My Random Life

 This has been a really long week.  Sunday I came down with a sore throat, headache, fever and body aches, as well as congestion in my ears and face.  I usually get over a cold pretty fast, or at least the symptoms change daily, so I wasn't really surprised when I felt considerably better Monday.  Then Tuesday hit me like an oncoming train.  I have had a sore throat all week, with a headache most days.  Thursday was the worst, when I really just wanted to crawl into a hole, but still had the daycare to deal with.  Today I woke up with an eye infection in both eyes and I can barely see.  My eyes are very sore but only a little red, but they're draining and very hot and itchy.  The sore throat is as bad as ever too, so I'm rather miserable.  In spite of that, I am enjoying my weekend.  I always do.  It's so nice to just be with my own children :)

I say that, but then here is a picture of my eight year old with one of the sweet kids I watch.  She is one year old and very bright.  She loves books, and the eight year old loves reading to her.

 This is what I wish I could do all day.  The three year old loves his blankets - always has.  We've called him Linus at times.

 Looks comfy, don't you think?

 Here's a bit of randomness - I've simplified baby food prep.  These are sweet potatoes which I roasted, allowed to cool, then peeled off the skin, cut them into chunks and put them in snack sized ziplock bags.  Much easier than the ice cube trays I was using, and perfectly proportioned since he's eating more these days.  When we need one we just throw the whole bag into the microwave to heat it.  I love simple baby food.  We've also been feeding him things that can be spooned right out of their peel - bananas, very ripe pears, and so on, as well as grinding things up in the food processor - strawberries, fresh apples, mangoes, etc.  Tonight I'm going to mash some potatoes for him (separately from ours since he can't have dairy) and maybe grind up some of our roast chicken.  He loves tuna too, which I think is a bit strange, given the strong taste (of course I have to use vegan mayonnaise to make it since he can't have egg).  I was a bit stressed about not being able to give him cereal and breads, but then I realized things like corn flakes, rice or corn Chex and Kix are all wheat free.  I bought some Rice Chex, but he looked at me like I was trying to feed him sand.  Maybe when he has teeth he'll be more into those crunchy things. :)

 Speaking of cereal, yesterday the three year old intentionally dumped the crumbs from the bottom of the cereal bag onto the floor and proceeded to play in them.  I figured he needed to learn that when we make a mess we have to clean it up.  Hmm.  It was more of a reward to him to get to play with the broom.  Oh well.  At least he learned that we have to clean up our messes... or maybe he learned that when he wants to play with the broom he just has to dump something on the floor.

 Today is a gorgeous day and we've spent a good portion of it outside.  Can you see the three year old pointing?  He was trying to get me to take a picture of his Dad working on the car window.

 Dad was re-taping the window on the car.  We have to wedge and tape it to get the window to stay up.  It may or may not have been my fault that he had to re-tape it.  I might have (ahem) locked the keys in the car while I was in Jackson Hole last week.  Yeah.  Not the smartest thing I've ever done.  All day long I had a feeling I was going to do that, and was being very careful to make sure I had the keys with me.  I usually drive the Excursion, which has a keyless entry so I don't worry about it with that one.  Anyway, I did really well until my last stop at the grocery store.  I was lugging the baby in his carseat, the diaper bag, my gigantic purse and my bag of reusable grocery bags and I thought there was no need to bring in the purse.  I grabbed my debit card and phone and locked the rest in the car.  Halfway though the shopping I realized I needed my coupons, so I finished shopping, left my cart at the front and went out to get the coupons.  It hit me as I was walking out of the store that I didn't have my keys.  Oh boy.  I figured I could remove the tape, slide the window down, then re-tape it.  Well, that didn't work.  We have little wedges on the inside that hold the window up.  Thankfully, someone else in the parking lot was having problems with their car and a tow truck was there already.  I had him come over and open it for me.  Normally they charge $75 to unlock a car, but he said since he was already there I could just give him a tip.  I gave him a very generous one.

 So anyway, my daughter was wanting to take the car today so the taping had to be done.  She is off to see her friends for the weekend - the first time she's driven so far on her own. She's enjoying a little independence.

 The three year old was having a blast today riding his bike.

 My husband and I went to a couple yard sales this morning, and I found this very old plastic container.  The Hansel and Gretel artwork is beautiful and it says it was made in Western Germany.  I think I'm going to use it to store sewing things in - maybe bobbins or my extra pins.  I love stuff like this.

 The three year old thought the baby ought to wear his hat.

The baby thought it was more fun to take off the hat.

 One of our many projects today was to move the 4-wheeler.  The three year old was terrified at first to go for a ride.

 But by the time they backed out of the driveway, he was waving to me and saying "Bye Mom!"

 I love how he was hanging on when they came back - holding onto Dad's sleeves.

 Of course that reminded him that he has a four wheeler of his own.  It's not motorized, but has pedals like a bike.

 The next project on the list was to move our Christmas tree along with several branches from my in-laws' yard.  We borrowed my father-in-law's truck and loaded everything up...

 ... including all the boys.

 We stopped for a picnic lunch at one of our local summertime restaurants.

 Then we headed up to the hills to find a good place to return the trees to their native habitat.

 We added them to a pile of other wood at a campsite.  This is not your typical campsite, but just a middle of the woods spot where people camp.

 Then it was off to borrow a ladder so we could replace our entryway light, wash windows and blinds, and clean our ceiling fan.  This is one of the things I've had on my Spring cleaning list that I  couldn't do with the daycare kids present.  We don't have a ladder of our own, so this had to be a weekend project.

 My husband was a great help in this.  I don't do ladders... at least not safely.

 He scrubbed windows while I washed the blinds.

Then he cleaned the ceiling fan while the three year old attempted to decapitate him by turning the fan on ;)  Then I vacuumed the mess up.  Now we're waiting for our chickens to roast and then we'll get everyone bathed and in bed, ready for church tomorrow.  It's been a long, productive day :)