Jack-O-Lantern!

The kids and I carved our Jack-O-Lantern today! The two Big Kids cooperated nicely designing the face, while Harry's only concern was that he'd get to eat the seeds. This was Annabelle's first year to help with the actual carving. Funny thing, though.... no one but me will clean the gooey stuff out of the inside. Whatsupwiththat!??! I guess that job is just part of being the Mom!

Green Tomatoes

Last week, I harvested the very last of my delicious vine-ripe garden tomatoes. I'm astounded that I was lucky enough to have them go that late into the season! With frost on it's way in, it was also time to bring in the last of the green tomatoes, and bid farewell to the tomato beds for the season. They may be gone, but they will not be forgotten... I've got a freezer full of homegrown tomato deliciousness! And... I've got more green tomatoes than you can shake a stick at! I've been searching the internet for recipes, trying to figure out what to do with them all. So far this week we've tried Green Tomato Soup, Green Tomato Salsa and Green Tomato Pasta Toss. So far, so good... with the Green Tomato Salsa being the clear winner. I still have many pounds of green tomatoes left, which I'm still trying to figure out how to use. My son would like for me to try making the Green Tomato Pie (think apple pie, but with green tomatoes instead of apples. Ew.), but I don't think that one's going to happen!

I hate sponge painting.

Right now I am cursing the previous owners of my house, who, for reasons I will never fathom, decided it would be a good idea to sponge paint the bathroom walls in pink and blue. If you ever find yourself thinking about doing such a thing, please, please, please for the love of god think about the poor soul who will have to deal with that mess when you move out! I just spent the better part of my day trying to paint over this pink and blue decorating nightmare. FYI, sponge painting is really difficult to cover up. Brightly colored sponge painting is worse. It is a task that I'd been planning on doing since we bought the house last July, but it got pushed behind the other projects that needed doing. But now, with the house to go on the market soon, it HAD to be done. And now, finally it IS done. Whew!

I was able to spend the bulk of the weekend working on the house, getting it all prettied up to sell. The kids were off for much of the weekend with their dad, which is what enabled me to get so much done. It was good to have uninterrupted time to work, but the part about them being gone much of the weekend is something I'm not really used to. The house is a little too quiet when they're not here! It's something I will have to get used to, as with the divorce they will be spending more time with their dad, away from me. I think that will be the single hardest part of the whole process... this whole "sharing the kids" thing. I'm trying to view it in a positive light... that they are strengthening their bond with their Dad, which can only benefit all of us. But still, it will be a difficult adjustment.

So... tomorrow is the start of a new week! We have a few homeschool adventures planned, and we also have Halloween happening on Friday! It's going to be a fun week!

Perfect Autumn Day

Yesterday we had the most perfect autumn day imaginable for our October Nature Study. The theme for this month was "Finding Fall", and so with sketchbooks and camera in hand, we searched for signs of autumn. Of course, we saw leaves of gold and red and orange, and we felt the crisp chill of the autumn air. We were also lucky enough to see some migrating birds, two gray squirrels and one little red squirrel hiding acorns for the winter, as well as some abandoned nests. It was so lovely, walking through the woods on a soft carpet of pine needles and fallen leaves, listening to the sounds of birds chattering, stopping every now and then to sit on a rock and enjoy being in such a beautiful place.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

So... things are going well with this whole freelance writing thing. I'm going to be writing some stuff for Life123.com. More on that, as it happens.

Funny how my life has evolved... I've never followed a linear career path, as such. I'm much more of a "dabbler"... constantly trying new things, trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I'm still working on that! So far in my life, I've been paid to be (in no particular order) an "Attractions Hostesss" at Disney World, a waitress, a telemarketer, a cashier, a teacher, an actor, an artist and a nanny, among other odd and colorful little jobs.

