mudpies and paint

I think that I am really boring right now. Here I sit trying to think about what exciting, noteworthy thing to blog about. The list of things I want to share sounds oh, so pitiful. But then again, boring isn't bad. This stable, not running from one fire to another, is just the type of life I desperately desired coming out of my teen years. Now that my excitement is charged by a purchase of new sheets, or finally finding a slipcover solution for our extra-large, hideously stained sofa I can bore you all with the details of what constitutes my life.

School, after a few weeks break for day camps and a trip to the beach, was set to resume yesterday. That was before sitting down at my calendar Sunday afternoon to do my weeks menu and discovering my prenatal appointment was for Monday, not Tuesday like I had been thinking. With no time to find a replacment sitter, all the girls got to go to the appointment with me. K was very excited to hear the heartbeat for the first time!! She spent the rest of the day taking about her baby brother that was swimming inside mommy.

And, since we were out I decided to run over to the home store and get some new sheets for the master bed as they were on sale. Dh over the years has convinced me of the value of having very nice cotten sheets to sleep on, versus what is the cheapest option. Because of this we tend to only have two sets of sheets for the bed - more than enough really. The sheet set, regularly $99 were marked to $49, plus I had a coupon!! This replaces the 8-year-old set that I recently moved to the rag box.

While there I of course had to look at some covering options for the sofa that is the bane of my family room. It looks so disgusting that the only people who ever want to sit on it are the ones who have made it look like that. I have horrible luck with slipcovers, if I even could find ones that fit an extra puffy, extra long sofa without costing me a fortune. Standing in the sheets I had a lightbulb moment. Why not buy a few extra flat sheets and cover the thing. Worse comes to worse we have some extra sheets for our guests to use. With the white sale I was able to purchase two king and one full size flat sheet for less than a standard slipcover. After washing/drying I put it all together. It doesn't look to bad. I still need to pull it off, do some stiching together to get a little bit better fit - but it serves its purpose. It didn't require the contorting slipcovers do and is much easier to wash.

Home in time for lunch and for me to get off my feet. My sciatica flared up over this past weekend and I can only seem to get a good half-day in before I have to get off my feet. Em napped, and amazements of amazements, the big girls pulled out some of their board games and played them, nicely, together, for over an hour!! I was so stunned I could barely remain laying down I kept wanting to go check what they were really doing.

Can we just say at this point that the thought of starting school was shot. So maybe today, maybe tomorrow. We were going to start slow anyway - it was just to get them back into the routine. That is my justification, don't blow it for me.

A few other things that have made me gleeful these past two days and to further prove the point of my 'boring' life.

-- making up the menu for the week I realized that except for milk and juice, we didn't need to go to the grocery store again this week. A trip to the farmer's market - probably for fun, but not necessary.

-- researching toaster ovens and microwaves as possibilities as gifts for my birthday, only to discover that really our old ones are just fine and that I really don't need to replace them. (I was hoping to find some space saver type to put in our kitchen - but everything seems to have gotten bigger). Of course this still leaves me trying to figure out what to tell my mom to get me ("nothing" has not worked so well). I was gleeful to discover that within myself I no longer have the need to replace something perfectly good, just because I have the means.

-- Having afternoon and evening clean-up time that everyone participates in, and having it start up in an impromptu way. Dh and I each take K or MB and we work together to clean up around the house, clean the kitchen after dinner or whatever. We teach the girls as we go, and for some reason entertain them so we are not having so many of the evening meltdowns. It is nice to see this becoming a routine thing.

Off to begin the day -

Peace,

Amy