Happy Mothers Day

What do you want for Mother's day? My kids ask me this all the time. Here is my answer.

I do not want a card, flowers or a gift or candy (I am trying to lose weight).

I want my floors to be vacuumed every week whether they need it or not. Sometimes daily vacuuming would be good. If you do a job and I tell you it is not done right, then I want you to happily redo it and make it right. If you don't know how to do something ASK.

I want my bathrooms cleaned daily. Couters wiped down, sinks clean.
I want my bathrooms thoroughly cleaned every week whether they need it or not. Toilets scrubbed, floor vacuumed and mopped. Bathtub scrubbed, shower scrubbed.

I want my kitchen cleaned all day every day. If you make a mess, clean it up. If you use a pan, scrub it out. If you use a plate glass and silverware put it in the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is run, empty it. If it needs to be run, do it. I want to wake up to a clean kitchen every day.

I want dirty clothes in the hamper.
If you can dig through a basket of clean clothes, you can fold it.
If you want to know how to do laundry, I will teach you.
I want all your clean clothes put away every day.

If I cook, someone else cleans up afterwards.

I want all the rickrack off the diningroom table. It is not your personal storage space. I want all the shoes off the floor of the livingroom.

I want your bedroom cleaned up so you can find your own things. I am tired of buying new clothes for someone who already has more than I do.

If I even had half of these things, I would be able to spend time with my kids doing fun things. We would be able to play pool whenever we want to. I would have the time for an early morning walk before making waffles for ALL MY KIDS, instead of having to clean up the kitchen and dining room. That early morning walk would help me lose weight, bring me peace of mind and happiness, and start my day off right.

I want the opportunity to be able to add to this list as I go through my week, acting as a maid for my kids.

Happy Mother's Day

What I have been up to since I last posted

January:We attended the Civil Air Patrol banquet. His brothers and sisters got a chance to see what this organization is all about. He is in his element here.
Mouser came to visit us, and we all got a chance to hold her.

February:
The Dance Team performs their Superhero routine.

Displaying their superhero super powers!!

I get a chance to figure out my new camera while they are practicing.

Cousin B came to visit and joined us at a basketball game just to see the half time show.

Someone has a standing Valentine's date... even if she is in the middle of Dance Team practice. So we make the best of what we have... He brought her this cute bear... he scored the candy at the end of the date.

THIS is the balloon he just had to give her. We almost lost it in the ceiling of the store, but it was saved and successfully brought on the date. He scored the balloon at the end too.

Other than Spaghettios, the date must include cake.

If you get a kiss at the end, it was a success.

Then we practice our tricks.

And in my spare time, we sell cookies and I am the troop cookie mom. This is just our initial order of 78 Cases (each holding 12 boxes).

Unloaded and ready to check out and get selling.
The end of the sale reports selling a total of 161 cases increasing our initial order by 83 cases. Four girls did 17 booth sales. Most of those were done by the same 2 girls. A lot of time was dedicated to the growth of these young ladies.

Taking 3 days away from the family, I drive down to California to pick up the photo albums from the back of the Falcon. I will be storing them at my house, but can not ship them with the car. As a complete surprise, I get the opportunity to ship my new car to Washington too. This is Ceasar. He will be taking care of Gerty while she is in transit.

Her old home, where she has lived for the last 44 years. Where she taught 6 teenagers how to drive. She has a lot of history here.

A full line up of cars.

And away she goes...

... to her new house, where she will make new memories.

Where she is already loved.

March:

Civil Air PatrolUsually the Cadets stand in formation outside during promotions, but due to the weather, they lined up in the hall. Very impressive.

Pinning on his newly earned Cadet Airman First Class pins.

and the kiss

As soon as I got home from CAP, it is off to another competition.

They were doing their dance in preparation for the District Competition. Any chance to practice in front of an audience is good.

They also needed to work out the bugs, and to change anything that would earn them safety penalties from the judges... like this move.

In between dance, sometimes we singGetting ready

Oooooooo

She is only almost as tall as her friend because she is wearing her sister's ridiculously tall heels.

Washington State District (ours) Dance Team Competition.Varsity Pom routine...

Getting ready for the Hip Hop.

A little Swag

Yes sir, that's my baby, upside down again. Her foot is being held by the only boy on the team. Posing for Drill Down. Actually I am just taking advantage of the situation.Notice all 3 trophies. They got First place in all the dances they did... moving on to State.When you find yourself in Vancouver, it is possible to visit with friends you usually only see over the summer. And in your spare time (when you are not dancing) you can paint red flowers on a bird house.

Did I mention Dance? Yes there is always more dance.

Today she is tap dancing in the Olympia Dance Festival. She is on the left.This is another group of dancers from her studio

My extra Son participated in a One Act play as part of his advanced drama class. "Among Friends and Clutter" by Lindsay Price allowed him to be a 7 year old writing a journal and then a grown up, and back to being 7. I think the part was written for him. Here he is in the middle explaining to his pals why his girl friend had come to boys night.

You really had to be there. He did a fantastic job in a fun play.

My First Christmas Thank You

Dear My Favorite Brother and Uncle to so many,
What a lovely gesture you gave us for Christmas. It was something that was coveted by all, and hey, we can all make it look so good.

Even the neighbor's kids make it look good.
It is comfy when relaxing, and just getting some reading done.

I am not sure if he had Christmas or Hannukah (notice the yamika), but I am pretty sure that Kwaanza was out since he is not dark skinned.

Rawrrrr...

Sharing the love.

Tiger robe, monkey hat!!

Did I say everyone looks good in this? I should have.

This is definitely a robe meant for royalty!

How could I ever thank you enough for your generosity? I hope these pictures will help share the joy that we have all enjoyed.

Love The Herd (and friends.)