It's a single sock epidemic

I cannot understand how there can be SO MANY socks without mates right after laundry is washed!  It's getting ridiculous and very irritating.

They wear them mismatched anyway, but I still want an explanation.  How can I trust their futures are bright if they can't control their socks?

Bouncy Power

A story about the power of motivation...starring a bouncy ball and a passionate 4-year-old boy.

Joseph wanted me to wash his clothes but he didn't want to help get them collected. I suggested he just pull the laundry basket to the top of the stairs with all his dirty clothes in it and I would take it from there. He pulled a half-filled laundry basket to the top of the stairs. At the request that he drag it back to his room and put ALL of the dirty clothes in it, he flashed into a screaming, stomping, pint-sized monster. It was about that time that I walked away. I don't "rescue" in situations like that. Or maybe I'm just as lazy as he is!

Anyway, about 10-15 minutes later, Joseph approached me with a deal. If he brought down all his dirty clothes, I would give him a bouncy ball. Minutes ago he couldn't even bring down an half-filled basket, but now he has the strength to return to his room and get the rest of the clothes and bring it down the stairs, up a couple of different stairs, through two rooms and a hallway and into the laundry room for a small piece of foam rubber.

I didn't make it through 11.5 years of motherhood without learning to recognize a small victory. So I agreed to the deal. The clothes are now tumbling in the washer. Joseph and Sarah fought over, I mean played with the ball long enough for me to get a shower. I think I got the best part of the bargain!

Here is the object of desire.


It just goes to show what a little motivation and feeling like you have control of the situation can do...even if you are just 4 years old.

Joseph (and Sarah) likes to do laundry!

Joseph wanted to do his laundry because we bought him some "new" pants at DI. He started putting his clothes in the dryer because he saw that there was already something in the washer. :) What a fun kid.

I recorded this on my cell phone (first movie I ever recorded) and didn't realize that it was sideways. So, unless you can tell me how I can fix it, you'll just have to tilt your head a little.

HOPE!

Leah saw that I was struggling to fold laundry one-handed, due to the fact that I was holding Sarah. She showed great problem solving skills for her tender age of 6 and asked, "If I take Sarah downstairs with me, can I watch some TV?"

GASP

I would normally lean towards a "no" answer in this situation, but it was a deal that I could not pass up.

Is this what the future holds for me? Will my children actually offer to help me out? Ooh...I just don't know if I dare to get my hopes up!

Endless laundry

It really is an endless chore. Truthfully, is it likely anyone will ever solve the laundry problem? I suppose nudist colonies have come close, but they still have SOME laundry...just not jeans and t-shirts. Unless they leave the colony...then that does create laundry. But I've gotten away from my initial intention here.

Our laundry is endless. But when you look at these pictures, you get a different perspective. This was one load of the girls' clothes. (I love that high-capacity washer.) We ran out of clothes pins. The back row? Underwear. No nudists here!

That was Wednesday. Half of those clothes are probably already back in the hamper. *sigh*

"Underwear"

I washed my underwear this morning. When I got back to it this evening to put it into the dryer, I found an unpleasant surprise.

Joseph's "underwear" got into our laundry basket. When a diaper goes through a high-speed spin, the result is a very messy one. There was fluff and little gel beads EVERYWHERE! (I think it was an unused diaper.)

I had to vacuum out the washer and put it on a rinse cycle. I took the clothes outside and shook each one. Then I got to thinking, diaper filling would make really good fake snow! It looks like it snowed on our deck.

I ran the load through a quick wash and had a much nicer experience when I went back to put it into the dryer.

So beware the underwear!

Distracted

I guess I have a lot on my mind lately; I'm having a hard time focusing.

It could be from the lack of sleep, due to Sarah's killer cough that keeps her and her parents awake at offensive hours of the night.

It could be from having a messy house. Though that has been better the past month since starting a cleaning reward system.

It could be from feeling guilty over things that I shouldn't feel guilty about but do anyway. (I forgot to make a phone call for the RS Pres. last night and still felt like I'd broken the law several hours later.)

It could be from the little thoughts nagging at me all day; That was a stupid thing to do. * You probably offended that person. * So-and-so doesn't like you. * What will a law suit really do to our little family? * Your kids need you to be a better mother. * That basket of laundry has been sitting there for 12 days. It's really not going to put itself away. * You're being too proud. * You're not a good sister. * You're FAT. * You're so tired. Too bad you can't have a nap! * Don't be so sharp with your kids; they're just curious.

