Thursday, May 29, 2008

Thursday 5/29/08 Summer count-down, computer games and letter of references

Maggie has begun the summer count-down. She has a calendar, and she wrote the last day of school on it. She has numbered the days of summer, I guess so that she will know how many have gone by. Maggie is the one who got up for school on the first day and told me how many days of school there were left in the school year.
Beth played on the computer tonight. She likes www.funbrain.com The computer gives them tasks to do in the game.
William brought home one letter of reference today.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wednesday 5/28/08 last day of school, letters of reference...

I called the school yesterday to see when the last day of school will be. They think that it will be June sixth, but they aren't sure yet.
William needs to be at school one hour before graduation starts.
I asked William last week to ask his teachers for letters of reference for scholarships, They must be on the school letterhead, so that they know that the letters came from real teachers. He went in and asked five teachers. Two of them gave him positive answers. He has gone back to the teachers a few times, but they haven't written the letters. I don't think that William will have school next week, because it is finals week, so he really needs to get the letters this week

Wednesday 5/28/08 field trip...

Beth's class is going on a field trip to the park next week.

Wednesday 5/28/08 exercising...

I need to exercise tonight.

Wednesday 5/28/08 new grass...

The new grass looks healthy.

Wednesday 5/28/08 vacuum...

The vacuum died. I need to get another one tomorrow.

Wednesday 5/28/08 storage and vacuuming...

We need to take more boxes to storage and vacuum the living room.

Wednesday 5/28/08 listing the house...

It is Wednesday and the house still isn't listed.

Wednesday 5/28/08 my clothes...

We folded the laundry last weekend. Someone ended up with my clothes. I need to find them, I can't wear a skirt every day.

Wednesday 5/28/08 weather...

It was almost freezing last night.

Wednesday 5/28/08 Calvin and Hobbes...

The kids all love to read Calvin and Hobbes books.

Wednesday 5/28/08 playing outside...

We went outside and the girls played catch.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Tuesday 5/27/08 new shoes, vacuuming and baby pictures

The girls needed new shoes. Maggie wanted high tops, the old fashioned kind like they wore when I was a kid, and Beth wanted regular tennis shoes.
They both found what they wanted. Today's high tops are stiff, they stay in one place when they are being put on, the old style ones don't. As soon as Maggie got the sides to stand up, the tongue would fall in. Watching her put on these shoes was like watching aerobics. She had a great time entertaining us.
William brought home a paper from school that said that he has enough credits to graduate. On the back it said to bring in some baby pictures. Instant panic. All of the pictures are in storage...he must have pictures, this is graduation...Its OK, I will go to storage to get some, I should take scissors to open the boxes and tape to close them up after I look through them...I think I know where a box of pictures is.
We vacuumed the dining room. It looks nice. We moved all of the furniture out and vacuumed behind it, then we moved it all back. We have a shelf with two sets of encyclopedias on them (if the kids mention that they have a project due on Monday, and it is Sunday night and the Internet is down...they can use the encyclopedias for their report.) We took all of the encyclopedias off and moved out the shelf to vacuum, then we put them all back. Between painting the room, and painting the chair-rail twice (the first color was to wild, it reminded me of a circus) and vacuuming, the encyclopedias have a lot of miles on them.
After we were done I realized that the kids baby books were still at the house. William has some pictures to take to school now.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Monday 5/26/08 grass seed has sprouted...

The grass seed has sprouted!!! I am so happy. I hope that the two areas in the front yard fill in fast. It does look odd to have those two areas of dirt in the yard. The realtor said to fix anything that would need to be explained, and these two spots would need an explanation.

Monday 5/26/08 ...grass seed, warm weather, William graduates

There is grass growing where I put the compost and grass seed. I am so happy. The yard looks so odd with the three areas of compost in the front yard. It will look more normal when there is grass.
I am so glad that it is warm out. Yesterday we had on shorts, t-shirts and no shoes. I wasn't cold, and I'm usually cold. I love being able to go outside without needing to put on all of those extra layers of clothes.
William graduates in about two weeks. He is almost done with his on-line college class. Before he picks a college, he wants to get the computer program onto his computer and see if he can do the programming from his class on his computer. We are having a problem downloading it to his tower because his computer is not capable of hooking up to the Internet, After William sees if he can program, then he will either pick a college or decide to take more classes on-line. I think that the earliest that he can start school is the Fall. So with all of this free time, I would love to see him take a few more classes from home. I will need to wait and see what he decides.

