Robin's Nest

 There are only a few days left in this year. I am sure I will have lots of thoughts of things that need to change. I need to keep the changes small. No one in this house seems to adjust very well to change. This past week I have spent organizing and rearranging the bedrooms and churning cream into butter. DH has tried to amputate his fingers with a circular saw and needs more practice to get a complete process. Though it won't be easy as his saw is not where he left it. The oldest kiddo's dresser her desk and shelf  Her bunk and the love seat under it Today I am starting on the third and final bedroom. I have ordered a new bed for the youngest. I hope it works out. She was not happy that the oldest got to have the love seat in her room. I was glad to get it out of the living room. This house is too small for big furniture. The bunkbed without the lower bunk helps the tiny room it is in seem bigger. The other bedroom is larger, but the child has an enormous amount of stuff tha...

The day after the youngest child's eye surgery was a long one. She is feeling a lot better, or she was until she put her finger on a hot stove. Very much in need of attention. We went to town for the sole purpose of getting a frozen coke. I promised her one the day of surgery when we thought we would be on our way home by 2pm.  In the waiting room her cow found safety  We waited patiently as the anxiety built once in pre-op she tried to relax  not an easy when you are 10 she did not want to sit on that bed  They took her into the OR without me and I returned to the waiting room. Within 15 minutes they came to get me. Anxiety took over and that was that. Finally, by 3pm the meds they gave her kicked in and we went to the OR together. She fought again but I held her arms and told her I was there. She drifted off but not without a fight. We arrived home about 7pm that night. and she slept until 11:30. The rest of the night she was up and down but no crying. That was a w...

 The morning started off strong for both girls, we walked three of the four dogs on leashes for PE warm up. The fourth dog came along without a leash. On the third lap around the yard the children were ready to take the dogs back inside. The two male dogs were good with that idea. The two female dogs could have gone further. Both girls needed drinks and a moment to rest. We are really out of shape! While they took a break, I took the paperwork to the school to withdraw both kiddos. I still need to return the chrome book to the school but that can wait till later today. We have to go to the library in town and return an overdue book so I can do it then. It was a peaceful start to our day. DH returned from town with the chicken feed so I will unload that and get it into the shed for later today. We played Yahtzee for about an hour, the youngest and I, we did not finish the game. There was quite a bit of wiggle worm activity. Those are the signals to stop, change or redirect when it c...

 I sure wish it would quit trying to prove its' case with me. I had left the doctor's office on a Thursday, bragging about how I had not fallen in quite some time and how I had little if any pain in the knee that the other doctor wants to operate on. Only to trip on wire out in the pasture and fall hard on my face the very next day. The wire had been clipped to get equipment through now that there are no pasture animals to keep fenced in. Not that the 3-wire fence really did that job very well. The throbbing only occurs when I stand too long or try to carry too much at a time, or climb stairs, drive, that kind of thing. Doing long shifts tends to aggravate the situation a bit. So, note to self, do not brag on Thursday as one may fall on Friday. Today I thought we could carry the couch to the attic today, but I measured the doorway, and it won't fit through. I shared that with DH, and he refused to accept what I said as fact. He insisted that he did not put any doorways in t...

 Not what you think, I am sure. The last two years have proved to be challenging when it comes to finding pool supplies. Shock was at a premium at $34 for a 6 pack. When I darkened the door of Wal-Mart yesterday, they had a lot of the product on the shelf for less than half of the summertime price. Where they had this stuff during the summer is anyone's guess. I do usually try to stock up at the end of the season for the next season. It is not normal to find enough product to last the entire next season, but awesome that I did! With so few weeks left until the holidays I have been picking up little things here and there for gifts. I did nothing in the craft department to prepare. It is not as easy to find the time as it used to be. Today has its own agenda. I need to take clothing to SIL. She is finally putting on a bit of weight and needs a bit more room in her things. I also need to empty the car of the items bought for the next season. The tween is experiencing friend challenges...

