Return to normal

We had a lovely convention in Canada the week before last and then we came home to oodles of heat, humidity, laundry, a kitchen full of stuff (how do we have that much stuff just going to convention for four days?!?!) and a missing daddy and husband, since Justin had a job in Albany this past week. I didn't even begin to make pretensions to being virtuous enough to combat all of that at once, so life just sort of flowed around me. I kept the kids hydrated and the dishes and laundry clean and tried to make headway against the stuff once things had cooled down in the evening. In other words, I was supremely lazy. I read several books in front of the fan, read a two foot stack of books to the kids, sang a lot of songs, and generally, tried to think of any excuse for remaining semi-conscious in front of the fan. All that hard work paid off--We all survived the heat wave. And now, thanks to a much cooler weekend (we needed sweatshirts yesterday morning!!!!) the house has been neatened up and the outside no longer looks like a fiendish jungle is trying to take over. Hooray! 

I hadn't mowed in two weeks or weeded in... I think five weeks. And lots of irises and hostas needed cutting back, as well as a lupine that mistook itself for a small bush instead of a flowering plant. After all that, I got a brainwave for where to plant the hydrangea I had ordered in May. So I shifted my little rose bush (Type: the Fairy) into a spot where its miniature size was not a drawback, dug up the bleeding heart crown and placed it next to the other bleeding heart (they have an agenda to take over the front lawn each spring, so I figure, putting them next to each other will sort of cancel each other out) and popped the hydrangea in the bleeding heart's hole. Ta-da! I have probably killed them all, transplanting in the middle of summer and rather carelessly too, but still, I felt immensely clever for sorting out the where-to-put-this-hydrangea-that-I-couldn't-resist problem. And to make up for this horrid treatment, I carefully over-watered them with Miracle-Gro. Yes sir, I am an expert gardener. This outdoors ambition was spurred by a quick stop at the greenhouse the other day. Almost everything was 99 cents, except hanging baskets, which were $5.  I simply don't have it in me to resist flowers that cheap. (Yes, I clearly have flower resistance issues.) And really, my flower beds needed a little bit of a boost. Right before we left on our trip, I plopped a bunch of bedding plants in the ground, watered them and left them alone for a month and a half. Surprisingly, they weren't looking very well. I was toying with the idea of just mowing the flower beds as part of our lawn and starting fresh next year But then, there were cheap flowers. And I was once again convinced that this time, my flower beds would be the most beauteous thing that ever happened. Or at least make our house look cared for. 

I really didn't mean to ramble on about my flower beds. So I have very few corresponding pictures. These are just some pictures of recent events. And speaking of recent events, Gilbert finally got his glasses (for a two days anyway) and Elsie is walking! Elsie is a very independent baby and didn't take her first steps to anyone. For the past month or two, she crawls around until she feels like standing and then stands up in the middle of the floor. But she wouldn't walk. Even if you put your hands out to her or held her hands. Today, she just stood up and started walking. A lot. It is a perpetual delight to the kids, who exclaim and squeal and jump up and down whenever she does it. Elsie thinks it is all a great hoot and laughs right back at them, while walking. A fabulous day for being a mother.

And in case you entertained any doubts about my level of high-classness, I would just like to warn you that there are a lot of pictures of kids running around in diapers in the following picture selection. When it is over 90 degrees, clothing is optional for the under 4 crowd around here. Yep, I am that trashy.

My yucca plant in flower

The herd at Full Circle farm

Elsie, when left to her own devices with a yogurt stick

The girls zealously dug and made ant castles complete with mud ball walls for several days. Until their holes got to be more than a foot deep and we ruined their lives by telling them to fill them in. 

Orianna started out by working on Welcome Home, Daddy cards for when Daddy came home and then quickly moved onto making Indian hats. There were a lot of paper scraps around this house.

Gilbert was supposed to be taking a nap, but he asked Lily to please come cuddle him. And Lily came to talk to him. Sweet girl.

The next day, the kids made a tent out of their bed by securing a blanket to all four posts with hair elastics. Resourcefulness.  

And Gilbert and his glasses. Still making his silly picture face.

And then Gilbert, looking semi serious. 

Just to embarrass myself, I will tell you all that I managed to lose Gilbert's glasses two days after he got them. That's right. I can't even be trusted with them for more than 48 hours. But I have a good story about losing them anyway. I arrived at Elsie's check up appointment five, that's right, FIVE hours early. Apparently the "check time" written on the calender meant to confirm time, not "check up time." (I should not ignore notes I write to myself.) I also should have just driven the half hour home and gone back at the right time, but I decided to go to some stores that I normally don't have time to get too. After two of these stores, a grocery store stop and a picnic and run in the park, we went to the library to hang out for the remaining hour or so before the appointment. After awhile, I realized Gilbert didn't have his glasses on. When I asked him, he said they were at home. Ha! I had told him a bajillion times in the first store to put his glasses back on. Why it didn't occur to me that maybe I should just hold his glasses while we were in the store, I don't know. But it didn't. They weren't in the van, which was thoroughly gone over, so we went to Elsie's check up with me racking my brain trying to pinpoint the last time I saw them on him. I was tired, and after almost an hour of waiting, for the doctor and trying to keep my three older kids from simultaneously practicing gymnastic moves on the doctors twirly, wheely, stool I realized how tired I was. And it all became terribly funny. The doctor would choose that moment to come in. And to make myself appear sane, I started babbling about the day being long and Justin gone and I lost Gilbert's glasses! while he looked at me with a nice, concerned look on his face. When I finally paused for breath, he started asking questions about my support network. Do you have anyone to help you while your husband is out of town? In other words, should I really let these sweet, innocent children leave my office in the care of a semi-hysterical woman? I impressed him with my parents living only a mile away and he seemed satisfied to leave it at that. 

I left my name and number at the stores we went to, after searching through each one, and still, no one has found them. Each person I asked suggested I get him one of those rubber things that attach to glasses to keep them on the child. I think I might get one of those things. In the mean while, we have ordered another pair. And managed to humble myself as a feather brained hysterical woman to several stores in Malone, the librarians, the glasses store, and the kids doctors. A productive  vcday, all in all. 

One of my hydrangea's. One of the 'Incredi-ball' varieties. They have huge flower heads. This one is 10 inches or so across. 

An over hot Elsie hanging out.

Comics have been read a lot this summer. 

Cutie-pie!

Outside, berry picking break. Yeah, that is how long our grass was. It rippled beautifully in the wind though. 

Elsie and Gilbert sharing a black raspberry

The wind was strong. 

Lily was terribly impressed with Elsie standing near the Cheerios box that for some reason had found it's way out to the living room. So I had to come take a picture. 

She is such a good little mother to Elsie. 

The storm blowing in

Six o'clock at night, dark, dark.

The street lights even came on for the storm

And after some ferocious rain and wind, it blew over. And we went outside to see how the world looked. Lily and Gilbert found a frying pan of water. This frying pan was bought before realizing it had holes in the bottom. So now the kids just use it in sand adventures.

Who wouldn't want to go wading in a frying pan?

Racing

Gilbert loves to follow his sisters around

A little moth

Elsie touching the hydrangea

Orianna and Lily being Hansel and Gretel

Except they threw clumps of grass instead of breadcrumbs. Charming.

Gilbert is fascinated by the hose.

And a blue sky evening and moon. It is amazing how quickly storms can blow through. This one brought some blessedly cool weather, dropping 21 degrees in half an hour or so. 

The beautiful after storm sunset

And a bad picture of some of my flower beds. It isn't amazing, but it at least looks controlled. Which is a vast improvement.