I do not mess around

I did it! I'm down to trim (white) on two walls, three windows, the mantle, two exterior doors and three interior doors. The walls are finished (except for a 4x4' spot I missed!) and the trim is finished on the two walls that have a lot of stuff on them. The books are back on the shelf (they spent two days on the dining room floor,) the tv cabinet is back on the wall, the couch is back on its wall, the floor is cleaned, the rugs are down. We are back to conditions I can live with! Holy cow, I'm tired and sore!

D does not enjoy finishing type work (he's more of a carpenter/fix it man,) so I did basically all of the home improvement. He made some awesome meals, though, and he fixed a broken radiator cover, and he kept everything from falling apart while I was engaged, plus he got in a lot of good Daddy time with the kids--so it was definitely a team effort.

It was also very awesome of my friend G to have R over today. He came home just wiped out and totally satisfied. He and Lil B had a blast playing all afternoon!

So, yay! Painting over 12 years of living--fingerprints, crayon marks, smudges, something that looked like coffee (??) a big grey smear where the dog holds vigil outside the bathroom door--scrubbing it all off and painting it clean was such a joy!

Summer Project

Can I say how I love doing things that have tangible results and actually *stay done*!

And the second thing I want to say...why is it that I get halfway or better into a home improvement project (enough to really visualize the completion,) and then I don't want to do it any more?

Our living room is in shambles! The loose things are put away or in boxes in our bedroom. The rugs are rolled up, the furniture is pushed to the middle and covered with drop cloths...and it's no where near done! I've done a ton of plaster repair, some very nicely, some slapped up. I primed the mantle, two radiator boxes, three windows, two exterior doors, and three interior doors. I've primed about half of the baseboards. I painted the ceiling today. Yikes. The living room seems so much bigger from the perspective of a roller on a pole! Hopefully I'll be able to raise my arms tomorrow--I still have so much work to do!

My goal is to have it down to final trim by Tuesday, and completed on Wednesday.

Pictures forthcoming...

Weekly Roundup

This week I took 5 kids to:

*Art Class--"Copying the Masters" at Baker Hunt, a sweet little studio in Covington.

*the library, where we're blowing right through the summer reading program.

*a county nature preserve, where we expected to attend "Snakes Week," but I had mis-read the program, and it was last week, so we missed it. We had a nice hike, though, and found lots of turtles and frogs in the pond.

*the pool!

*Home Depot and Michael's, for pvc pipe and fancy duct tape, respectively.

*the park across the street, where we had another nice hike.

*the zoo, where everyone had age group classes & we visited the new "Night Hunters" exhibit and fed birds by hand at Lorikeet Landing.

We've had some excellent boffer challenges, watched some documentaries, caught up with a Disney movie we missed, done some school work (including setting up a pill bug habitat in preparation for some pill bug science,) and played some video games.

Yeehaw!

Battle Stance

It struck me that, in some circles, the fact that my three kids and my two daycare kids each have their own boffer might be a red flag of my inappropriateness of occupation, if not a strike against my sanity.

But, you know what? It works.

Boffers are infinitely safer than sword play with found objects or the dreaded plastic lightsabers (which are currently in my bedroom in "toy timeout.") As I have no clue as to how to eliminate sword play (not sure I even want to,) it makes sense to do it as safely as possible.

It rained most of the day today. When it finally stopped, my crew of 5 headed out to the driveway to whack the heck out of each other with pvc pipe covered by swim noodle and duct tape.

They played by agreed upon "rules of engagement." The big kids moderated their strength with the little kids. It was so totally fun!

Crazy Week!

We started summer off with a bang--Horse Camp for T, Shakespeare Camp for C, and our daycare friend to keep R and me company.

T learned so much about horses, horse care, and riding. She really bonded with her mare, Third. This week was absurdly hot for early June, so the riders also had the opportunity to go diving for grooming gear in a water trough, blue jeans and all! This afternoon she had a horse show. She decorated Third with ribbons in her mane and put her through her paces in the arena. She's missing Third all ready. She can't wait to go back to the stable.

C spent the week learning all kinds of things about theater in general and Shakespeare in particular--analyzing script, stage craft, voice projection, acting techniques, the evolution of the English language...last night while helping me water the garden she spoke only in iambic pentameter. This evening they performed A Midsummer Night's Dream. C played an awesome Bottom. She was hilarious. She's looking forward to the Groundlings program with Cincy Shakes this fall.

R was amazingly well behaved during the performance. I thanked him. He said "I'm a big boy. That's what big boys do!"

I have such awesome kids.

In My Amazon Shopping Cart

I have to have this book: Go the F**k to Sleep

From the NY Times article:

The book calls to mind various children’s classics, but with verses from the inner voice of an irritated parent:

The cats nestle close to their kittens,
The lambs have laid down with the sheep.
You’re cozy and warm in your bed, my dear.
Please go the ____ to sleep.

The blend of diligent parent and irritated sailor really speaks to me.