Try, Try Again

If there's one good thing I can say for myself its that I don't always give up easily. Even if I appear to at first, I almost always go back to said task and try again another time. I don't like that defeated feeling I get when something I've tried doesn't work out, so I often try again and again and again. Sort of like a batting ram.

Remember when I posted about creating a daily routine for myself?

Yeah, that fell by the wayside. I think it lasted about a week and a half. Now I'm back to flying by the seat of my pants most days. The chaos is sometimes unbearable.

Like a good cowgirl, I'm ready to pull myself up by my bootstraps and give the routine a try again. This time I've got my pencil in hand. I'm ready to scribble down a change or two to the original schedule.

Even if this attempt ends up another bust, I'm sure to keep trying. Like I said in my original post, I KNOW I will thrive having a routine. I just have to give myself time to get into the habit of a routine-filled day. These things take time. And, quite possibly, many attempts. But I'm determined that one day it'll all click into place, if only I keep trying.

Tuesday Tip -- bananas

I think it's time for another Tuesday Tip. The two other times I've posted tips, they were both about Playdoh. One was a tip I'd learned from Will's preschool teacher about re-hydrating Playdoh. The second was about cleaning up ground-in Playdoh.

This tip will NOT be about Playdoh!

Today I have a good little tip about bananas. It's probably one that everyone in the free world already knows. Forgive me if I'm informing you of something you already knew. On the off-chance that there may be someone out there who doesn't already know it, I figured I should post about it.

Here at the Crazy House, we like to make banana bread. We buy bananas on a pretty regular basis. When they aren't eaten in a timely manner, they ripen on the counter. I'll look up one day to find the once-golden yellow bananas have become a dark brownish-black.

That's just the nature of bananas.

One time Gordon brought home a WHOLE CASE of bananas. His intention wasn't that we should consume copious amounts of bananas. Nope. He simply wanted to make sure that we would be able to make banana bread for a long time to come.

Wouldn't they all ripen at the same time, you ask?

Yes. They would.

But this is where my Tuesday Tip comes into play!!

Did you know that you can freeze a banana whole? There's no need to wrap it in foil or plastic or to place it in a freezer container. Mother Nature has taken care of it all for you. Just place your banana in the freezer as it is. The peel will protect the banana from getting freezer burned.

You can now bake your banana bread whenever you want! Simply take a few bananas out of the freezer and set them on the counter for a couple of hours to thaw. (Or place them in the microwave and nuke them for a few seconds) Once thawed, you can mashed those 'nanas to your hearts' content!

But one doesn't need to make just banana bread with those frozen bananas! You can use the frozen bananas to sweeten a fruit smoothie. OR you can unpeel the frozen banana and dip it into melted chocolate. Yummo!

Seriously. There is NEVER a need to toss a ripening banana into the compost bin ever again. Just toss it in the freezer to save for baking or blending or dipping later on!

An Update on the Septic Saga

For those of you checking in to see if I have an update on the saga that has become of my septic tank, you're in luck! I'm creating this post JUST FOR YOU!!

I washed about five loads of laundry on Saturday. No issues stemming forth from the septic system from said laundry use. THANK YOU, energy/water efficient front loader!! (I'll even add a little 'you were right' aimed at Gordon) Everything got hung out to dry in the cool, breezy, spring air.

I wasn't completely caught up, but I'd gotten a little more than halfway there. No need for any of the Crazy Family to have to run around nekkid from lack of clean clothing options.

Today, much to my surprise, the septic guy showed up! Good thing he had some serious rain gear on -- it was raining cats and dogs out there. Less than 15 minutes later (12 minutes, to be exact), our tank was completely pumped, the lid replaced, and the soil dumped back on top. AND a hefty sum will be removed from our checking account.

But I will no longer be worrying about there being a problem from our septic system.

Doin' Laundry

I'm doing laundry from home today.

Yep. From home.

Nope. No septic guy in sight.

Gordon has assured me that it'll be perfectly fine for me to use my energy-efficient (ie: uses less water per wash) front loading washing machine while we wait for the septic guy to come pump our tank. We're not in any danger of overflowing, he says. There's no need to worry.