Monday 5/26/08 ...birds

The birds are singing outside.

Monday 5/26/08 rain...

It rained last night.

Monday 5/26/08 parade...

I hope to find a parade to take the kids to today.

Monday 5/26/08 washing the exterior of the house...

I want to wash the exterior of the front of the house today.

Monday 5/26/08 listing the house...

We should be able to list the house this week.

Monday 5/26/08 yarn...

The neighbor boy brought over a large ball of yarn. He collects yarn.

Monday 5/26/08 weeds...

I pulled a lot of weeds yesterday.

Monday 5/26/08 basement...

The boxes need to be put back against the wall.

Monday 5/26/08 downstairs...

We are almost finished with the downstairs.

Monday 5/16/08 upstairs...

We finished the upstairs.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Tuesday 5/20/08 laundry folding table...

We really need to move, we have put the folding table into storage. It is really inconvenient not to have it. I like to do laundry, and having a place to fold it, or keep the folded clothes until I get a chance to hand them out to the kids, was really nice. Now, when the laundry is done, it must be folded and put away right away.
If we get a house with a big enough laundry area I would like to get a basket for each person, and put their clean clothes in the basket.

Tuesday 5/20/08 field trips...

Beth went on a field trip yesterday to the zoo. She had a great time. She had a lot to say about what kinds of food the kids bought (all of the kids shared the foods), and what the lunches were, but she never said anything about any of the animals. The ate all day, and had a really good time.
Today Beth's class went to the baseball game. Beth bought nacho chips and cheese. She never mentioned the game. She had fun. They don't usually have field trips back-to-back like this.

Tuesday 5/20/08 yard work...

Today the kids and I went out and did some yard work. William cut the grass, and Maggie and Beth clipped around some of the edges. We didn't get all of the edges clipped, but the yard looks so much better. I watered the new grass seed. It hasn't sprouted yet. The seed that was planted last week hasn't sprouted yet either. We need some dirt and more seed. I hate to do a job twice, but I do like to finish a job.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Monday 5/19/08 grass seed...

I bought some grass seed today. It is for the spot where the big tree in the front yard was cut down. I took a lot of the wood chips from that area to the back yard and put them in the garden. The wood chips had been so high, that if the dirt and grass seed was put over them, it wouldn't look like a flat yard. Today I put some of the mulch on that spot and then put on the grass seed. I am hoping that the grass seed will grow in the mulch.
I had put some mulch and grass seed in another area last week, and have been watering it each day. Today is the first time that I have looked closely at it. The seed hasn't sprouted yet, but the mulch looked compacted. I took the rake and separated it a bit. Can grass seed grow through mulch? If it can't, I can buy some dirt and start again, there will just be mulch under the dirt. I was hoping to avoid the expense, since there was so much mulch in the back yard.

Monday 5/19/08 crocheting blankets for the kids...

I would like to crochet a bed-sized blanket for each of the kids. I was thinking of blue for William, red for Maggie and pink for Beth. When I asked William what he thought, he didn't look pleased. He asked if he had to take it to college. I said no, it could be left at home, would he like the color blue? He wanted to think about it. A few days later I mentioned the blanket again, William said that he did want to take it to college and he wanted a lot of colors that didn't match. Then, when people came into his dorm room it would startle them.
I asked Maggie if she would like a red blanket for her bed (red is her favorite color). She said that she would like a bright yellow, bright red and bright blue one. Just like the small one that I had made for her doll.
Third, I asked Beth if she wanted a pink blanket. Beth said that she needed to think about the colors and she would get back to me.
I wanted to start on William's blanket first, since he is leaving first, so...Beth has a while to decide on her colors.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Sunday 5/18/08 Exercising...

