Yay For Cool Air!

My air conditioner didn't work for a few days, and of course they were the hottest, most humid days thus far.  After checking vents and filters and fuse boxes, my last ditch effort before calling in expensive reinforcements led me to the large ac/furnace fan outside the house.  (And googling led me to the proper term for such a fan, which is "Condenser Unit".  So now you know.)  Next to the fan is a huge lever, and imagine my chagrin/delight/unsurprise when I found the lever was pointing toward "Off".  Hmm.  I think I found the problem. 

Which then led me to a discussion with my children about the importance of not playing with the Condenser Unit or large lever next to it.  Some of these discussions went smoother than others.  As a disclaimer, my four year old is usually not quite so obtuse.

Me: Dane, you know the big fan in the backyard?  The one you like to climb on?
Dane:  What?
Me: The huge metal thing.  In the backyard.
Dane: Where?
Me: By the kitchen window.  You like to stand on it to look in the window.
Dane: The counter?
Me: No, outside the house.
Dane: The woodpile?
Me: No, next to the woodpile.  The big metal thing.  You like to stand on it to look in the window.
Dane: You mean the big fan?
Me:  ......

Fun With Breakfast Foods

We prefer grain and sucrose based shampoo.  It mushes into long hair perfectly, rinses, washes with separate shampoo, rinses again, and then combs out with a fine tooth comb perfectly.  Everyone should use it.

 

Peanut, "eating" his Cream of Wheat

Oh the Mud

Mud!  Oh joy of every boy!!!  During Spring Break my boys decided to relish in the mud surrounding our house.  Lovely.

When they finally came in I sent them up to shower.  Soon Dane came down, all "clean".

Um, I think he missed a spot ...

And, since he loves posing for the camera, it quickly turned into a camera shoot.

Strike a Pose.  Vogue.

Easter

Time for some catch up blogs!!  As much as I want this to be a sometimes thoughtful blog, I also want it to be slightly journalistic.  So here are results of my pathetic attempt at Easter pictures of my kids. 

The best of the bunch!!  There were some pretty awful ones.  Here they are at least all looking in the right direction.

Peanut, getting a little bored of the process.

An attempt at a cute picture of my matching boys.  Cute, but not exactly what I was looking for.  I took about 5 of these and Peanut made the same face for every. single. one.

Again.  Not quite what I was going for.

Leave it to my Diva to give me a beautiful picture.  

After church (and after chocolate milk) picture of the Amazing Underwear Boy.  Not quite sure why but for some reason all of my boys have gone through this phase. 

Boys and Their Toys

Today is a gorgeous day!!  So, what does a family with a Daddy in town and a plethora of boys do way too early on a Saturday morning?  That's right.  Watch out, skateboard park, the  ________'s are invading!!  (I know.  Wasn't that so Austenian of me.)

My mother-in-law asked who skateboards the most.  Erik?  Jace?
Um, no ....

That's right, it's the Father of Five shredding it.  Don't most 37 year old fathers head to the skateboard park on beautiful mornings?  But never fear, the kids joined in, though they were certainly more of a side show.  

Ripsticks and scooters and skateboards oh my!!!
Even the Diva got in on the action.
And managed a pose or two.  Of course.

Dane "sledding" on the skateboard

>

 When Peanut wasn't trying to get run over by various wheels, he was just hanging out watching the action - on a skateboard of course

 Jace on his ripstick

 Erik on his ripstick

Even surrounded by concrete 

she can look cute

And is that all, you ask?  Heavens no.  We haven't come to the main attraction yet.  That's right, it's Extreme Pogo time.

 Needless to say, we were a force to be reckoned with.  We came, we saw, we conquered.  And then went home to pancakes, omelets, hot chocolate (beautiful but CHILLY day), and bacon.  Yum.

A Rose By Any Other Name ...

I am not a huge fan of my first name (love you Mom!  love you Dad!).  It probably started in 4th grade when we learned Spanish for a few weeks and I was assigned the name Juanita.  Juanita?  I'm a Juanita?  That is nothing like my name.  Or is it .. am I really a Juanita?


But I LOVE my middle name (thanks Mom!  thanks Dad!).  From time to time I have flirted with going by my middle name instead of my first name, but what a pain that would be!!  What, would I expect people who already knew me by something else to start calling me by something different?  How annoying and presumptuous of me. 


But now I'm moving.  Here's my chance!  Do I dare introduce myself by my middle name?  Heaven knows I would never expect people who already know me to change how they address me.  But people I've never met ... hmmm.  Thinking about it.


Thoughts?

Cleaning All Day AND Night

I don't like cleaning, as those of you who have ever lived with me can attest to.  I am naturally content with slightly mussy chaos.  In self defense I have been MUCH better in my married years, no longer is my bedroom knee deep in clothes.  But it is still a daily struggle against my slobbish nature and I can honestly grumble with my kids every chore day.  So trying to sell a house, and KEEP IT CLEAN, especially when five children reside in it, is truly exhausting both physically and mentally.


It has even wreaked havoc on my dreams, with the majority centering on showings and panicking and cleaning.  Night before last I dreamed I was trying to get ready for a showing (shocker!) and kept trying to shove more and more things under my bed to the point it was overflowing about a foot on each side.  Then I tried to hide three HUGE wooden cradles in my bedroom - I vividly remember the panic I felt as I tried to find an inconspicuous place for these mammoth things.  There was a fairy in my room (naturally) and I tried to convince her to put a glamour on my house.  Oh the lengths I will go.


Last night I had another vivid dream.  I was back in college with my favorite roommate (Hi Lizzy!  Nice to see you last night!).  There was a competition in a big office building - teams of college students would take turns trying to clean the place and the winning team would win coupons for free food.  Now, in the harsh light of reality, this strikes me as a huge (and rather clever) scam.  But in my dream we suspected nothing and were determined to win.  We scaled up a huge cliff, won our place as first team to try, and started cleaning.  In the course of exploring (cleaning!) this huge place, I found a room full of mini alligators (one tried to escape, but I put him back in his cage), I saw my brother and his wife (who were living in one of the rooms, Hi M and T!  I'm not sure why you lived in an office building but you seemed content!), and picked up an amazing amount of clothes and toys.  Because we all know that clothes and toys are littered all over the average office building.  I don't know if we won or not, but my dream self was pretty convinced we had.


Please oh please, my dear house, sell quickly.  So I can sleep.  And stop cleaning.  But in the meantime, if anyone knows a fairy, please send her my way.