I'm taking his word for it, though I cannot refuse to admit that I'm a paranoid freak about the whole subject. Seriously, you've GOT to admit that the potential GROSS factor is quite high here. All's I'm sayin is that should there be an issue, I'm not going to be happy about it.

And I won't promise there won't be a couple bajillion 'I told you so's spoken.

Polar Dance Party

The girls and I went to the Polar Dance party at the elementary school tonight. There was a DJ who really got the kids involved playing games, singing along, and dancing. The PTA book fair was open for shopping. There was ice cream, popcorn, chips, and crackers for snacking on. And there was a clown to do face painting.

Both girls decided to wait in line to get their face painted. I took these pictures after we returned home tonight. Grace's sullen face is because she thought I should take a picture of just her first....when I told her that I wanted a shot of both of them first, her face drooped to this expression. GAWD, I love pre-teens!
She relaxed a bit when it was time for me to take a picture of just her, but not enough to show a true smile.

Dianna was all for showing her joy. Check out her super-crooked front tooth! I've been practically begging her to just rip it out. It's driving me insane just looking at it.

A DIVA in the Making

Eleanor has suddenly turned into a little fashionista. Every morning this week she has gone into her room, grabbed an armload of clothes, and insisted that I help her get dressed in them. Apparently Dianna is not the only eclectic dresser in the family.

Here is a picture of the outfit Eleanor picked out for today. Please not that she's wearing not one, not two, but THREE shirts. One of them being a Halloween shirt. And Shorts. Let us not skip over those beautiful shorts she's wearing -- how better to show off one's legs than by wearing shorts?!?!

The laundry's piling up

Here we are on a sunny Thursday morning. A perfect Spring day to be hanging laundry to dry. But I'm not. Our septic tank could use a good pumping. Gordon dug up the ground to uncover the lid for it last Thursday.

The septic guy is no where in sight. Gordon tried calling him last Friday, but he hasn't been able to come take care of business yet. Maybe I just can't see him because of the pile of laundry that has accumulated??

In my attempts to create the least amount of waste water possible, I haven't washed any serious laundry since last Thursday. Don't even bother trying to picture in your mind the big pile(s) of laundry hanging out by the washing machine. We're a BIG family.

Trust me, it's a LOT.

I'm going to end up spending my day at the laundromat on Saturday, I'm afraid. Not exactly what I was looking forward to this weekend. The sunny side of this is that I used some fore-thought and bought disposable diapers for Nora last Friday. At least there's no stinky diaperpail smell lingering in the house, right?

Weekend Update & Ramblings

Once again, I've been accused of not updating my blog frequently enough. I know, I know. I'm sorry! There haven't been a lot of newsworthy news stories or perfect photo-ops to share. We've pretty much been rolling along, on an even keel.

To steal a popular marketing phrase of late, 'I'm LOVIN' it!'

The weather this last week was absolutely gorgeous. We had beautiful, sun-filled, early spring days. The Little People and I spent every morning outside, soaking up the sun. All laundry got hung on the lines to dry. Gardens got raked clear of leaves and debris. Sandbox toys were pulled out and put to use again. Bikes, helmets, and scooters have been tested and deemed fun for use once again by the children. The chickens were freed from their coop and pen, allowed to free range around the yard finally.

And now here we are, back to reality. We are on a cool, foggy, dreary Monday morning. I am sad that I cannot see the sun. Sad that I cannot feel it's warmth on my face. I know that Spring will be here to stay in just a matter of days, if not weeks. But I am sad that I have had such a wonderful taste of Spring, only to have it ripped away from me. Such is life in New England, I'm afraid.

On a brighter note, I'm happy to say that I HAD to go shopping. It has come to my attention that most of my jeans were simply too big. As in they could literally be pulled down to the floor without the benefit of unzipping or unbuttoning them. The two pair of jeans that were once my 'stand-up' jeans (because they were too uncomfortable to bear when sitting) have begun to fit better. I can sit, stand, walk, run, even do deep-cleaning chores in those bad boys now. All without feeling pinched or squished.

But two pair of jeans just isn't enough for this girl. I wear jeans every single day of the week. Although I am usually washing at least one load of laundry a day, I can't guarantee if it'll be whites, lights, or darks on any given day that gets to be cleaned. So more jeans are an absolute necessity.