I have started to exercise again. I went to the Goodwill store to find a smaller computer table. I couldn't find one in the front of the store where the furniture is, but when I looked in the back of the store, I saw the tops of lamps. When I went back there, there wasn't any other furniture in the lamp area. Next to the lamps there were videos. I started looking for videos for the kids, but there were a few exercise videos that looked fun. The more I looked, the more exercise videos I found. Five exercise videos went home with me and a few movies for the kids. The tapes were mostly $2.00 each.
I had seen a few exercise infomercials that said to loose weight a person needed to do different types of exercise every day. I am guessing that this is to keep the body from falling into a routine. Each day...ok, not each day, but when I do exercise...I go to the next tape. I am only exercising for about five minutes, but I feel that it is better than not exercising at all.
Today was the ''Balanced Workout'', next time is ''Yoga'', then ''Qigong'', then ''Crunch Fat Buster Plus''...etc...
I don't re-wind each tape each day. The tape is left where it is when I am done exercising, and when it gets back to the top of the pile, I will start up where I left off. This does mean that when I am far enough into each tape, I will not be using the warm-up section, so I will need to do some stretching on my own before I start each tape.
It has been very interesting to work on seven different styles of exercising all at once.

Sunday 5/18/08 Fireman's Museum and moving...

We would like to go to the Fireman's Museum before we move. We live right by it and it wouldn't make sense to move to the other side of town and then to come back here to the museum to see it. Then, when we move we can see the sights that are over there.
We are excited about moving, but tired of packing and painting. It is nice that the kids are older and can share in the excitement.

Sunday 5/18/08 Next year...

Next year we will have one child in college and two in Junior High school.

Sunday 5/18/08 Boxes for packing...

There should be enough empty boxes in the basement for us to pack the rest of the house.

Sunday 5/18/08 Crocheting...

I am going to crochet a bed-size blanket for each of the kids.

Sunday 5/18/08 Reading...

William likes to read.

Sunday 5/18/08 Crafts...

Maggie likes to play with her friends and do crafts.

Sunday 5/18/08 Friends,,,

Beth likes to play with her friends

Sunday 5/18/08 Choosing a college...

William has decided to go to a bigger college, but he has not decided which one yet.

Sunday 5/18/08 ACT test...

William takes his ACT test in a few weeks.

Sunday 5/18/08 Summer outfits...

The kids now have their new summer outfits and sandals.

Sunday 5/18/08 Magic Eraser...

I need to take the Magic Eraser around the house and get any scuff marks off of the walls.

Sunday 5/18/08 Beth lost a tooth...

Beth lost a tooth last week. She has eight more baby teeth to loose.

Sunday 5/18/08 Compost...

The compost pile has turned from grass and leaves to compost. I have been putting it around the plants.

Sunday 5/18/08 Listing the house, then more packing...

After the house is listed we can begin packing the things that we don't use that are in the cupboards.

Sunday 5/18/08 Mulch...

The mulch is in the garage, ready to be put around the house the day before the house is listed. It will be good to get it out of the garage.

Sunday 5/18/08 Lawn mower...

We have a lawn mower that doesn't have a motor. When the wheels turn, the blades turn. The blades need sharpened. Before the house is listed I will go out with my clippers and cut all of the grass that didn't get cut.

Sunday 5/18/08 Ceiling...

The continuing saga of my ceiling...It had three spots on it from the previous owners. I painted over it with white paint...the spots showed through. Last night I put a base coat on it and re-painted it. I think that the spots are gone. I will keep you updated.

Sunday 5/18/08 Clothes and lunches...

I need to lay out my clothes for next week and make my sandwiches, (the sandwiches are kept in the freezer).

Sunday 5/18/08 Washing the basement floor...

I need to wash the basement floor.

Sunday 5/18/08 Basement...

We cleaned out the basement yesterday. We took a lot of boxes to storage.

Sunday 5/18/08 On-line classes...

William is almost done with his on-line class.

Sunday 5/18/08 Cactus...

I have a cactus. It is in the basement in the winter and goes back outside in the summer.

Sunday 5/18/08 Transforming T-shirts...