 The old about not enough hours in a day is so real for me. Today is the party for Miss Maddie, it is also Men's Breakfast at the church. Of course, that leaves me to get all the parties here at this house ready and do the regular morning tasks. Surprised? Not me. It would be that way anyway. I just wouldn't have the clean-up from someone else cooking for a dozen other guys. Most times it is just biscuits and canned gravy mess that I am left with. Today he cooked 2 dozen eggs and there was only powdered gravy mix available to him.  Why do some men choose a much too small pot, pan or bowl, for their creations? Wouldn't it seem smarter to err on the side of caution and go with too big? Or and what about reading directions? Or not cooking everything on high? I wish I had thought to take pictures of the piles that he made. The one thing I cannot figure out for the life of me is his obsession with leaving the eggshells on the counter, to drip their remnant contents everywhere. N...

   Today I went out to work on our fence, a job forbidden by DH, not sure why. Again, I cannot find the correct star bit for the screws. I thought that I had it a month ago when it was too cold to work on it. Yet today, while he is gone to get things for the new poultry, I cannot find it any where. I tried one star bit but it is too big and another is more of a square than a star.  This fence will get done.  I am determined that the boards on it will be at least anchored top and bottom by Easter. I may have to go and buy a bit to get it done. There are many projects that must be done around here before Spring. I need a dog fence first and foremost and an outside dog house. Also, an enclosure for the chickens, turkeys and ducklings. I have a little time on that. The pallets that I wanted for the dog house have been gathered and now I have to "assemble" them. Again I need a bit for the screws that I have. Tomorrow should be very warm and building is high on the list of...

This has been a whole month in one week! Our friends came to visit, their car broke down on the way, her kiddos started in person school and it closed the first day for snow. Now my kiddos really want to do in person school... or so they say. It reminds me of the school board members somewhere here in the states, that were over heard saying something like they just want their free babysitting back in reference to the parents who want the schools reopened. Well "duh" of course we did! I say did because I really did and sometimes still do. Technically it wasn't free as it comes with a hefty tax tag on each of our properties. The bigger price tag is what we lose as parents when we surrender control to the system. I do know that at some point I may have to send them back for whatever reason, but deep down it will be for "babysitting". Yes I feel they do learn a lot and the teachers do their best for the most part. But the power that the NEA has over what our childre...

  Today was a very long day. I knew it would be sort of long but not near as long as it turned out to be. Four appointments and a trip to the Bx and Commissary and we are now couch damaged at both ends. These dogs have separation anxiety or something. Maybe it's just real taste for furniture. But I do know after today they will never get to be left in the house without being kenneled again. That would be the stuffing from the arm of the couch on the opposite end of the previous damage. Plus they gnawed just a little more on the first end just to keep it even I'm sure. It was foolish to think we wouldn't be gone that long. There I go again, thinking. Unfortunately we were rushed again this morning trying to get everyone out the door to make appointments on time. Even when I give time checks and directions if everyone has to go, it is a mad rush to get out of the house and not let a dog escape in the process. If I had not been rushed I might have thought to put the dogs in th...

As I struggle again today to keep those new goals going I realize goals may fall into the resolution category of "failure". Alas, at least it is the last week of January and not the first! Today we attempted a "science" video. In so doing this I have found that my kids do not engage with a video unless, you add game and prove it, to the scenario. Surely they absorbed something...  Tomorrow is language arts and art. The messy but fun part of the week. I split things one "essential" subject each day. Just for this week and last week because of scheduled appointments and surgeries.  Today was the only day this week that there wasn't an appointment scheduled. So that left room for a run for groceries, to pick up meds, and run to Dollar Tree to grab some "art" supplies. I hope I don't regret the new glitter paint. Peyton has a dental appointment tomorrow. That should be fun... not. A game of tag is fun A kiss from a girl dog is fun Running ins...

  This morning I awoke with a startle after a somewhat disturbing dream. In the dream we had moved into a new home... much like real life, the home in my dream was very similar in some of the details. A big difference was the new house was in a wooded area, had grass and was secluded from view. Another strange detail was a railroad track running behind the house, it was not real close, but only a short walk away. In this dream we were moving in and discussing the sale of our previous home and suddenly we were arguing about it. Maybe arguing is too strong of a word. Anyway I woke up. So maybe I will get to finish the dream sometime. It bothers me to have dreams like this as I believe it has meaning. Someday I will share in the blog a recurrent dream that I had then you may understand my concern. On to other things, I was looking around this house the other day and decided that room by the entryway, I think the house plans call it a "den", should be my next area to rearrange. W...