Day 31

Well, actually, it is way past day 31. I've fallen way behind so I'm going to give a few updates and move ahead to get back on track!

We made more cupcakes.

We swam in the pool.

Gary the gator has a new small gator friend out back in the pond.

No more snakes in the pool.

We made snowcones.

I called dibs on the good pool float - TIMES INFINITY.

Smudge the kitten has a new home.

We stayed away from the skate park because of the heat.

I bought more Silly Bandz.

It's HOT.

That about sums it up, so let's move along.

Day 30 - AgressiveMother. com

"Be careful!"

"Don't do that!"

Why?

"Because you'll get hurt."

"I said BE CAREFUL!!"

"Stop doing that, NOW!"

"You're scaring me! KNOCK IT OFF!"

That is the sound of me telling the kids to calm it down as they act like wild banshees in the pool. I'm always waiting, on the verge of dialing the first two numbers of 9-1-1, just in case I have to call an ambulance.

"Be careful!!!!!!!" I've said that about 1 million times this summer.

Cole just looked at me today and said, "AgressiveMother.com, that's where you need to go."

What the heck is AgressiveMother. com?? That kid's a riot.

Day 29 - Shooting bugs

Isn't that cool? The dragonflies are swarming all around the yard. They get trapped in the screened-in area around the pool. They are blue and green and there are some really cool ones with brown tiger-striped wings. There are plenty of damselflies, also. They flit around too quickly to photograph.

Little spiders have suddenly shown up in the bushes and under the eaves of the garage. I'm not as crazy about spiders as I am the dragonflies but I still snapped a few shots.

The wasps are swarming around, too. They get in the screened-in area and make the kids scream!

"A WASP!!!!!"

Then, they jump out of the pool and race in the house, dripping all over the place.

Of course, the deadly stinging insect is usually way up at the top of the screen roof, about 20' above the kids. Good thing they got away quick!

Run away, 'fraidy cats, run away!

I always save the day with my trusty can o' wasp & hornet spray. I take steady aim and fire like a pistolero in a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. The bad guy always drops dead to the ground just like the evil banditos in the wild west did when Clint shot 'em.

It's hot. Too hot to go anywhere. Certainly too hot to go to skate park.

And it's too hot to play outside. And besides, there's no one to play with - Ryan is gone for a month, the other Ryan is gone until school, Justin is at camp, Nathaniel is at his dad's, and all three of the kids are just sooooo BORED with no one to play with.

No one to play with (God forbid, that they play with each other!).

Go play with the bugs I'm watching old movies.

Day 28 - The Gators are restless

Gary the gator has been hanging around lately.

See? >>>>>>>

I'm not sure if it is coincidence or what, but he hangs out behind the house in the pond while the kids are swimming in the pool. Maybe he can hear or feel the ruckus they make.

Usually one of the kids will come running, yelling, "Mom! Look! There's the gator!". Then I race out with my camera in hand just in time to see him sink down so just his head or eyes are visible.

Last weekend, David saw ol' Gary fully up on the bank and judged him to be closer to 6'. I had previously said I thought he was only about 4'.

Last night, while I was straightening up around the patio I saw Gary come cruising down the center of the pond. It was almost dark, so I didn't run for the camera (should have!). I watched him get to the end of the pond and then, suddenly he jumped up right out of the water! I could see his white throat and belly! SPLASH!!

Yep, missed that photo op.

Today Ryan's mom, my neighbor across the street told me that she watched the gator in her pond (not same pond as behind my house!) eat two birds!!

The crazy gators are restless and showing off these days.

Day 27 - Silly is as silly does

Yoohoo! Aunt Christine and Uncle Ralph over there in China!! Hey, see these? >>>>

Your niece and nephews are obsessed with these. Surely, they are super cheap in China - the place they are made.

Everyone wants Silly Bandz (well, knock off Silly Bandz) every time we go out these days and every place we go has some kind of Silly Bandz to sell. Even the hardware store had a sign out that said, "We have Silly Bandz!".

