nightly guitar

this is the new almost-nightly ritual. ethan has been reading the little house series to the kids. in the book pa plays the fiddle at night for his family. ethan and maria decided it would be cool if he played the guitar at night before the kids went to bed. they love listening to him play and i love that ethan is (1) developing a talent and (2) creating lasting memories for our family.

what the . . .?

boy, people will try to sell just about anything nowadays. this is in our local classifieds right now.

Push lawn mower Runs okay sometimes catches fire, easily put out with garden hose. $45.

interesting bit of news

apparently it can be handy to be obese. this was in our paper today:

Aug 8, 9:26 PM EDT Obese Texas inmate hides gun in his flabs of fat

HOUSTON (AP) -- An obese inmate in Texas has been charged after officials learned he had a gun hidden under flabs of his own flesh.

Twenty-five-year-old George Vera was charged with possession of a firearm in a correctional facility after he told a guard at the Harris County Jail about the unloaded 9mm pistol. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that Vera was originally arrested on charges of selling illegal copies of compact discs.

The 500-pound man was searched during his arrest and again at a city jail and the county jail, but officers never found the weapon in his rolls of skin. Vera admitted having the gun during a shower break at the county jail.

flee, fly, flo, mosquito!

hudson is suffering from a common ailment among kids during the summer time:

mosquito bite! poor guy, his right cheek got bit and swelled right up. the squitos really go after him, too. he will have dozens of bites at any given time. i don't even know where they're coming from. we don't really like our kids playing outside at night after the mosquitos come out. somehow they must be getting into the house and seeking out hudson. i dunno. i guess he does look tasty . . . nice 'n' plump . . .

here's the funny buddy story of the day. i was in the bathroom, and, i'm sure it's this way with all moms, when i'm in the bathroom i am always bothered. privacy in the bathroom no longer exists. it's like, as soon as i go into the bathroom they think, "oooh, mom's in the bathroom. what do i need from her right this very minute?"

anyway, today while i was in the bathroom i heard hudson's little knock on the door, "mom, i got a boogie." "okay, hudson," i said, "i'm almost done. i'll be right out." as soon as i opened the door he laughed and said, "oh, you open the door." then he looked down at his finger and said, "oh, where'd the boogie go?" oh, but that's not the end. then he sat down on the floor and said, "boogie, where awe you?" that really made me laugh. he's such a funny guy.

at least they're funny

it's not easy to raise kids, but at least they're funny. here are some funny stories:

maria had a check-up yesterday. she knew she was going to have shots. before her appointment she was pacing around the house saying, "i don't want to have shots. it's so saturating!" i said, "do you mean frustrating?" "it's so frustrating," she continued.

i love what hudson says when he want us to move or scoot. for example, we will be at church sitting on a bench and hudson will want to sit where i am sitting so he says, "moob! scoop!"

a few weeks ago hudson was holding libby. he gave her a hug, kissed her on the forehead then said, "i wub you." so sweet!

these pictures are of maria and her "glasses". just out of the blue one day she said, "ugh, my contacts are bothering me. i'm going to take out my contacts." she came back wearing these:

in the middle picture she is saying, "i can't see! i can't see!" because she took her glasses off for a minute. she wears her glasses now and then.

right now the kids are in their room, supposed to be sleeping! i tried to get them to take naps this afternoon but they didn't surrender. then i went to the store and they were really whiney and ornery so i put them back in their room for a short nap before dinner. boy, are they being stubborn. maria said she is tired of being in her room so i said, "maybe you should just take a nap so you can get out." i am not exaggerating when i say that i heard silence for fifteen seconds and then, "mom, i just woke up. i slept." i keep trying to tell her that i know when she's been sleeping or not. so then she tried something new. "mom," i hear from her, "i can't survive in my room. i can't survive in my room without food." nice try.

another mystery solved

every summer i fight an epic battle with the ants. i hate the ants, i mean really hate the ants. i want them to die, die, die. this year has been particularly bad. it's really hard to keep the floors in pristine condition when you have three kids to take care of, or is that just me?

these pictures, however, could explain part of my problem:

someone has been feeding the ants!

and yes, it was maria who, since she's been about two-years-old, has considered the ants her "friends".

truth be told i actually blame ethan for this particular incident. a few days before this happened he and the kids saw a bunch of ants on our sidewalk. ethan thought it would be fun to gather some different kinds of food and see which ones the ants like best. turns out they love cheese. i think maria was just trying to recreate this experiment in the house. we had a discussion about how feeding the ants in the house on purpose is not okay.

another day i had to discuss the fact that it is not okay to try to kill ants by covering them with yogurt . . .

one of those days

here's a list of some of the things that have happened today (all happened before noon):

• maria spilled her cereal all over the floor and herself.
• about a half-hour later hudson also spilled his cereal all over the floor and himself.
• hudson took libby's diaper off of her while she was in her bed and she peed all over her blankets.
• one of the kids (i will not name names) threw a major tantrum including kicking, screaming (the banshee kind) and hitting when i asked them to make their bed.
• i watched all our money fly away as i payed the bills.
• i stepped on gum in the parking lot.

i am really looking forward to nap time.