Standiford Family

Today was just beautiful outside even if part of the day was gray.  The temperature made it to the 60s.  Yesterday and today I wore sandals.  Kade won the argument and wore sandals to school today.  My toes have been naked for several weeks now.  I was very happy to paint them and show them off.

I love this polish color.  It’s called “Blackberry Baby”.

This afternoon Mickey did some cleaning in the yard and garage while Mat and Kade played outside.  Meg worked more on the presentation part of her science project.  It’s almost done.

We had another showing today.  Our house really likes all the attention it’s getting.  (As of right now, we have two more this week.)  I have needed to come up with somewhere to take the kids on occasion.  (It’s not quite park weather yet, too much mud.)  For that I turned to our favorite place, at least one of them.  (By “our”, I mean me and the kids.)  That is the library.

(Kade’s trying to figure out which Beast Quest book he needs.)

Kade and I visited there this afternoon for a little while before meeting Mickey for a quick lunch and our own viewing of a house.  I’m sure the library will get old soon for those of us that go 3-5 times a week but I can really relax there among all those books.  Our library was re-built and re-opened last year.  They have nice cozy spots to cuddle up with your kids to read.  They also have a fireplace with leather couches nearby for the adults to sink into.  There is even a little snack area with vending machines.  It’s like a home away from home.

Kade is learning to be a handyman like his dad.  Today Amanda and Chris moved into their first house.  Mickey helped with the loading and unloading of the truck and the kids and I showed up later to help unpack and clean.  It was decided that the locks needed to be changed.  The men went off to buy the supplies.  Kade was right there in the middle of things for the first door.  He was thrilled he was allowed to use the tools.  I’m sure he’ll need a refresher course for the next locks he changes.

The girls were no slouches.  They were running things up and down the stairs, vacuuming, and chowing down on red vines until they needed a movie break.  I unpacked most of the kitchen.  Pictures of these events were taken but did not turn out clear so Kade gets to star in another potd.  Good thing he’s cute.  You gotta love that expression of total concentration.

Tonight I had a date with my mom.  We went to see “New Moon“.  I’m not going to comment on the movie since I don’t have many nice things to say, although it was better than the first, only a little.  It was nice to spend time with my mom and give her something different to do.  Thanks for going with me, Mom.

(Sorry, not the best picture.  It was dark and I don’t know how to work the little camera as well as the big one.  But you get the idea.)

Meanwhile, at home, Mickey got the kids to bed and then Chris came over to play games.  They really get into killing people.  Good thing it’s not real.

Yesterday while cleaning out some cabinets in the kitchen I thought I had better boil some eggs.  There’s a little person who often asks for a big egg, meaning boiled.  They finished cooking and then I ran them under cold water….and put them in a bowl in the refrigerator to use/eat later.  A few hours later I was making dinner and pulling some stuff out of the fridge when I decided the eggs needed to be cracked.  I did it the fastest way I knew how, I knocked the bowl onto the tile floor spilling the eggs everywhere.  That started the makings of our lunch today.  After we got home from church I peeled a few and Kade used a tool my sister-in-law gave me.  It’s a small food processor thing-a-ma-bob.  It worked very well.  Kade and Mattey both had a turn turning the crank.  (Kade’s picture turned out better.)

I then added the mayo, mustard, salt, and pepper and we had lunch.  Quick and easy.  Just like I like it.

Tonight Mickey and I (really just me but he agreed to it) decided we needed to pamper ourselves a little.  We’ve been working hard at fixing up the house and doing our normal full time jobs.  After the kids were in bed we sat down to watch an episode of NCIS:  Los Angeles and ….

…soak our feet.  It was very relaxing.

A few weeks ago I was thinking about all the stuff I do around the house and especially what I do for the kids.  (I was probably having a mini pity party.)  I realized that I have to get the kids up and out the door 6 days a week by myself.  I mentioned this (complained) to Mickey.  I told him I didn’t think it was fair that I had to do that and I still had to put them to bed every other night.  He agreed with me and now he’s putting the kids to bed 6 nights a week by himself.

I love it!  After prayer and hugs and kisses I can disappear into the office or where ever and do whatever I want.  Life is a little less stressful at night.  The only thing that could make it better is if I had a big tub to soak in.

Tonight Mickey treated me to another Broadway Rocks! show.  (Here’s last year’s.)  It was AMAZING!!!  The symphony orchestra was fantastic but the singing was even better.  I don’t know if I can say anything else about it but WOW!  And I can’t wait for next year.

Thanks mom for keeping the kids and getting them in bed.

This is the reward I get for working on other things this week.  Actually this occurs about 2-3 times a week or whenever the kids clean their rooms.  I don’t really mind dirty laundry except that it NEVER ends.  I had the hamper empty for about 4 hours one day this week only to be filled again the next day.

As for the other stuff I was working on here’s a couple pictures of the finished quilt, front and back.

When I took it in to church this afternoon a few people asked if I would make them one or tried to walk off with it.  I was sad to see it go but it doesn’t really work with any of our decor right now.  I ended up sewing two more tops and turned one into a quilt.  I had help tying that one.  Now I have to get back to work on a bag order.

I really wish that meant I’ve been on the treadmill running all day.  But no.  I’ve been running the kids and myself around in the van since 7:30 this morning.  The picture is us waiting for Meg to come out of school.

Here’s the run down of the day:

7:30 - Meg to school
7:40 - Mat misses her bus (for the third time this week)
7:50 - Mat to school
9:03 - Kade to school
9:15 - Back home to workout and shower
11:16 - Take meds to Kade at school
11:30 - 30 minute drive to get massage (ahhh)
1:07 - 30 minute drive home
1:47 - Pick up Kade
2:12 - Go home to wait for Mat’s bus (Kade got out 10 minutes late so we had to skip our library trip)
2:50 - Pick up Meg
3:04 - Meg to dentist (Mickey’s picking her up on his way home.)
3:30 - Leave dentist, Mat to orthodontist
4:08 - Go home

I know it’s not that bad but I’m tired of being in the van.  I’m such a home body.  I only have one more trip tonight.  I’m going to church to do some quilting.  Speaking of quilting I still have a little more to work to do on mine before I can cut all the yarns and tie them.  My fingers and lower back are so sore.