UGH. The list could go on forever.

So what even started this negative lament? I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and grabbed toilet paper to blow my nose instead. I didn't even have a runny/stuffy nose! At least I woke up before I put it to my face. Instead, I folded it up and set it aside. I'll use it when I go to the bathroom next.

And the only reason I have time to write is that Sarah is down for a nap and it's my shower opportunity. Unfortunately, I forgot to run a batch of very important laundry last night and it's still in the dryer.

UPDATE

Just missed my shower opportunity. The dryer buzzed, I got what I needed, and Sarah woke up. So now Leah is getting on the bus, lunch is in 15 minutes and I'm still in my pj's. It's not Monday, is it?

My Little Homemaker

Joseph, it seems, has been bitten by the laundry bug. He just summoned me to the laundry room. As we went, I questioned what he wanted and Rebekah said he wanted to start the washing machine.

I couldn't think what there was to wash! When we got to the washer, Joseph was pointing to the window and a washer full of clothes. I was wondering if I'd forgotten to put something into the dryer on Saturday, but felt them and found that they were dry.

I asked who put the clothes in there and Joseph pointed to himself. He wanted to push the button on the washer to start it, so he found a basket of laundry there by the machine, filled it up and closed the door! I can't believe I'm doing it, but I'm washing a batch of clean clothes. Crazy.

VITAMINS!

I think we've discovered the source of the problem with Daniel's hives.

I'll tell you right now, it isn't the laundry detergent. He broke out in hives tonight after going to bed, which is when he usually comes to us. He'd changed his shirt (because he got it wet) and put on a newly laundered one. So I know it wasn't the shirt.

I was trying to figure out why he keeps breaking out at night. Then I thought of the vitamins the kids get each night on their way to bed. I bought new vitamins at Albertson's two days after getting the new washer. They would have gotten their first dose of these the next night. I think that's the night Chad mentioned Daniel's hives.

There are some nights we skip/forget vitamins. Daniel does go some nights without problems. We don't take vitamins with us when we travel. Daniel didn't get hives the night we were visiting Grandma.

Now we just have to wait 4 or 5 nights to know for sure. Hopefully, we're on to something here. It's much cheaper to stop buying vitamins than it is to buy fancy schmancy laundry detergent. Though I do lament the time spent doing laundry today. Those are some CLEAN clothes!

Our New Washer

I mentioned a little bit ago that we got a new washer. It's been great. I have no trouble getting the kids to get their laundry downstairs. And the boys are learning the new machine. It's definitely more buttons and choices.

It's a little hypnotic to watch the clothes tumbling around before our eyes. And the pretty colors...!

So when the machine arrived and we put our first load in, we were all captivated.

It reminded me of something...about 60 years past.


Yep! Do YOU see the similarities? :)

It would be nice to laugh and point at the kids, but I'm just as guilty! It's been almost two weeks and I still get mesmerized. In fact, yesterday I ran a tub wash which is bleach and water in the empty tub. There was probably about 2 gallons of water in there crashing and splashing around. I started imagining I was at the beach! No wonder I can get lost in a good book so easily. It appears the imagination is alive and prospering.

I'm still figuring out how to get the most out of the washer. I'm looking forward to years of a stink-free appliance. Possibly, I'll be using this washer to clean Daniel's clothes from his suitcase when he returns from his mission. Do the appliances they make these days last that long?

Mustard Yellow

I wish baby underwear came in standard mustard yellow color. It really would be better all around.

As this is not the situation here, I think I may check into dieing/tie dieing these little items. My sister did this with her stained baby underwear. It definitely should have a bit of a mustard yellow undertone...especially in that spot that hits the baby just above the diaper line.

Glamorous

I'm trying to think of things that don't describe my life right now.

In addition to glamorous, I think I would add peaceful, organized, tidy, wealthy (if we're talking about dollars and cents), restful, patient, productive, quiet, tranquil (very similar to peaceful, but not quiet the same thing), etc.

Before you think I've gone manic on you, let me just say that Joseph has been a lot of work today. Ninety percent of his communication has been conveyed through crying. Another 5% was in a whine and the remaining 5% was a point to his nose to let me know he needed a tissue. A lot of that was combined with the crying or whining. It's 5 o'clock and I'm feeling done. Has my timer gone off yet?

