A Day at the Marney's: July Edition

 I actually took this picture after I had gotten back from putting the puppy on the front porch to potty.  And the clock is seven minutes fast.  I tried to fall back asleep but it took a long time.  And yes, the clock is sitting on a comforter that my sisters used a month ago and I have not yet put back in the linen closest even though it is about 12? feet from this. Yes, sometimes I am ridiculous.

 Joe took care of George and I fell back asleep until about 7:15.  We then had our coffee and 5 minutes of quiet time in the morning.  Well, kind of quiet- George was watching Barney and Critter was yelping to be fed.  But considering I used to just roll out of bed when he left, our five minutes of coffee time is a definite improvement.

 I got ready for the day. I put on mismatched socks on purpose. When I wear a hole in one I usually get rid of it but I don't like to waste the other one so I pair it with one that is similar colors.  Sometimes.  Sometimes I just throw it on with something that doesn't match at all.  I walk on the wild side.

 Loaded up the five and went out on an outing.

 Why is it 65* in July at mid-morning? Weirdness.

 We went blueberry picking with some friends.  Even though I had bought a lot of blueberries at the store the day before.  BUT THEY WERE A GOOD DEAL!  And the experience of blueberry picking and connecting with the Earth and where our food comes from and all those life lessons... So now I need to find a bunch of recipes using blueberries.

 Pretty, aren't they?

 I made lunch and got ready to the dishes from the night before.  But then I realized, "Hey! I have five kids!" and I let Isaac do them instead.

 I laid down for a little bit (see first picture) and then I read a little bit on the back deck.  I had started this book in the Spring, really liked it and then, for whatever reason, put it down.  I picked it back up and I am glad I did.

 The biggers played outside for a while and the littles slept.

Then it was time for Math. Oh, the dreaded Summer Math.  It has caused much angst.

 The rest of us made muffins.  Not blueberry muffins, even though that would have been a good idea.  I had super ripe bananas so I made banana chocolate chip. Yummo. Maybe we will make blueberry today.

 I even swept the floor because it was dis.gus.ting.  Blech. Mopped, too.  Later, the puppy got his water on his paws and got little paw prints on the floor and I was reminded why I don't bother to mop as often as I should.

 I made dinner, which included making homemade cream of mushroom soup because it is far superior to the canned stuff.  But dude, cornstarch is annoyingly messy.  Or I am inept in the kitchen, one of the two.

 Her bike that we got her for her birthday a month ago had a flat tire, so Daddy fixed it for her.

 While he was doing that, I took the rest of them outside, where they raced.

 This race was slow motion running. I liked that one a lot.

 The dogs romped.

 And her bike was finally fixed.  She rode up up and down the driveway once before it got all mosquitoey and we went inside.  The kids showered.

 Aw, Isaac is all fresh.

 Hair brushing.

 Then they all pretended to be dogs chasing their tails.  

Ahhhhh, bedtime.

 Joe and I continued our Twilight-athon. Which he claims he only agreed to because he can't say no to any "-athon" but we all know better.

 My knitting stuff was a mess from not putting thing back properly in the middle of a project, so I organized it all. 

All organized.  Then I knit the stupid "Perseverance Sweater" that I have been knitting on and off for almost a year.  That sucker is gonna get done, yes, it will.

And then we went bed.  And that was another "Day in the Life of the Marney Family".

A day at the Marneys. With photos.

Yesterday started at 5:48 when George woke up.  Joe went to "play" with George (which, at least on my mornings, consists of trying to doze off in the recliner in George's room while he plays. George is rarely accommodating. and if he is, you better protect your face because you never know when he might bop you with a toy to get your attention).  Blessedly, the puppy didn't whimper to potty, so I fell back asleep for a while until he did.

 I think about 6:15, I got up, pottied the puppy and he stood by me while I made coffee. Mmmmmmm, coffee.

 Joe left for work and I drank my coffee, the kids watched a little morning TV.  And Adelle did this with my sweatshirt, which I found amusing.

