A dialogue between the girl and myself, after I heard the "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" song for the six billionth time in 30 minutes:
Me: "Baby girl, how many times have I asked you to quit repeating yourself over and over?"
The Princess: " I don't know. You said it a BUNCH of times."
I just realized that as of yesterday I have been a full-time Stay at Home Dad for 7 years. The Talker, who is entering the 2nd grade next Monday was 8 months old. The Princess, who is starting Kindergarten this year was not even a remote possibility and I was one clueless sumbitch about it all.
Still clueless, but the children have managed to live through to the start of school. I'll probably work up a little photo retrospective later. For now the kids are celebrating with sprinklers on the playscape.
As I was rearranging the living room and putting away the last of the cleaning supplies:
Me: "Do you think modern witches ride Swiffers?"
The Boss Lady: "I don't know. Call your momma and find out."
Me: "Oh. You are so getting blogged for that!"
So the KnuckleHeaded Twosome has been at each other's throats all morning. Or at least since they woke up at a little after 8.
In my best Dad voice I announced that they would be helping me clean the chicken coop before they ate breakfast, because I was evidently sick AND tired of all of the griping. Then they pulled a fast one on me while I was dragging the gear and supplies out of the shed. The arguing little punks started playing nice.
So I left them alone so they could get along. And I cleaned the coop by myself.
Never fear, now that the cleaning is finished, life has resumed it's regularly scheduled bickering. I swear, as soon as the last of the coop cleaning stuff was put away, the bitching and complaining started back instantly.
At least I had 20 minutes of the kids getting-along and now I have a clean chicken coop.
An aside, the chicks are now about a month old and they are getting sent to chicky boot camp. They will hereafter be taking some licks from M&M, our 10 month old hen, while she establishes the pecking order of the coop. M&M has been knocking the little ones upside the head all morning long, while they spend some bonding time outside in the yard.
Bet it takes her less time to knock them into shape than it has taken me to get my two little ones working properly...
The kids and I have spent about 6 days over the last two weeks helping my parents move into a new house. I am thrilled that they get to move in to a nice, new house and the fact that the new is less than half a mile from the old house just adds a little comic relief. From the neighborhood park just up the street from their new house, you might be able to see both places at once.
Anyways, I had time to help and the kids were glad to make a couple of extra trips out of town right before school starts, so we have been back and forth a couple of times to help The Queen Mother and Dad.
They haven't moved since I was less than 2 years old, so I assumed that they were a little rusty on how to get it all done. Turns out they had the right idea. Hire professionals! The move went without any major hitches. The only known MIA thing (so far) was the receiver for their wireless keyboard and mouse. And that was easily fixed with $50 and a quick trip to the office supply store for a new keyboard and mouse set up.
During the last two weeks I have spent more time in the neighborhood where I grew up than I have since I moved away a lifetime ago. Thanks to Facebook, I have reconnected with lots of friends from way back. And reminiscing about our shared experiences in my childhood 'hood has been a blast.
All of this has led me to realize that my parent's old house, though nothing special to look at from the street and certainly too small for a family of five, always will be a huge part of my life.
I only hope that my own kids can look back at whatever time we spend in this too little, not very fancy, rock house with as much love and good memories at I have for that little, yellow, brick ranch styled house with the big backyard of my youth.
And I just have to state, that for the record, much to my mother's consternation, all of those years of roughhousing did NOT in fact, tear down that little house.
The beginning of school must be near. The AtHomeFam hit the shoe store this afternoon.
The Princess scored a pair of black shoes that can work for school or church. The Talker scored a new pair of running shoes that should carry him around the track form any laps during his whole class running time. Every kid at the school runs laps several times a week to supplement the PE classes that they attend only every third day.
Old habits are hard to break, and even though I don't really have anywhere to go in the near future, I couldn't resist getting a new pair of running shoes, too. The Boss Lady hardly ever gets to wear non-dress shoes to work, so she skipped out on the sports shoe fiesta.
With the purchase of the shoes, I would say that we are ready for the first day of school. And we got it done more than 2 weeks ahead of time.
The preschool that The Princess attended for the last two years was a big blessing for both of us. She made loads of great friends and her teachers were all top notch. I should know, I was one of them.
I decided early on the there was no real reason for me to send the girl to a part time preschool program. I would spend all of my free time driving to drop her off, and back again to pick her up. Like with her big brother, I planned for her to be at home until kindergarten.
Then I sort of stumbled into a part time job at the preschool. Suddenly, I was going to be getting paid to hang out from drop off time to pick up time. Plus, the girl would attend for free, making my $10 an hour job a lot more profitable.
For the past two years I have been Mr Mike, a title I never really liked - if a kid can call me by my first name, then why should I make him use a title like Mister?, Playground Activity Leader, Recreation Teacher, Assistant Classroom Teacher as needed, occasional Handyman and Janitor and Chicken Visit Coordinator.