I was going to fold a bunch of laundry today. Not a single washcloth has been done. All the laundry from Saturday (minus Daniel and Nathan's) is still piled in laundry baskets. My new washing machine is getting delivered tomorrow afternoon (yippee...something to look forward to) and I was trying to get the laundry room ready.

Add to that a sick baby and 4 older children bored enough to bug each other all day, and you get an idea why the glamor seems to be missing.

I've been trying to get the boys to do some things they needed to do. Nathan had to prepare a lesson about Joseph Smith for FHE to meet a scout requirement. It nearly killed him (and me).

Daniel needed to write a poem or story or play about gospel principles or Heavenly Father's creations. This is to fulfill the requirements for both his religious knot and Bear badge. Apparently, his task was more painful than Nathan's.

This is what he finally came up with:
When I look up in the sky, I can see bees going by.
I see them go up up up into the trees to make their honey.
It is not funny to be stung.

I'm not sure if this was an honest attempt, or something to just get me off his back. If he really did try, I don't want to make him feel bad, but otherwise, I don't think he tried very hard!

*sigh* I wonder if I should just count it and hope that the other tasks in the Faith in God book will do more to strengthen his testimony? It's probably what I'll end up doing. The exercises shouldn't end in negative feelings.

So, glamor girl I'm not. A mommy I am. I guess I can fold laundry later.

That's Twisted!

I'm doing some laundry this morning (wait...that's not the twisted part) and I've changed the sheets on the bed so they went into the washer. It wasn't quite a full load, so I added some of my pajama pants.

You should know that my pajama pants are my regular pants unless I leave the house. At that point, I put on real pants; but only until I get back home again. I change my pajama pants every day so I go through lots of pants.

Anyway, I threw everything in the washer and went to remake the bed. Just as I finished up the bed, I saw a stray pillowcase on the floor. Lovely. So I went to add it to the load, thinking I'd probably have to turn it back a little to have it agitate a little longer.

When I opened the washer, I saw that one of the pajama legs had partially slipped over the top of the agitator and got stuck. I released it, but didn't see any laundry moving in the tub. The water looked yucky enough that I drained it to start over. When the water was finally out, I found a huge twisted mess of sheets and pant legs. The errant pair of pajamas had grabbed the sheets and while the agitator turned, everything got tangled up. I didn't even know this could happen in the washer! If the sheets hadn't been in there, it might not have.

Untangling the mess was not easy as everything was wet and heavy and essentially braided together. I then longed for the day I would be able to upgrade to an agitator-free washer. *sigh* This washer is old. And it STINKS! (I mean odor, not the slang.) I'm afraid that it will die too soon and we won't be able to replace it with the good stuff. Then we'll have to wait even longer to get a nicer machine.

I guess I should just be grateful that I have a washer and the only thing I have to do is put the clothes in, then take them out. And in the winter, I don't have to freeze to death hanging out clothes. When do they create a machine that folds it, too? (No wonder we're all fat and weak...we have too many conveniences.)

Incidentally, I heard a disturbing bit of info the other day about washing clothes and septic tanks. Apparently, doing all of the wash on one day is bad for your septic tank because all that water stirs up the sludge at the bottom of the tank and floats it up and out into your drain fields. That's when things get stinky and expensive. Too bad so many of us are on time-of-day meters and try to do the wash when the expense is cut to a third. So now I try to do a little each day, preferably at night so the dryer can run on cheaper power. Those of you on city sewer can be grateful for some things!

Kids! I shake my head in confusion.

I know! It's been over a week. I'm sure 2 of you have been going through withdrawals. The rest of the readership didn't even notice.

I have things to catch up on, but right now I just have 2 short stories about my perplexing kids.

Last night at the table, Daniel convinced himself that his dinner smelled like throw up. This is usually Leah's complaint about things. Anyway, he didn't want to eat his dinner because it had eggplant in it (I don't know what's wrong with him...it's only about the 3rd time in a week that we've had eggplant in some form.) So Daniel disappears into the bathroom for a little while. When he comes back he has tissue stuffed up his nose. I guess he figured that would solve the problem. Of course, I sent him back to the bathroom to remove it and told him if he couldn't get it all out, he'd have to go to the doctor. REALLY...I've heard of young kids shoving things up their noses, but not 9-year-olds! He never did finish his dinner and didn't get any apple pie afterward.