 As I sipped my coffee, I admired what a beautiful morning it looked like outside.  But no, don't let it fool you.  It may look beautiful, but if I had stepped outside, a thousand winged bloodsuckers would have descended upon me to feast on my flesh. Fun times.

I then took a shower.  Since I am obviously not going to take a picture of that, I took the opportunity to finally take a picture of our vanity mirror and light fixture that we bought and installed this Spring.  Isn't it pretty?

 I then walked into George's room to get him some clothes out for the day and had guilt about the fact that there is still a suitcase in his room from last week.  Instead of actually doing anything about it, I grabbed some clean clothes out of it. I left Ewok to sniff it in disapproval of my procrastination.

 But I did do a load of towels, so I wasn't entirely unproductive.

 After going outside myself to test the mosquito situation, I deemed it somewhat safe as long as we put on bugspray.  There were footraces up and down the driveway.

 And bike races.

 And we discovered a caterpillar and observed it.  And tried not to squish it. Well, some of us tried not to squish it.

 Issy is doing some math this summer so we came inside and she worked on it while I prepared lunch.  One of the story problems was frustratingly difficult.  I instant messaged Joe and asked him if he would help Issy with her math this summer.  That is why when I homeschooled, our math curriculum came with an instructional DVD on how to teach it :P

Then it was naptime. Which is supposed to be a sweet respite in my day.  No, not this day. I tried to lay down but the puppy was being a bit of a turd and whimpering- he wanted to hang out with me, which is sweet and all, but no, I didn't want to play.  I was feeling slightly irrational anyways and I may have yelled. Or not.  I like to be evasive about my bad behavior.  About when the puppy finally chilled out, George woke up.  I felt like this:

 Sigh. Everyone was up and we had to get Isaac's medicine from the drugstore 10 miles away.  But I had forgotten to get the money from Joe, so first we had to drive to his work, in the other direction, to get some cash.

 I let the puppy ride in the car because I felt guilty about yelling (or not yelling) earlier.  I pet him and apologized and he forgave me for any indiscretions I may (or may not) have committed.  I promised to do better next time.

 When I was at the drugstore, I picked up two little pieces of chocolate because they were 2 for 99 cents and even though I worked in retail and I know how add-ons work, I folded to the well placed chocolate. It was delicious.  And I felt better about making up with the puppy. So by the time we got home I felt like this:

 The kids wanted to play in the sprinkler so I stood outside for a few minutes to test the mosquitoes.  Seemed okay so I let them put on swimsuits and get sprinkled.

George abstained from the sprinkler. He rode his trike instead. Clementine kept an eye on him.

 After 30 minutes of playing, all the mosquitoes in Necedah came out.  I got bit. Through my shirt.  And not just through my shirt, but through the mesh of the chair I was sitting on. Um, yeah. 

 The dogs stayed out to play, since they aren't wanderers and we came inside.  There was coloring and I did the dishes.  Joe had offered to take us out to eat, which was a nice treat.  So when he got home, we called the dogs inside and loaded up the car.  The puppy came right in, but Clementine was no where to be found.  

We called, we whistled (well, Joe whistled cause he can whistle much louder than me) and nothing.  I can't say that she never wanders but she always stays in ear shot. So I was concerned  We drove around our neighborhood and the neighborhood to the north, looking for her and nothing.  We came back and rechecked the house. Nope.  Joe suggested we drive around the school parking lot, to the south of us.  And lo and behold, there she was. It looked like she was trying to dig a hole to China.  Riiiight. 

 We brought her home and I gave her water.  Darn dog- we think she might have been after a rabbit or something, though she doesn't usually lose herself like that.  I hope she doesn't follow her nose again :P

 We went out to eat, which went about like you might expect eating out with five kids an hour past their dinnertime while having to wait forever because they must have needed to kill the cow for the burger to go.  But it was tasty and actually, in between George shrieks of glee and sometimes disgruntlement, we had a good family discussion about the mountains and maybe moving and homeschooling again someday.  We will see.  

We went home and there was kid's bedtime, adult chatting, knitting and half movie watching before the adults got tired and went to bed.  And then the puppy/ George got up at 5:15 this morning and the cycle starts again...

Picture diary of a morning walk