Maggie and Beth got books for Christmas about transforming t-shirts. They cut one t-shirt apart and sew it back together another way. Maggie is having a good time doing this. We are still looking for a hobby that Beth enjoys.

Sunday 5/18/08 Year three of the Waltons...

We got year three of the Walton's. John-Boy is in college and all of his friends at school are calling him John.

Sunday 5/18/08 New grass...

It rained last night. This will be good for the new grass seed that was planted last week.

Sunday 5/18/08 Listing the house...

We are going to try to list the house next Saturday.

Sunday 5/18/08 extra furniture to storage...

We took more of our ''extra furniture'' to storage yesterday, like book shelves and extra tables.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Thursday 5/15/08 Weekend plans...

We do not have any colleges to visit this weekend. We may pack some. I find that I don't enjoy packing as much as I enjoy getting the yard ready. I do love being outside...and the kids would rather be outside too.

Thursday 5/15/08 Waltons...

We have started watching the third year of the Waltons.

Thursday 5/15/08 making cookies...

We made cookies today. We melted chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a double boiler (the bottom pan has water, and the top pan has the chips in it. This way the chips aren't directly on the heat.) Then we poured the chocolate over Chinese noodles, the crunchy ones. We put spoon fulls of the mixture on a cookie sheet to cool, and they taste great. The kids love to lick the spoon.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Wednesday 5/14/08 best friends and puppies...

We went outside after school. Beth got to see her best friend that happens to live across the street. The neighbors next door were outside with their new little puppy. We will miss all of the friends that we have made in this neighborhood.

Wednesday 5/14/08 college tours...

I tried to sign up for more college tours today. Now that the schools are out for the summer, it will be a lot more difficult. We have a tour set up for the end of June and one in July. The third school that I called doesn't give tours on weekends again until fall. I will keep trying, William does want a guide. I offered to take the kids and we could look at the buildings, but he said that he wouldn't get as much out of it without the guide. I agree with him, but I really don't want to wait until fall.

Wednesday 5/14/08 packing boxes...

We moved some of the packed boxes out of Maggie's room. Maggie and I also packed a few more boxes today. It is time to move. We have so little left to do. If we list the house now, and it sells, we could be moved at the beginning of summer vacation.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Tuesday 5/13/08 Beth looses a tooth...

Beth lost a tooth today. She has nine more baby teeth to loose. She is really happy that it is gone, it was bothering her when she ate.

Monday, May 12, 2008

5/12/08 painting the ceiling...

I had three spots on the ceiling in one room. There was no leak, just three spots. I am trying to sell the house...so I painted the room. I didn't use primer. If I had, that would be the end of the story. The spots were still there...the ceiling did look nice...but the spots were still there. So, I painted the spots a few more times...no luck, the spots still shown through. Now the texture in those spots is gone, because so much paint has evened them out. Next, I put primer on the spots and re-painted it. The spots were gone, but it is easy to see that something has been done to that area. I don't like to give up, so I went the the home improvement store and got something to add texture. It goes on blue, and when it dries, I can paint over it. That seems OK, except the original texture is rough looking, and this is smooth. I didn't realize this until it was on. Also, It didn't turn completely white, and I now have a ceiling of rough texture and three spots of blue smooth texture, that is painted over with white paint. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Thursday 5/8/08 growing out bangs and reading...

Beth is growing out her bangs. She started growing them out last month. Now they look a little too long, but are not in her eyes yet. She really wants her hair to be all one length.
Maggie is finishing up reading "Harry Potter'', the seventh book. She has really enjoyed the books and the movies.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Wednesday 5/7/08 cap and gown...loose teeth...summer homework

William brought home his cap and gown for graduation. I managed to see them and not cry.
Beth has two teeth that are loose. She still has 10 baby teeth. When they are gone, she will need braces. Maggie has almost finished her summer homework. She is concerned that she won't have any homework for the summer. I promised to buy more before school lets out. I will need to hide it so that she doesn't do all of it this month. She is a well rounded person, but Maggie likes to be doing many things...she makes sock dolls, and takes her t-shirts and re-sews them into new styles (the directions are in a book that she received for Christmas) and she plays with the kids in the neighborhood. She is very busy.