I would have loved to go the Gap and buy my favorite jeans, but it's simply not in the budget. Add in the extra expense of a few much-needed new underthings. And Summer is coming, which means the children will all require new sandals, possibly swimsuits and other summer clothes too. Our household budget would explode were I to go shopping at the stores I love. And so it was Wally World that I headed to, in search of jeans that fit.

For less than what one pair of Gap jeans would have cost me, I bought two pair of jeans. AND two new bras. Look out World, here comes a thinner, better-dressed me!

Like Aunt, like niece??

On more than one occasion, Mom has commented how Dianna often acts like her Aunt Pauline. Even though she looks just like me. Remember, she's my mini-me? Well, in the behavior department, she acts like a mini-Pauline.

I think I may have a second daughter who has decided to emulate her Aunt Pauline.

This morning Gordon and I woke to find that Nora has taken a page out of Aunt Pauline's book too. Nora had stripped out of her jammies AND diaper last night to sleep in the buff. This is something Pauline used to do all the time when we were very very little.

While it's sweet to find all that soft, pink, pinch-able, still-baby-for-now skin bared first thing in the morning, it's not so sweet to sniff the faint aroma of urine too.

Yep. My baby girl apparently stripped herself nekkid early in the nighttime hours, slept the night in nothing other than her birthday suit, and peed in her sleep. Ahhh. It's a good thing she's got such a sweet, angelic-ness to her.

The best part of all is that we're waiting on the septic guy to come pump our system. So I was planning on NOT taxing our system with any more waste water than necessary. Laundry was not in my plans for the day today.

It's a good thing I can roll with the punches rather easily. My initial plan was to use Mom's washer, but it's not the most efficient thing. And it's almost a half hour away. And Mom is on her way to Vermont as we speak. So then I thought that I'd just go hang out at the laundromat for an hour or so to get the bedding all washed. But THEN Jill came to my rescue! She's graciously offered the use of her washing machine. Luckily she did all of her laundry needs yesterday, so hers is free for the whole day. Better yet, she lives just around the corner and down the road from us, so I can run home if I need to.

But I probably won't. I have the sneaking suspicion that I'll utilize the time to get a bonus visit in with Jill instead. I'm thinking Fate decided Jill and I haven't spent enough time together recently. ;)

Grace's new 'do

My friend, Carrie, came to the house tonight. She helped Grace to transform from this:
and this:

to THIS:

The best part is that Grace decided to donate her beatiful tresses to the charity Wigs for Kids. They accept donations of hair to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to a number of different medical conditions, from chemo to burns to alopecia and more. What's most awesome about Wigs for Kids is that they offer these custom-made hair pieces to children whose families wouldn't otherwise be able to afford them!

Grace is THRILLED with her new 'do! She has been beaming from ear to ear ever since Carrie completed cutting Grace's hair. At this point I'm not sure what's got her most excited -- the fact that she's donating to such a worthy cause or the fact that I told Carrie that how she styled Grace's hair after the initial cut was completely up to Grace. Either way, it's been awesome to see her beaming like this.

Adventures in Dentistry

Today Grace will have one of her molars pulled and a spacer put in. She is nervous as heck. She's been begging me to tell the dentist we want to leave well enough alone. My heart is just breaking for her. I wish I could just erase all of Grace's fears. Better yet, I wish I could do as she's begging me to and just tell the dentist thanks but no thanks.

The problem is that Grace has an absess on her gum. There is no visible cause for this absess. The tooth looks great. There isn't any sign of decay on the surface OR through xray. No apparent reason why the absess is there. The dentist thinks that there must be an irritant that we simply cannot see.

Since this molar is still a baby tooth, with the adult tooth getting ready to move into place already, we decided to go ahead and pull the molar. We're hoping that this will remove whatever it is that may be irritating Grace's gums. Keep your fingers crossed!

The good news is that we now have dental coverage! So this shouldn't be another case of us feeling like we're going to have to start selling children in order to pay for their outstanding dental bills. (Remember when Grace had cavities filled last summer?!?)