Second story:
Leah, Rebekah and Joseph had a bath Saturday and left their dirty clothes in the middle of the bathroom floor. They were still there last night. (It's a big bathroom, so it's easy to ignore a big pile of clothes - which we do.) This morning I was going to rescue Leah's pants from the pile because I didn't figure they were very dirty. I went into the bathroom and couldn't find the pile. I thought Chad must have gathered them up and put them in the washer, so I gave up my rescue effort. Later this morning, as I was getting clothes for Joseph, I started pulling out clothes that didn't belong...his sisters' dirty underwear was the most obvious. Apparently, Joseph stuffed them all into his drawer (his room is across the hall from the bathroom) during his 90 minutes of refusing to stay in bed and go to sleep. It was a little mind exercise trying to remember what all 3 of them were wearing Saturday to be sure I got it all out of the drawer again. Maybe I need to point out the washing machine to Joseph.

Attention!

I just wanted to announce that I folded and (mostly) put away laundry this morning. I did not want to, no one made me do it, but I did it anyway.

Then, when I went to put away the clean wash cloths, I found at least as many other wash cloths strewn around the bathroom counter and floor. So now I'm behind already. Thanks for that.

Rocks in my washer

When I pictured motherhood, I absolutely did not think of rocks. I knew it involved nasty diapers, nasty tempers and nasty midnight sickness. I expected to be sleep-deprived (and have not been disappointed there!), and to have the emotional ups and downs that come with watching your children experience life. But someone forgot to tell me about the rocks.

Most of my laundry is stone washed - in my automatic washing machine. I can never seem to find the end of the little tiny rocks and pebbles that make their way to the bottom of the wash tub. It started with Daniel. Curse those pockets and rolled up pant legs! Before too long, Nathan joined in the collecting. Now both girls have discovered the hobby and with summer just around the corner, I expect Joseph to make his own contributions.

I can hear the little 'tinks' and 'plings' as the rocks fall out of my reach while I change the washer load to the dryer. I try so hard to get them all, but I often hear the same sounds when I'm taking out the load of my underwear. I know they aren't coming from me!

And if it were only limited to little tiny rocks, it might not be so bad. Candy wrappers, pencil erasers, very clean cereal bits, screws, bolts, small pets (OK...that one isn't true), are common finds in my washer. It's almost a hazardous job to do laundry! My machine is over 15 years old. I don't know if it can take much more abuse.

So let this be a warning to all of you who have yet to enter motherhood. You will have rocks in your washer. And a lot of really great memories, besides.

Smelly

I hate yucky smells. Luckily, I have a very senstitive sniffer so I can discover bad smells right away...before they fester and make a bigger smelly mess (which is when Chad starts to wrinkle his nose).

This morning I was in the laundry room changing the laundry. I can smell a yucky smell in there! But I'm a little confused since there aren't any dirty clothes waiting to be washed. The washer had just finished, so it shouldn't be that. We do keep the snow gear in there, but it didn't seem like a musty-yucky smell. Nothing looks like it has spilled. But even if it did, I would expect it to be a cleaning liquid and smell clean! So now I have a mystery on my hands. And I really don't feel like deep cleaning the laundry room right now.

What I'm afraid of is that something died nearby during the winter and now that things are warming up, so is the dead thing. Ew! Gross!

Meanwhile, there are yucky smells in both bathrooms, the boys' room and the kitchen. I'm pretty sure some honest housework would take care of those issues. Unfortunately, I don't feel like deep cleaning any of those rooms either. This family sure is lucky to have me! I can ferret out the odors, but don't do anything about them!

T oday while the sun shines

Here is Nathan hamming it up for the camera. A lot of people at church have never gotten close to seeing this side of Nathan. He is the most reverent a child can be and still be breathing. I wouldn't be surprised if he ever just tipped over because he fell asleep or his muscles gave out! Anyway, you can see for yourself if he gets out of his predicament.

We spent all day working on the garage, yard, house or laundry. Chad took advantage of warm, sunny, 63 degree weather and spent the entire day cleaning out the garage. I am very happy about that! We have a lot of garbage now. I took advantage of no kids in the house to go through the kids' clothes. I had to buy 4 new storage bins at Wal-Mart. I finally removed all size 3 clothing from Nathan's drawers and closet. He's only 5 now! I got the girls' clothes separated, too. Our kids have too many clothes.

