The countdown continues....

Jeff should be here between the 8th and the 10th of April. With all the stuff going on over there, I will be so happy when he is physically here and we can all smother him in hugs and kisses!

It looked like spring was here for a few days--but it was a tease and the last few days have been chilly and wet. Yuck.

We had a good trip to Omaha--lots of family time, but we were glad to be home again.

Not much news. Mostly just getting through each day and checking it off as one day closer to "Daddy" being home.

As I wax philosophic....

We are spring cleaning and packing to get ready for a long weekend in Omaha. And I like to be organized. I like my house to be clean. But the law of diminishing returns very quickly gets applied to my house. I keep up with the dishes and laundry. I take the trash out on a regular basis--I have no funky smells in my house (except for my garage which a stray cat habitually sprayed this winter, but I digress.) My children eat healthful meals and snacks. I change diapers and everyone in the house bathes or is bathed at least once every 48 hours. The bathrooms get cleaned once in awhile and the same with the floors. Once a week or so we all walk through and throw toys in a basket. We've reached an equilibrium. But I've found that I COULD spend HOURS more a day on housework and my house is only nominally cleaner--and I'm substantially grumpier. I mean, I get positively EVIL when I've spent 1/2 an hour scrubbing a floor and one of the children walks in with muddy shoes--or accidentally lets a puppy in. When I've paid a child to clean the bathroom, it's not done that well, but I also could care less when it looks a mess the next day. However, when I've cleaned that same bathroom, I find myself SCREAMING at the child who left toys all over and dumped the sand from their pockets onto the (clean?) floor.

So--I continue to organize and purge in my quest for simplicity, but I'm a much better (happier) Mommy when I have time to sit and stamp something beautiful or read a good book. The dust will be there tomorrow....

41 today.

And I found out it's also Shirley Bassey's--but she's SEVENTY-one:



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88184207

Makes me look forward to the next 30 years!

We went out to eat last night--Valentino's. I gave LB ice cream--got him his own little dish and fed it to him. It was the first time he'd ever had more than a bite or two of anything that sweet. Well, when it was gone, I set the cup aside and he commenced to HOWL! I mean, it was a full-blown tantrum with TEARS! It was so funny! So, I did the horrible-parent thing and got him more ice cream. As soon as I started feeding him ice cream again, the tears stopped and he started eating happily. Sascha also got her own little dish--which she ate with a spoon, as soon as we got her started--and she realized what it was. They are both using silverware more--LB ate about 3 scrambled eggs yesterday--mostly with a fork.

Then last night we watched "One Crazy Summer". Zadina designed a loincloth out of a plastic Walmart bag that was really quite fashionable. Taj and I went to Walmart and then I stayed up finishing a scrapbook page I'd been working on. When I finished, It was well after midnight, so I opened the presents that came in the mail yesterday--my mom sent me a DVD of "Butterflies are Free." (My all-time favorite movie, but my VHS copy was all fuzzy.) And Natalie sent some pampering products from the Dead Sea. I feel so pampered!

Today we are headed to Topeka. We'll have lunch at Olive Garden and drop our teen off to visit friends. I have some shrimp in the freezer--I think Aria and I will do something fun for dinner. And tomorrow we have church, so I think I'll bring a cake to share.

Okay--off to use my new (yummy) shampoo!

Less than a month to Jeff!!!

He's been calling me almost every day--we are all so excited for his return! He's done with missions (going into the city)--just packing and outprocessing. (Which means no one is shooting at him anymore!) Still no actual date for his return, but SOON!

Sascha is talking more--I brought LB down this morning and she looked up from her banana and cereal to say "Hi!". Then she wrinkled her nose and pointed to him, "Stinky!" She also told me "Down." last night. Later this morning she stooped down and kissed him on the top of his head as he was sitting on the floor.

Za and Aria are enjoying their dance classes. I have them each signed up for a six week class this summer--but will be looking for another studio for the fall that JUST teaches ballet--these are combo classes.

March is flying by--in a week I'll be 41--and in two weeks we'll be in Omaha for a visit.

Another book to recommend:

The Glass Castle.

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls (Paperback - Jan 9, 2006)

All I can say is, WOW!
I also just finished the Dave Pelzer Trilogy, My Life (A Child called It, Lost Boy, and A Man Named Dave) He is coming here to speak at the end of April--I'm really looking forward to hearing him!

I went to a book club (Ladies of the Night) at the JC Library on Monday. We discussed "Middlesex" (a Pulitzer Prize winner I'd read last year). The new book was "A Dive From Clausen's Pier." I read it on Tuesday, and will probably re-read it before the next meeting. Interesting ideas.

All is well here. The babies were throwing up the last few nights, but seem okay now. I'm ready to be done with illness and winter.