“Mom!  Look at the Deathstar!”

“Mom!  Come look at THIS spider!”

“Mom!  Have you looked at the Deathstar yet??”

“Mom!  Look!  It’s raining!”

“Mom! Did you look at my planner?”

“Mom!  Look at the swirlies in my chocolate milk!”

“Mom!  Look at the hummingbirds!”

“Mom! You gotta come see the Deathstar noooowwwwwww!”

“Mom!  Look at my toe!”

“Mom!  You gotta come look at my poop!”  (um, really?)

I’m exhausted.

Friday afternoon we met up with some friends to swim and unwind after the first week of school.  As we were getting all six children set in their bathing suits, goggles, towels, floaties, and diving rings, one of them exclaimed he saw a snake. 

Okay.  Noted.  We told him to stay away.  I’m sure of it.

But, it takes a while to get six children swimming and happy with their appropriate accessories, so we went on with our business.  Again, there was an exclamation of the snake sighting, along with a second exclamation from a second child.

Let me just say at this point in the story that our children lie.  They don’t lie on purpose, but their imaginations sometimes bleed over into their realities, and always involve animals.  I don’t know how many times we’ve listened to a rant on an armadillo crossing, a grasshopper injustice, or a spider attack.  Animals are actively engaged in our daily lives-imagined and real.

So, we acknowledged the story, but dismissed it as legend.  Until, the Grandma on site stopped by to say hello, and asked us if we checked the story out.

Um, no.

So, she went over to the alleged snake sighting area, and, well, okay…there was an actual alive snake amidst all the pool toys, goggles, and other small floaties.  And yes, the kids had been putting their hands in that exact pool toy basket looking at the snake.  And also, the snake was about a foot and a half long.

But it wasn’t rattling.  So, that’s good, right?

So, the Grandma took the basket, dumped the basket, and proceeded to kill the snake.  With a shovel.  While we watched.  Actually, while we and all five children (minus the baby) watched.

We tried to plead our case, but she pretty much called us out as not in the running for Mothers of the Year.  But then again, we already knew that and are ok with it.

Incidentally, later the same evening, these same two boys reported a snake, spider, and a ghost in the backyard.  I’m just saying.

Don’t think I haven’t heard all about it. 

Go ahead, make your silly jokes.  I can take it.

Weather Channel Credit

Movie night is postponed for this evening, but Girl’s Night and shopping on the square is in full swing!  It might be worth braving a few drops to spend a few hours with the girls. 

I’ve mentioned before how much I do not enjoy doing laundry.  I mean,  I know that most people out there probably don’t look forward to piles of clothes to wash, fold, and put away, but the amount of laundry this family produces is crazy-and the chore is absolutely neverending.  I could probably do laundry all day everyday and still never ever catch up.  For real-it’s that bad around here.

So, you can imagine the hardship it was on me this week when our dryer decided to take a summer vacation as well.  We called our repair guy, and he wasn’t available to survey the damage until this Friday-almost one week without a dryer.  Luckily for me, I do have a clothesline (that in my nerdiness I absolutely love).  I usually dry our sheets, blankets, tshirts, and other random things out there provided it’s not snowing, raining, or sleeting.  I love the fresh air smell they bring into the house.  But, despite my love of all the fresh air, drying EVERYTHING out there has been a beating!  I’m not an efficient person when it comes to this chore anyway, but having to wait for things to air dry has brought any efficiency I might have had to a stand still.  I have one more day to work through a couple more loads before hopefully fixing the problem.

Unless…

We buy a new fancy washing machine/dryer combo.  Our set is 13 years old, and was actually the first appliance we bought as a married couple-actual productive, employed members of society.  I’m not being sappy here, I mean it’s just a washer and dryer.  Except, I can’t believe we are old enough, and have been married long enough that appliances-machines are wearing out!  I told you we washed a lot of clothes around here.  Anyway, in addition to the dyer woes, we also had some issues with the washer a few months ago.  So, it might be time to make another major purchase again, and we are considering the High Efficiency Front Loaders everyone raves about, only it was a little overwhelming looking at all the choices and price differences between even a select few.  My over-achieving husband has done some research, and has a few he might be leaning toward should we throw caution to the wind and make this purchase.

But…

I wondered if there was a certain brand or type of front loaders out there that anyone would recommend?  Any tips?  Any thoughts?

Summertime Rain. It cools everything down for a few hours and maybe even induces a little afternoon napping or reading. I’m sure it will be just long enough for the kid batteries to recharge for the next adventure.

How are you spending today?

My youngest little man says whatever is on his mind, or whatever he observes, and he says it IMMEDIATELY.  Today was no different when we took a break from our adventures to swim in a local public pool.  Public being the key word in that sentence.  As we were loading up to leave and feast on a pizza dinner, another family strolled into the pool area to take a quick dip.  It was a nice looking family with a couple of teenage boys that were eager to swim the evening hours away.  The dad nodded a hello our direction, and that’s when I cringed just waiting for my little gentlemen to commit the next social fauxpaux.

He did.  He rarely lets me down in cases like this.

He looked at the dad, looked at me, looked back at the dad, and said, “Oh my goodness Mommy!  A REAL LIVE PIRATE!!!”  I should mention at this point that the dad was sporting a modest patch over his left eye, most likely nursing some kind of injury.  I could have crawled into a hole right there, but I just smiled and shshed my little guy.  The dad didn’t seem to mind, and maybe he didn’t even hear the exclamation.  At least that’s what I’m hoping.

What’s a mom to do in situations like these?  Verbally apologize?  Immediately correct my socially inept child?  Wait until later?  ShhShh my child?  Turn red in total embarrassment?

I got the embarrassment part down, no worries.

The mosquitos at the Scroggins house are unreal.  They are huge-gigantor-dinosaur sized mosquitos, and they are here in the millions.  We need help dealing with them.

Suggestions?

My husband makes the absolute best sandwiches ever, and might have even missed his calling as a sandwich artist.  Every single time he makes a sandwich, much to his dismay, I steal a bite or two.  He’s never been a fan of sharing-especially his dinner.  I don’t know what the difference is-I use the same bread, the same turkey, the same mustard, and the same cheese.  He doesn’t use any secret ingredients, but somehow his sandwiches always taste much more yummy.  On the other hand, it might be something about me.  I love any sandwich made by someone else, and never the ones I make.  Maybe I just don’t quite know how to slap two pieces of bread together in just right the way.  It’s a flaw that I will work on, because we eat a lot of sandwiches around here.  A LOT of sandwiches, and I think I can master this art of making them if I just put my mind to it.