Today was the first day this year that I hung out laundry to dry. Three loads. It's getting warmer!! Daniel was very helpful and begged to take the laundry down and then folded much of it himself before helping to put it away. This morning he marched right up to me at the sink, pushed up his sleeves and asked me where the bowls went in the dishwasher. !!!! Isn't he a nice boy?

I did a little weeding this afternoon. Our tulips and daffodils are just coming up. We think we planted the daffodils a little too deep. They should have blossomed by now, but have broken ground behind the tulips. We have large clumps of healthy, green grass in our flower beds. The lawn is still thin and yellow. Why is the (unwanted) grass in the flower beds doing so much better than the (wanted) grass in the lawn? Maybe I should plant some tulips around the lawn.

The neighbor kids played with our kids today. It all started when I offered them some freezer-burned ice cream from the freezer (only the best around here!!). After that they were braver and entered the yard. They are twin girls (six years old, I think) and have lived next door for over a year. Last year they cleaned me out of my tulips in the flower bed. They don't go to school in this town for some reason and they're always outside playing in their pj's (today it was thermals). My biggest hang-up is the lifestyle they're being raised in. Their mom and her girlfriend have attrocious language. Those are my two hang-ups. I'm ok with the kids playing with them until things start showing up in their playing. I'll probably restrict the playing to our house, though. I've seen enough of their lifestyle in their yard to not want the kids asking me questions. Let's cross those bridges when they're older!

Writer's Block

I haven't posted much lately because I haven't felt that I had anything worth telling about. But maybe I'm wrong.

I could tell you about my fun laundry experiences.
The kids' bladders are still developing, thereby giving me many excuses to use my automatic washer and dryer. In some countries and less-fortunate homes in this country, people must wash their clothes by hand and leave them to air dry, regardless of the weather. I am so tickled to have a machine to do it for me. There is a drawback to such oppulance, though. I don't handle each piece of laundry so I don't discover the no-no's in the clothes until later. The kids are constantly surprising me with crayons. Sometimes I find them as I transfer the clothes to the dryer (good). Sometimes Daniel wears brand new shirts stained noticeably with greasy yellow crayon markings to school (bad). I'm grateful that his socks and underwear are less visible! If I was a parent of only one child, I might get worked up and labor extra hard to get the crayon out as much as possible. Luckily, I have 4 beautiful children and don't have to worry about such activities! Did you know it's possible for a hershey's kiss to come out of the washer, still in its "kiss" shape? I'm not too sure about the smarties. I'm hoping it was only a wrapper when it went into the wash, because that's all I found when I took it out.

I could tell you about Stake Conference.
We had our first broadcast for Stk. Conf. today. It covered around 70 stakes in the SE Idaho area. We sat on the hard chairs in the gym. Pres. Faust, Elder Oaks and Pres. Parkin were speakers. There was one more guy that I can't recall a name for. The lady who led the intermediate hymn was on fire! She must have been sipping a forbidden caffinated beverage before standing to lead us all in song. She succeeded in waking us all up, as we had to really concentrate to sing the words in time. We were relatively reverent. Rebekah had had her fill by the time we ended and I was glad Stk. Conf. only comes around twice a year. I look forward to the days when the kids will sit quietly and let me actually get something from the meeting besides a numb rear!

I could tell you about my sister visiting from SLC.
Amber and her 3 kids came for a visit this weekend. They arrived Friday night around 7 PM and stayed until this morning (Sunday). We had a lot of cousin play time and I think the kids all had fun (mostly). Amber and I snuck away to a whole wheat bread making class and left poor Chad to feed 7 kids lunch. (I fed them all breakfast, so I know exactly what he was up against!) So we got a free lunch of two kinds of bread, cinnamon rolls, pancakes and pizza - all made with the whole wheat bread dough. It's been a while since I ate that much whole wheat. I'll let you imagine the rest of the story. I'm glad Amber could visit. I appreciated a quieter house when she left. *wink*

I could tell you about losing my voice.
I got so frustrated with the boys on Friday that I yelled the deepest roar I could muster. It took about 10 seconds for me to lose my voice. It's Sunday and I still can't hit the highest notes in my normal range. I guess I really showed those kids who's boss!

I could tell you about the rest of my adventures.
If only they'd left a big enough impression on my mind that I could remember them. Truly, it's a sad, repetative life I'm creating for myself. I should do something just so that I could entertain you with it.