful as well as fun, they can be enjoyed all your life, though you may have to stop playing when you can’t get up off the floor anymore. Don’t know how to play? No problem! You can find rules for several games at Marble Rules. Enjoy!

Hmm, someone’s husband walked out the back door last Friday, went across the yard and opened the shed, proceeded to haul that winter clothes and Christmas decorations into the house, and pretty effectively blocked off the front door and the school shelves. Can’t do school until we get that sorted, but we can at least use the other exits.

Someone’s van door has decided it doesn’t like to close anymore and must now be wrangled into closing by that same dh and a screwdriver. Yes, someone is currently accepting car donations.

Someone has decided that since all these boxes are here in the house, and we really can’t go anywhere as a family, and Christmas is rushing toward us at breakneck speed, it’s a good time to clean up the house. Again, still. Someone got the laundry area done today.

Hi ya’ll, I’m someone.

So, what have we got going on for fun? Tonight is the Cub Scout Pack Meeting. Then Saturday, we have the town Christmas Parade. I’ll be riding the float with the scouts, and the girls will be marching with the cheerleaders. The church youth group will be leaving from the parade ending point to go to lunch and then skating.

Oh, did I mention I am officially helping with the church youth group? Yep, sure am.