More Wordless Wednesday pics -- Outside Adventures

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

What I love MOST about the coming of Spring....

Where have I been???

If you were beginning to wonder if we'd run off to some tropical island or a secluded mountaintop, you're mistaken! I haven't posted much recently simply because the weather here in New England has been rather favorable. We've been trying to soak up all of these gorgeous early Spring days while we can. Knowing how New England's weather patterns usually are, we're sure to get at least one more real cold snap before Spring officially takes hold.

I have some pictures to upload and share, but it's not so easy to do on my laptop, which is what I'm using right now. (I didn't think of grabbing my laptop to take outside with me until this morning!)

Look for a Wordless Wednesday post tomorrow, where there will be at least a couple pictures of what we've been up to in the Great Outdoors recently!

Herman's here to stay

Remember the sourdough pancakes I made this past Saturday??

Well today I decided to try a couple of other recipes I'd found when I searched for Herman sourdough pancake recipe. First was some Herman doughnuts. Noone has tasted them yet, but I'm sure they'll be a hit!

Here are the 'regular' ones:
And then I decided to powder the holes.....(or as Will calls them, 'doughnut bumps')...:

Baking in the oven right now are some Herman cinnamon rolls. They didn't rise as well as I would have liked. (Neither did the doughnuts, as a matter of fact......must need to bump the thermostat up a bit more.....no wonder I'm always feeling like I'm freezing!) I'm hoping the rolls don't end up being too dense. They're looking good, so that's always a start!

Hopefully the hubby and childrens will all return home from work and school happy to find such yummy treats. And then they can gush with praise for me. I deserve some kudos every now and then, no? Just sayin'....

Wordless Wednesay -- Spring springing

I took this yesterday while the Little People and I were outside enjoying the early Spring-like weather!

Hell in a Handbasket

I think I'm going to Hell in a handbasket.

I love that phrase. You don't hear it hardly at all anymore. It's almost vintage.

I have been joking that I'm going to Hell in a handbasket a lot these last few weeks. We haven't been to church in well over a month. I'm feeling guilty about it, but even that hasn't urged me to go back.

I don't have any real good reason why we haven't been to church.

I still LOVE the local Baptist church we started attending back in September. The church congregation has always been very welcoming and friendly. The kids thoroughly enjoy the Sunday School. The pastor's sermons move and inspire me week in and week out.

There's truly not a bad thing I can say about this little church.

I think part of my issue is that I've begun going to Weight Watchers early Sunday mornings. The gentleman who was the leader on Saturday mornings retired and moved to FL a few months back. The woman who stepped in to takeover the Saturday morning meetings isn't a good fit for me. She doesn't motivate me to stay on track and continue chugging along at goal. I had found myself only weighing in once a month (the bare minimum to maintain a Lifetime Membership with Weight Watchers), and BARELY holding on to my goal weight. SO I switched to the early Sunday morning meeting. Katie, the Sunday leader, is a ball of fire. She is just what I needed to get my mind set straight. And I've been going every week to keep my 'check up from the neck up' (as Mom would say) fresh in my head. It helps keep me motivated to stay on track.

Even still, there could time to go to WW and still make it to church. I'd be cutting the corners on two wheels, so to speak, but it's doable. The kids would need to be self-motivated and get themselves ready while I'm at my meeting (except Nora, who would need Daddy's help). Everyone would need to be ready and waiting for me to return home, rush upstairs, jump out of my 'weighing in clothes' and into some appropriate attire. All while trying to chug coffee and breakfast.

Doable. But not always pretty.

Am I just making excuses? Is it absolutely horrible that I have come to like coming home and just breezing through the rest of my Sunday morning without feeling the pressure to rush? Is it just selfish of me to not make sure my kids go to Sunday School every week?

Honestly, this has been weighing on my mind a LOT lately. I don't want to give up my WW meetings, because my health and wellness are very important. I just want one day a week where I don't feel like I have to be running around without a moment to stop. Getting my soul fed on a regular basis would be great too.

Does anyone know if Robert Schuler still has telecast sermons every week? What channel can I find him at -- maybe I could watch him every week. But then I'd still be missing out on the fellowship that one experiences in real life.

What're we to do?!?!