Sure, sometimes the kids whined too much and the adults acted like the four year old children occasionally, but there really was not a part of the job I disliked. Turns out I made a pretty good Mr Mike. From what I could tell, the kids liked me, the other teachers appreciated my efforts and the parents liked having me around. For us, the job was perfect. My hours would have me home to drop the kids off at school and home before the bus dropped them off in the afternoon, with enough time to spare for a quick nap. A perfect daily schedule!
But now, due to budget cuts and a regime change at the preschool, The Mr Mike position(s) has gotten the axe for this coming year. So I find myself in the enviable position of having nothing to do once the kids start school in 22 days.
Of course, without the part time job I won't have any spending money to blow on projects like chickens, old trucks, guitars, TVs, video games, cigars or fishing. Why do I always feel a little too redneck when I list my hobbies?
So now I am on the hunt for another perfect part time job. I need something that keeps me employed Monday - Friday, from about 8am until about 2:30pm. Any later and I can't be home for drop off; any early and I'll oversleep and be late. (Just trying to set up some reasonable expectations).
The applicant comes with a wealth of experiences. Some of which might even be pertinent to the job. If not, I can fake it real well... And I sure would like someone to pay a bundle for my services.
After all, Mr Mike is kind of high Maintenance. Just ask Mrs Mr Mike.
Junkin' has been well documented on this blog, throughout the years. And another junkin' season is upon us.
Here is the primer, in case you are clueless about junkin'. And here is a link to my past Junkin' related posts. You'll have to scroll down to see all of the crap great stuff I have hauled home over the years.
The last few have been washouts, either because of rain (which I am WISHING on this season) or because of a low quality of junk set out by our neighbors. Either way, I haven't scored great junk in a couple of season.
Maybe my standards are getting too high?
Anyways, I had a goal of finding a plastic doghouse to modify into a second chicken coop. The Boss Lady spotted one, but it was gone by the time I made it by the pile a few hours later.
Racecar Man called to gloat about his finds last night, a gas pressure washer that shows great promise to be up and running again soon, and a 4 burner gas grill that needs a good cleaning. I couldn't resist the challenge, so we cruised the neighborhood to see what other treasures we might find.
Lo and behold, it's corners have been chewed on by a bored dog, but I found my junkin' doghouse. it is EXACTLY what I need to expand the chicken coop and $75 cheaper than the one we bought last year.
Along with the stuff I drug home, I also got rid of a couple of skate ramps that scare The Talker so much that he won't use them, an old satellite dish, a tire from a minivan I drove 3 or four years, my garage TV that has a blown speaker and about a hundred feet of old swing chains from the playscape rebuild project at the preschool. Everything except the skate ramp set was hauled away by this morning.
It is too dang hot to make anymore treasure hunting runs this junkin' season, so I am declaring this one a big success and calling it closed.
It is true, I don't blog a lot anymore. Bro pointed that fact out this morning. It isn't that I have less to say, just ask the wife. But it is summer time. The wife has been home from work and I try to take the available time to recharge my batteries and to let the kids reconnect with their momma.
In other words, I hide out. All. Summer. Long.
Of course, summers are not what they used to be;The Boss Lady only had three weeks off this summer. And the kids and I have been too freakin' hot to do much blog worthy since we got home from California.
Anyways, this weekend is a rare break in the summer doldrums. The weather is still hot, but a weekend shared with family and friends has made for a nice break in the summer. We went to a family reunion with The Queen Mother's side of the fam this weekend. There were dozens of people who I won't see again until the 4th weekend of July, 2010 and some of the best barbecue I have eaten in years, thanks to my second cousin's excellent grill skillz.
Today the family had to partake in a lesser quality of cookout. I grilled up some burgers after church. The kids won't eat "blackened" dawgs, so we boiled those on the stove. But my cooking was not the highlight of the day. Today was about The Talker.
He is a seven year old and has recently made a profession of his faith at Vacation Bible School, so he was baptized this morning. During the church service I was reassured that The AtHomeFam is exactly where we are supposed to be. In life. In church. All of it. Contentment sure is nice.
Between family, friends and neighbors, there were more than 30 people at our church specifically to see The Talker take his turn in the dunk tank. I know it meant a lot to him, to see his friends and cousins this morning, but it meant more to The Boss Lady and myself than we will ever be able to relate on a blog.
Anyways, the aftermath of having 1/3 a hundred people in our little house is fully here. It will take days for us to recover from the mess. And it will all be worth it, to share such a great weekend with the people we love. And even with those who we only like a little bit.
June 7 snuck by without me noticing. But this Blog turned 5 years old this summer. Can you imagine how much drivel exists in one thousand, six hundred twenty seven posts? Even I am scared to go too deep into the archives.