$2.99 at Walgreens, $1.99 at Target, $2.59 at doodle mart, $1.49 at a different Walgreens, $2.99 at Publix, thank goodness we found some for $1 at Walmart!

The children have accumulated a huge number of Silly Bandz. My vacuum cleaner is full of Silly Bandz. The pool skimmer even has Silly Bandz!

Frankly, I think I'm in for an appalling $15 worth of Silly Bandz at this point, not counting the money of their own that the kids have spent!

So, to sort of quote Forrest Gump, "Silly is as silly does".

Day 26 - Cupcakes and clubs

Cupcakes! The very word is enough to get even the most "Ugh, do we have to go?" whiner to grab shoes and jump in the car.

Today we decided to check out Sugar Magnolia's in St. Cloud. It is a cupcake bakery. They had muffins and cookies, as well. The shop was cute and had a fun decor. The lady behind the counter was very friendly and patient.

There were no chocolate cupcakes when we got there this afternoon and surprisingly there was no mutiny! Each of the kids immediately wanted one of the "Salted Caramel " cupcakes. Not wanting to rock the boat while everyone was being so uncharacteristically agreeable, I decided to get the same.

Oh, my yummy, sugary heavens!!! They were so good! and big! Cole was the only one to finish his.

He summed it all up perfectly with his frosting covered mouth;

"It tastes like a miracle!"

This evening we dragged the whole clan to a club meeting (we just joined the local airboat association). The kids spent the whole drive over excitedly pondering all the cool things that being in a 'real club' means. Like maybe shirts or jackets, cool handshake to get in, a cool SECRET handshake, prizes and all kinds of 'CLUB' things that other people, not cool enough to be in the club, don't get to do.

They spent the whole ride home telling us how BORING being in a club is and that they never want to go to be in a 'real club' or go to a club meeting again.

Win some, lose some.

Day 25 - Free tastes better

Usually if I need to run errands or go to the grocery store no one wants to go. They immediately start complaining..

"Ugh, do we HAVE to go?"

"I don't want to go."

" Why can't you go when Dad gets home?"


The one exception is the liquor store. EVERYONE begs to go if Dad is going to the liquor store. The liquor store gives FREE lollipops. And once, when they were out of free lollipops they gave the children a king size bag of Skittles.


"Wow! That was awfully generous!" was my initial thought, then I remembered that they've made enough money off of us to buy stock in the M&M Mars candy company.


Today I needed to run to the pool store for liquid chlorine to combat the sickly green tinge the pool has from all the daily rain showers. The usual chorus of "Do we have to go?" started and continue right through to check out time at the store. Then, there IT was - a bowl full of FREE lollipops.


The ride home was filled with

"The pool store is cool."

"Yeh, I like that place. Can I come with you next time?"

and my favorite from Carlie,

"I think free lollipops taste better than paid-for ones."

I agree.

Day 24 - Lost and Found

Isn't he cute? We found him the other night in the median strip of the busy road in front of our subdivision. David had seen him in the road on his way back from the store.

David and I looked like crazy fools crawling around in the bushes and flowers of the median, trying to flush him out and grab him! Cars kept slowing down and looking. I'm sure the real laugh was seeing me swinging around a white lace tablecloth, trying to fling it over the kitty like a net.

Kitty was scared to death and famished! He's just a little guy. He looks about 2 months old or so.

The kids are calling him 'Smudge' because of the black on his face and one lone spot of black on his white tummy.

So now he needs a new home - QUICK! - before Blackie Chan and Gray Mysterio teach him any of their evil ways. Just what we need - three cats racing around on the roof!

Day 23 - Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July - frantically waving from the good ol' Us of A to my sister & her husband in China! See how all-American we are?

We took great photos in red, white and blue stuff. Doesn't Carlie look happy? >>>>

Cole used his special patriotic ninja flag moves on her so she's thrilled. She'll probably tell him he doesn't exist again today.