However... my most important job, the one I put my entire heart and soul into, is my job as a mother. I take great pride in this work... caring for my children, feeding them, teaching them, nurturing them and kissing their boo-boos. Is it an easy job? Nope. Not by a long shot. The hours are long and some of the duties involved are less-than-pleasant... cleaning up after them, helping them through tough times, saying "no" when I'd rather say "yes". There is no salary for this job. However, the rewards I get are better than any paycheck. For my job as mother, I am paid with the satisfaction of watching them grow and learn, of seeing them go from helpless babies to bright and capable children. I am paid in hugs and kisses and little pieces of paper which are scrawled with "i love you mom". I am paid with declarations that I make "the best french toast in the WORLD". Although I am proud of the other things I have accomplished in my life, Motherhood is, by far, my greatest accomplishment.

Mondays

I used to love Mondays. Seriously... I once even blogged about my love for the Day Everyone Loves to Hate. I've always liked the "clean slate" aspect of Mondays... they are a fresh start to a brand new week.

Lately, my opinion of Mondays has begun to change. It seems that as the kids are getting older, Mondays are becoming a serious challenge. Getting the kids back into the swing of our weekday routines after a weekend of no routines is like trying to herd cats. Except that the cats are generally more cooperative, and don't call each other "Stupid-head".

I'm trying to figure out a way to make our Mondays less hellish. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Mischief!

My sweet sweet Baby Child... my littlest Boy.... has learned how to be sneaky. How did he figure this out, so quickly and so well? He has learned to wait until my attention is occupied elsewhere, and then he strikes... getting into something he KNOWS he shouldn't. Most times it has been fairly benign...things like rearranging the furniture in his sister's dollhouse or "borrowing" his brother's toy car. But a couple of times, he has really outdone himself! A few weeks ago I left him quietly playing on the floor while I went up to start a bath for his brother. I came down moments later to find him standing on the kitchen stool, taking huge bites out of the big, perfect tomato I had sitting on the counter, ready to slice for the sandwiches I was about to make for dinner. Another time, I was baking cookies in the kitchen, while the two "big kids" were playing Legos in the living room, and Harry was in the room between the kitchen and living room, the family room, playing with his cars. The first two times I checked on him he was playing happily. The third time I checked on him, he was missing. Uh oh. I knew he wasn't in the living room, because the other two would have yelled, "HARRY NO!" if he went near the legos. I peered around the corner to my bedroom.... Oh NO! There was Harry, sitting on the WHITE quilt on my bed, with a bottle of RED nail polish, attempting to paint his nails. The quilt still looks like someone bled all over it. Yesterday, he decided to help himself to some toilet paper. Lots and lots of toilet paper. I mean, LOTS.

The lesson I have learned, from my three-year-old and from his brother and sister before him, is... Beware of quietly playing children. They are dangerous!

Mean Lady at the Orchard.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the kids and I were VERY excited to head up to Russell Orchard in Ipswich to go Apple Picking. We checked the website to make sure there was still picking after the busy holiday weekend. Check! We gathered up our water bottles and camera. Check! We put on our comfortable walking shoes. Check! And then we headed out the door for our Final Apple Picking Adventure of the Season! The orchard is about a 40 minute drive from us, and the kids were chatty and happy on the ride up. As we got within a couple of miles of the orchard, the signs all along the road said, "UPICK!! Russell Orchard PYO!" which made the kids squeal with delight. We parked the car, and headed to the farm store to buy our apple bag and... there was a sign that said picking is closed to the public... school groups only.
There was a woman from the orchard standing there, as we read the sign. "OH NO!!!" we cried. And the kids said, "But we drove all this way!!" "We've SO been looking forward to this!!" "BUT WE REALLY WANT TO PICK APPLES!!" "Nope, sorry" said the lady. We've got a school group coming, and they get to pick. But not the public." The kids were on the verge of tears. I pointed out to the lady that the website and the signs all said there was picking today. "nope, close to the public. Only the school group." The kids looked at me pleadingly. "But MOM! We were really looking forward to apple picking. You SAID we could pick Apples!" I looked at the lady. She just shrugged.
I decided to try to push the issue. "Well... we're homeschoolers. Can we count as a small school group? We drove up from Wakefield. The signs coming up all say 'PYO and U Pick'. I checked the website, and it said there was still picking." She glanced over at the other lady in the shop. "Oh... the website might not have been updated. Sorry. Only schoolgroups. But you can buy apples here in the store."
I looked at my sad babies. "OK, kids. Let's eat our snack, and we'll go see Big Boy (the giant pig). "But it's not fair... we were supposed to get to pick apples!" they cried. I replied, within earshot of the mean lady, "Yes, I know it's not fair, the signs DID say we could pick today, but the lady said we can't. I'm sorry you're so disappointed. We'll go find someplace ELSE to get apples!" So we went off to have our snack, and then, to add insult to injury, Big Boy was sleeping, so they didn't even get to see much of him, either.