An aside: my computer seems to be living on borrowed time. I was convinced it had died last night, but after reinstalling XP and everything else (thanks to to 500GB backup external hard drive we bought a couple of months ago), it seems to be running OK today. I am still trying to find the last of the drivers I need to be back to full speed.
I am pretty sure Rick jinxed my computer when he called a day or two ago. Those computer guys can do stuff like that...
I am trying out anything I can think of to coax a little rain out of this cloudy day.
This looks like the best chance we have had for rain in more than two weeks, so we are off to play outside, hang some clothes on the line and to wash the cars.
Truthfully, there are not a lot of things that come up with the kids that I am completely clueless about. I may not WANT to handle some crisis, but I actually am capable. Most of the time.
This morning has presented one of those times in which I am totally clueless.
The Princess' earring fell out in the night. We found the earring, but the back clip is MIA.
When she was pierced I remember something about the earring backs being some kind of special thing that holds everything tight for the healing process. So if I don't hear from The Boss Lady soon, I guess we are off to the mall for a new set of starter earrings.
It is 1:30 in the afternoon and the last time I was outside it was less than 95 degrees. This is the coolest day we have had in several weeks.
M&M, our survivor from flock v 2.0 is a good egg layer, currently giving us about 5 eggs a week. When it was less than a million degrees out there she often laid an egg a day for 10 days straight. She is singlehandedly giving us enough eggs for our family. But chickens are flock animals. So I have been planning to add another bird or two to keep M&M company.
I was looking online for birds that were mature, of egg laying age. In the end I decided that our chickens have been easy to handle and work with because we have hand raised them. And the only way to ensure new birds react the same way to the kids is to raise them ourselves. Besides that, I have grown tired of watching the local poultry lists, Craigslist and a couple of national poultry web sites for a good deal on local birds.
The kids have been anxiously awaiting the time that we would add another couple of birds to our one hen flock. So today we decided to pay Chicken Store Lady a visit.
In the past we have been happy with the birds she suggested. She did not have any Buff Orpingtons or Light Brahmas. So Chicken Store Lady suggested the Cochins. They are known to be docile and huge, with feathered legs and feet, so we bought one buff colored pullet.
The Princess' two day old Buff Cochin pullet.
The Talker's two day old Ameraucana pullet.Today marks three days in a row that the kids have played together soooooooooooo nicely that I am starting to think they are planning something.
Currently they are trashing The Princess' room with a game that involves lots of baby talking stuffed animals a couple of swords, a pink shield and a velvet party dress.
I don't THINK anyone is getting neutered, but until someone (a real human child, specifically) starts crying, I am not entering the chamber of horrors. Good luck to you, Fluffy and Spot.
The summer is winding down quickly. The Boss Lady is already back at work. It is hot enough outside that my face might melt off if we go swimming. So we are hanging at the house and trying not to die from heatstroke.
While the kids play, I am doing all of the really kick ass stuff that I get to do. Dishes, laundry and clothesline duty. Big fun! I may go nuts (if I can chase away the headache) and vacuum.
Yep. It is an exciting life around here.
Especially if you are a stuffed animal.
"You know girl, it is kind of gross to lay your toothbrush on the toilet seat."
A peek at the Davis Mountains, from our picnic lunch site along Interstate 10.
A dip into the Pacific Ocean, North Beach San Clemente, California.
My favorite picture from the Grand Canyon.Home.
The Babysitter and the rental car have been dropped off.
Pictures coming soon but for now the chauffeur needs a nap.
850 miles until home. Eating lunch out of the ice chest and it is about 1000% better than the awful slop we ate last night at a "real" restaraunt.
The AtHomeFam and The Babysitter will be heading towards home in the morning. Our trip has been a raging success. Multiple beach trips to beaches all over the area, We had no idea there were different types of beaches in California. loads of shopping, You should check out my new surfer look. Legoland, Disneyworld, Fourth of July fireworks on the beach and today, the San Diego Zoo, With a side visit to the Balboa Park Carousel.
We had a blast. Visiting my Aunt and Uncle had been great fun, too. They have gone out of their way to make the whole family happy. The kids have enjoyed getting to really know their great Aunt, who seems to have enjoyed her time with them, too. Another few days and I might be ready to give it all up and become a full-time beach bum.
Tomorrow we are heading for the Grand Canyon. The detour is only about 300 miles and I am guessing, about 6 extra hours in the car, so we have decided that it is a worthy distraction. The timing of our canyon visit is not going to work out great, we probably won't get there until late afternoon, but we may try to say near the park, so that we can enjoy the scenery of the Grand Canyon at dusk.
Pictures will have to wait until we get home. Too many to sort through for now.
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