Justin is home! :-) (Insert Hallelujah singing here) I was only a single mom for three days and I was tired of it. I was READY to have a husband and father again, Apparently I am not super mom. Which is unfortunate. I would like a cape. I always, secretly wanted to be a super mother. I wanted to be the mother who was doing complicated, Martha Stewart crafts with her children and making it FUN. The mother who imparted pearls of wisdom her children could remember and rely on throughout their lives. The mother with the neat and tidy house that imparted a sense of calm and security to all who enter therein. The mother who makes baked goods and has the dishes done by the time the baked goods are out of the oven. The mother who knows instinctively how to put garage sale finds together for aesthetically pleasing, magazine worthy decor. And the mother who does all this while remaining calm, patient, loving, and always fair. 

Instead I manage to cobble everything together for a hodge-podge, slightly haphazard childhood for my children. I am not sure they will end up in therapy or not. But worrying about all the damage I am doing them will probably land me in therapy. 

It is really amazing to me, this blogging thing. I sit down to write a what-we-have-been-doing post and it turns into something completely different. Still, that is the point of blogs isn't it? I get to ramble and pursue tangents with no one to tell me to shut up or focus. No wonder blogs are popular. 

What we have been doing is being at Mom and Dad's a lot. JoAnna energized us all to a full scale weed whacking, weeding, and mowing on Friday night. As JoAnna put it, she was going to weed whack the pants off the farm. Then we stayed up so late talking (mostly about JoAnna's ER experiences--fascinating), I ended up sleeping over. Saturday was spent trying to make sense of the room all the cousins sleep in when they come to Grandma and Grandpas. There were about 32 books hid here and there, blankets and sleeping bags strewn about, extraneous toys that missed being put back with their mates and lots of bits of paper, coloring books, crayons, etc. Mom took pity on me and watched the kids while I came over to my house to clean it up so Justin could pretend he had married someone organized for a few minutes when he came in. Until he saw all the stuff I shoved on the shelf. I couldn't bring myself to sort through the toys and put them in their individualized bins. Why do I buy my kids toys? It is like self torture. Oh that is another super mom thing I would do--make my kids pick up their own toys and not get anymore out until the last batch is put away. 

Yesterday we got the tail end of Irene. A very steady rain all day with slight bursts of breeziness. A rainy, cool Sunday is such a luxury after a busy, busy summer. Snuggling under blankets to contemplate which book I could spend the afternoon reading seemed the height of pleasure. All that pleasure was too much to take, so I ended up reading a Tintin (Blue Lotus) that I have read probably 30 times and commenting every few pages on Tintin's inability to die. Someday I am going to count the number of life threatening situations he pulls through in a book--He must average 15 per book. HE would know how to be super parent. Actually he would probably drag his children into life threatening situations at 3 months to train them for a life of infallibility. And who would marry Tintin? Nancy Drew might be a good match, two slightly red haired detectives who come through everything relatively unscathed. They could swap stories. "Top this one, Nance." Or maybe Betty Cooper. She has a thing for orange haired guys and is apparently never going to get Archie.... Whoever it is, she would have to like dogs. 

Here are some pictures of our lazy Sunday. Caleb and Fiona spent it with us, since this is the last Sunday for months that they won't have homework and projects hanging over their heads. Food was eaten, Rook was played, Monday planned out, scattered naps happened, and the rain was watched. 

Ice Cream. With hot fudge sauce. It is what the cool kids do.

Maple butter in the process of being made.

Caleb cleaning knives. And yes, that is a dishtowel tucked in his shirt. He is a nut.

JoAnna, doing her dishes thing.

Owen and Ashley

Fiona and Olivia were having a civilized sofa chat when Caleb whaled inbetween them. Lily and Gilbert thought that was a good idea.

Mom and Dad in their respective corners.

Justin with his superb maple butter

Orianna trying out Fiona's shoes

Discussing house plans

Eating potatoes with hot fudge sauce. Just to bug people.

Lily-bil

Fiona looking exceptionally skeptical

Gladiolus!

Sunflower--this poor flower grew from reseeding last year. It made me wish I had planted a lot more sunflowers.

What is up with that condensation in the center? I will have to look into this....