When we left, on our way back down the road we noticed that they had taken down the "U PICK" signs.

We ended up stopping at the grocery store on the way home, and bought a few bags of "local farm" apples. Not quite the experience we were hoping for, really.

The Back Hall Project

As I've mentioned in this blog before, I'm preparing my house to be sold, a big part of which is finishing the construction projects that were started when we bought the house 15 months ago. One project, a complete demolition and redo of the half-bath on the first floor is VERY near completion. That one was huge... another story for another post, I think.
But the project that has taken over my life for the last few weeks is "The Back Hall Project". When we moved in, the tiny back hall from the back door into the kitchen had hideous 1970's paneling on one wall, and heinous wallpaper (over hideous paneling, it turns out) on the other. It also had a filthy carpet (which we thought was brown until I tore it out and found that the edges were actually blue. Ew.) and a drop ceiling. In the course of one weekend, we had it down to bare studs and subfloor. I installed a new floor, but getting the drywall put up was the downfall of the project. Turns out Sheetrock is pretty heavy stuff! It requires two people, and thus required coordination of schedules. So a year went by, and now finally I got the needed assistance to get the walls up and I was able to start the finish work! I've spent the better part of the last two weeks playing in joint compound and paint and nailing up beadboard and mouldings. I'm this close to having the project finished! The photos here are the of the demolition last year... I'm hoping to post some "after" photos this week!

But for now, I'm off to get the kids out the door for our third and final Apple Picking Adventure of the season! This time we are going up to Russel Orchard in Ipswich. It's a pretty awesome place... they have a ridiculously enormous pig named Big Boy and their own winery on the premises... Does it get any better than that? I think not.

Apple Pickin'!

Today was such a great day! We went to Brooksby Farm for an apple picking adventure with our homeschool group! The kids had so much fun, and so did the Moms! We got to feed the farm animals, go for a hayride, pick apples and we had cider donuts! There was also plenty of time to run and play and enjoy the beautiful, sunny fall day.

One of my favorite things about homeschooling, is how all the kids learn together... the younger kids learn by watching the older kids, and the older kids learn by teaching the younger kids. At one point today, there was a group of kids standing around a HUGE tree, just staring up at it, touching the bark, examining the fallen leaves, and I overheard one of the younger kids (age 7) ask, "But is it an elm tree?" And one of the older kids (age 12) said, "No, it's type of maple, actually. A red maple, I think." and the discussion went on for about 5 minutes, speculating on the age of the tree, etc... It was one of those lovely moments of homeschooling, where the organic nature of true learning... of curiosity and a desire for knowledge... makes itself evident. Our kids are learning because they truly want to know and understand their world, not because they need to pass a test. For them, learning new things is not a chore, it is a joyous part of life. They ask questions, and explore and experiment. And whether I am an active participant or a silent observer, I feel so blessed to be a part of that.

Breakfast of Champions

This morning, as I was pouring cereal for my children, a mouse tumbled out of the box and into the bowl along with the cereal, and then scurried off.

That was unexpected.

The Story of My Dishwasher, and other stuff.

14 months ago, I bought a brand-spankin' new dishwasher, to replace the old broken one that came with the house. One day in June, the same day I had 20-something people over for a big party, it died. We had it repaired, still covered under warranty (although it took 8 weeks and 2 service calls for that to happen). A few weeks ago, it made a funny sound when I ran it. I opened it, looked around, and everything seemed fine. Next day, funny sound was gone, and it worked fine for another week or so. Last week, the dishwasher died. Completely. It makes a faint buzz, then nothing. Doh. Called the service people, and they (finally) got someone over here to look at it today. Big Burly Appliance Man comes in, sticks his head in the dishwasher, pokes a few things, and says, "You need a motor. I'll have to order the part and get back to you. It'll be 4-6 weeks." Oh, and it's no longer under warranty. He was here for less than 3 minutes, and the charge for that 3 minutes was $169. Plus whatever I have to pay him to come back again and ACTUALLY fix my dishwasher. Grrrr.

