Monday, July 20, 2009

Summer Living

It's been a busy few days trying to catch up from our trip to the beach and then work and then keep up with the yard, house, garden. We're just getting our first tomatoes from the early girl plants and I finally got all the tomato plants staked. Between my patch and the joint one with Roger and Peggy we have 20 odd tomatoes, plus a volunteer. It looks like I have a volunteer squash in my compost and there is a volunteer melon or cantaloupe on the edge of the field where R+P dump their food scraps! The zucchini and squash are really coming in. I spent yesterday cooking with them-squash casserole, zucchini cake, bread, muffins. The chocolate cake is delicious and the pumpkin zucchini raisin muffins are fabulous too!I still need to get grandma's recipe for squash casserole. It was good but not great. Peggy and I also made bread and butter pickles (and some squash/zucchini relish) with our load of cucumbers (one plant worth-we've made 3 batches and have enough for one more I think).

Well, I had typed that outside while playing with the kids and then that got derailed and I'm back oh 4 hours later :) I had really hoped for a nap today-I work 11p-7a tonight (better than the normal 7P-7A!) but the kids were not feeling the love of naps. And then Robert woke up all hyper and for the second they seem contained. Except that Mary's diaper is full. But she'll be OK for a min :) I've been trying to get the house cleaned up today-I think it's pretty well done-still want to work on the counter and above the TV area some more but the bathrooms, floors etc are done. I feel like I never get caught up-my cupboards are overflowing with stuff I jam in, my desk is a mess, there are kids clothes that need to be sorted out as to what will fit this year and what needs to be saved... but it seems to get pushed back with laundry, dishes, cooking, picking up endless toys.... I did put away 1/2 of the living room toys today-Robert refused to put them away so I told him if I put them away I was keeping them. I've also done a ton of laundry today, I've got the last load in the dryer. And I feel like I'm just not consistent-not with Robert and the never ending potty training ARGH and discipline stand stills, not in my requirement of picking up toys or on my own of picking up the rest of the stuff and keeping it put away. I told Wesley yesterday that he could either start picking up or I was going to dispose of 1/2 of the stuff in the house. We are simply drowning in STUFF. OK rant over :)

Robert has been doing more imaginative play recently. He's been making food for the stuffed puppies and it's hilarious. I am alternately completely captivated with him and ready to kill him. It depends on whether he is being cute and creative or running away from me shrieking with laughter when he is supposed to be going potty (or picking up toys, coming to supper...) or trying to run me over with the dump truck or ringing the doorbell to make Snoopy bark...

Mary is still talking like crazy and is over all still sweet. She was trying to unfold washclothes that I was folding today and I finally got her to hand me the ones to be folded instead. That was nice. Most of the time the kids helping means it takes SO much longer (case in point today while Robert helped me sweep-oh my there was more dirt when he finished than when we started I think!) but that actually helped and she stayed with it for the rest of the basket. Her main issue is eating anything she gets her hands on-dirt, gravel, crayons. It makes it very hard to spend time outside with her.... Today it was old peach pits and extra dirt. YUCK.

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