Our patriotic photos were interupted by the arrival of an AMERICAN alligator- aka Gary the gator. The kids ran out to see him. I didn't get a great photo before he sunk down but before this shot his whole head and back were visible. Early in the am (while I was sound asleep) David saw him fully up on the bank.

Then we threw some yummy all -AMERICAN favorites in the cooler - Coca-cola, chicken tenders, and hot dogs - and headed for the beach. Who cares if it is gray and rainy? It's the 4th of July!

We had a great beach day but the surf was rough, really rough. It nearly sucked my darling little dumplin's out to sea. They ended up scraped and with swimsuits full of wet sand but all alive. Now my super cool day-tripping transporter (the van) is full of wet sand.

It poured rain at times and we had no problem with crowds or traffic.

Then, we finished the night off with sparklers and watching the fireworks show from downtown Kissimmee.

Happy 4th of JULY!!!

Day 22 - Existentialism

Sob, sob, sob.

"MOM!!!" sob, sob. "MOMMMMM!!!"

Hearing the above, I know that surely, something terrible has happened. Someone or something has injured my youngest little dumpling and I must run to save him! Run, good mom, run!

Well, actually I just turned around from the front seat of the van and looked at him.

"Why are you crying like that?" I asked, as I look for obvious signs of trauma like blood, missing teeth or spilled french fries.

Sniffle, sniffle. "Carlie says I don't exist." Huh?

With the saddest face ever he asked me, "Do I really exist, Mom?"

Oh, good grief! "Carlie stop freaking your brother out!"

I comfort him, "Of, course you exist pumpkin. I can see you and your farts smell. "

Just the right answer to make a 6 yr old boy believe he is real again.

Day 21 - Food for thought

Food seems to be a constant issue here. Everyone wants something "good" to eat. There is "'never anything good to eat around here". The kids fight over the last good thing to eat. "When are we going to eat?", I hear all the time. We spend time baking and decorating our food creations to eat. Really, we do more than just eat.

Sometimes, we go out to eat. Sometimes, we order take-out food to eat. Sometimes, we go to the store and buy more stuff to eat.

Once we played the rhyming game in the van using the word 'eat'. Neat, heat, feet, seat, sheet, skeet, beet, meat, sweet, treat.. it just made them want something to eat.

It isn't always junk food. We eat healthy crap too. Like the fresh cantaloupe we had tonight.

Yummy! Well, fresh cantaloupe that 3 of us had. Two of us are afraid of orange food or something.

And we had this delicious corn the other night! Yummy and super cheap at 10 ears for $1.00.

Actually, 4 of us enjoyed the corn and one of us thinks yellow, bumpy food is of the devil.

So just to balance things out and make sure everyone had something to eat..we made microwave SMORES today! Super yummy, gooey goodness! No one is afraid of brown & white melted slime on a tan crispy cracker.

Day 20 - Summer Doldrums

The summer doldrums seem to have hit the kids. "I'm bored." and "There's nothing to do." are whined constantly while they stare blankly at Barnacle Boy and Mermaid Man on TV.

Bored? REALLY??

'Cuz, I sure wish I had the LUXURY of being bored!

But I don't because.. the truck is broken and we are down to one vehicle this week, it is raining again & the roof is leaking (again!) and I can't find a bucket fast enough. The ac system is leaking on laundry room floor. I think Gray mysterio leaked on the living room floor. Blackie Chan is on the roof and someone is ringing the doorbell - "No, sorry I don't want your religion today". The house phone is ringing. The cell phone is ringing. My ears are ringing from the sound of your little friends playing in the pool -who you are ignoring while you whine that you are bored, and your non-swimming friends need watching in the pool! Dinner cooking on the stove needs watching. I'm watching to be sure Blackie Chan doesn't jump on the counter and I'm want to watch Glenn Beck.

Nope, no time to be bored! Where are Mermaid Man and Barnacle boy when I need them??