Table For Two

A dear friend voluntarily took all four of my older children for the day on Monday. That left just me and Renee. Only one child to drag with me to a doctor's appointment. I went shopping with only one child. We had lunch at McDonald's and it only cost $2.39! Unbelievable! It reminded me of that brief time in my life when I only actually had one child. Of course, then, I didn't fully appreciate the simplicity, the quiet, the not-having-anyone- to-fight-over-ridiculous-things-with.

Today was far noisier and much more chaotic. There were a multitude of ridiculous things that needed fighting over. There were messes to be made and there was property to be damaged. I had actual, semi-important things to do; as is the norm, the children cranked the antics up to full throttle. I had to paint and then install molding, a job I hate because it involves measuring and cutting things that never fit together the way they are supposed to. In the middle of this job, a child reported to me that there were sparks coming out of the wall socket in the living room. Indeed, there were. So I had to drop one loathsome project and quickly tackle another equally loathsome one. I hate doing electrical work. I was fortunate to have some spare parts around, and was able to replace the flame-throwing socket without electrocuting anyone and before the house caught fire.

Back to my molding installation and full-tilt chaos. Phone ringing. Baby won't take nap. Baby needs help in bathroom. Bathroom now needs cleaning. Two children fighting, one other child crying. Half eaten cookie laying in the middle of floor. Dead bird in the garden. Dog is eating cat poop. Elena sprays Renee in the face with the hose. Dog tries to eat UPS man. Molding mostly finished. House mostly destroyed. Nothing ready for dinner. Another day, another dollar.

Summer, Becker style

Going somewhere. Anywhere. In this instance, to the berry patch.
Picking berries. Lots of them.
Making pickles. Lots of them.
Shredding zucchini. Lots of it.

Bubble-icious

I already know what I'm gonna get the kids for Christmas this year. Bubble wrap. Nothing incites a bigger fuss than the fights over bubble wrap. This stuff came wrapped around (shhhhh!) two new pyrex bowls I got on ebay. For right now, everyone is happy.

No pot of gold.

Just mud. Lots of it. And a wet dog. And a multitude of wet, muddy children.
Dogs and kids don't really mind the rain, or the mud. In fact, they seem to rather prefer it. Border collies in particular were bred to be all-weather dogs; they are supposed to be able to work outside in the elements all day. Their coats that are pretty water repellant. Fly was perfectly happy to be outside in the pouring rain earlier today. We only brought her back inside so they neighbors don't think we're dog abusers.
Matt is trying to lure Fly back to the house after her evening romp in the field. You can see the big streaks of rain falling down. Fly, however, does not particularly want to be lured back to the house, and she's no fool. Trying to catch a border collie before she's good and ready to be caught is a lesson in futility.

The Great Outdoors

The kids like this fishing spot, at Mendon Ponds. They take their nets and patiently wait for the stupider fish and the slower frogs to come close enough scoop up.
Surprisingly, no one has fallen off the log into the pond. They have jumped into the pond, but that's not accidental. If you tell a kid they can wade in to a pond as deep as their ankles, you will have a kid who is wet up to his waist. If you tell them they can go knee deep, you'll have a kid who's soaked from head to toe.
It's dirty, wet, stinky, scummy water, so of course the dog loves it.
Bet you didn't know fish like to eat cheese puffs. Elena tossed one in to the water, and we watched while a little sunfish pecked it apart and ate it up.
The day's catch. We release them when we're done observing them, but it's uncertain as to how well they fare afterwards.