Speaking of money... I'm still trying to figure out how to make some. I've got resumes out all over the place, and I've been dipping my feet into various avenues for freelance writing. I write all the time, anyway... might as well get paid for it. One of the resources someone pointed me to is a website for writers and publishers to connect, and for writers to work on their craft. I set up a page, and have started submitting some stuff. If you are so inclined, you can see it here: http://www.helium.com/users/466772

And, to jump to another unrelated topic... My Garden. It's winding down for the season. We've still got some green beans, kale, beets and cabbage going on in there, and lots of herbs, but now is the time to finish harvesting, and preserve our harvest for the winter. There are herbs to be dried, things to be cooked and frozen, and a good fall cleanup to be done in the yard. I will take the knowledge gained from this, my first real garden, and apply it next season, to a bigger, better garden in my new home... wherever that will be.

10 Random Things, part 2

10 Random Things I Did Today:

1. Responded to a nice complimentary email from a kind lady.
2. Wore brand-new socks.
3. Spelled my name 4 times for the pharmacist.
4. Knit 10 rows on a scarf.
5. Stood in a looong line at Target.
6. Worked with joint compound and hung beadboard.
7. Said, "Do NOT throw baseballs at your sister!!" 2 times.
8. Made some lentil soup.
9. Read Where the Wild Things Are for the 87bajillionth time
10. Kissed the soft cheeks of sweetly sleeping children.

Quitter!!

I'm a quitter, but it feels pretty good, actually! I just quit my horrid, soul-sucking night job. I was trying to wait until a better job appeared before I quit, but it just seemed like the right time to go ahead and quit. I wasn't making very much money at it anyway, most of the time, as my pay was variable, and it was just such an emotionally draining job. And with everything else I have going on, can I really afford to have more of my emotions drained? Nope. I can't. I need to focus on the tasks at hand, which are taking care of my babies, preparing my house to sell, finding a more consistent job, settling my divorce, and figuring out where I'm going to live when all this is over. The question I keep asking myself, is how am I going to make up for what little money I DID make at this job? And the answer I keep telling myself is that I'll figure it out. And I'm now even MORE motivated to find something else soon!

Also... my middle child has been away from me for the first time this weekend! He went with his Dad, grandfather and uncle to Cooperstown, NY to see baseball stuff, a whole 4 hours away! I talked to him last night, to say goodnight, and he was clearly having a great time. I miss having him here... it's like we're a puzzle missing a piece, over here! But it's been kind of nice to get to focus a little extra attention on the other two, and I know it's been great for him to have ALL the attention out in Cooperstown. But he is missed here, not only by me but by the other kids, as well... Harry has been asking all day when Theo is coming home. He is due to arrive back tonight, and I know we'll all be so happy to see him!

Struggling

It's been a week and a half since I blogged, so I feel obligated to come up with some kind of a post. I'd like to be able to come up with some kind of witty, fun, light or amusing bloggy goodness, but I'm just not there, right now. It's been a rough week, and I'm really struggling with trying to write anything. Every day is an effort right now, as all the dramatic changes in my life are taking a huge toll on me. I'm needing to make some big decisions, and I'm trying so so hard to do what's best for everyone. I'm keeping my focus on my children, and they are the best distraction from all the insanity in my head right now. They keep me centered, and are constant reminders of what is important and what is not. The kids and I have been really busy with various homeschool and extracurricular activities, and here at home I've been working very hard to prepare my house to be sold, tackling minor construction projects, painting, decluttering, etc. At this point I'm really looking forward to just settling things here... ending this chapter of our lives as quickly and with as little pain as possible, and beginning the next chapter, whatever that may bring.

I'll try hard to do better for the next post. Thanks for your patience.