That's rude

Rachel's favorite thing to say lately is "That's wooed" She hears that alot "close your mouth when you chew" "Put your dress down" "don't spit" All followed by "That's rude"

So last night the puppy I was bragging about earlier peed on the kitchen floor. Ack! Rachel came to inspect and said "Mommy, That's wooed"

Ah so true

Rub-a-dub-dub

Wellllll. Evidently if you want to get comments on your blog you just need to post random pictures and tell people there's a story behind them. hahahahaha!

This past week has been extra busy. What can I say. I've descended from messy disorganization to complete and utter chaos. I've been off balance ever since school started. I'm not quite sure why but I've never managed to catch up. I my defense we did start school, where I seem to have volunteered for every event this fall, I've thrown 2 big birthday parties in the back yard, I've had a yard sale, taken a roadtrip to Raleigh, what else? I'm sure there's something else. Oh. We added yet another dog to the pack, bringing the grand total to 3. So a better more anal person could have handled it all AND cleaned the house, but that person is not me. So right now there are dishes stacked up, laundry lined up down the hall and my car looks like grocery bags have exploded in there. BUT, I'm taking tomorrow OFF. Kinda. OK, I'm just not taking the girls to school. What? Don't looked so shocked. It's not a big deal, really. It's a half day. Yep, they do that in preschool. So that means I would have to drive for an hour for Rena to go to school for 2. (The little girls don't have school.) Ain't gonna happen tomorrow.,,,,,,,

So a few picture to perhaps explain some of the craziness that makes it's way into my life. This little cherub is Riley. Evidently she is part squirrel. See that grocery bag in her hands? There
are about 6 more downstairs on the toyshelf. She's been 'organizin' '. Helping. All this helping is going to kill me.


So I had her empty the contents of her bag so we could see what all was in there. She's not happy about it. Suspicious comes to mind. So let's see. We have a box top to a game that came with 54 pieces...none of the pieces are located in the picture. A writing board. A coloring book. A game piece from a clown juggling game, a pretend vase from a plastic dressing table, a baby toy piano and a large bag of baby wipes. Now remember, there are 6 more bags just like this and I know for a fact that some of them contain small cans of tomato juice taken from the pantry.

And see this next picture. Those are the cards that belong in the gamebox above. This is not all of the card, of course. They have been unequally distributed throughout the 10+ rooms of this house, the garage and the car. And those tiny little things? Those are pony beads. You can make necklaces out of them or if you're really talented you can use them to decorate your hair. If you are of preschool age evidently the thing to do with them is gather them up and then sling them across a room. No need to collect them a second time because there are PLENTY of them. I'm convinced that they are able to multiply on their own....like tribbles, maybe. I like to think of them as seeds from hell. Especially when I walk around barefoot.

I have finally taken a serious stand on the little beads and those that appear when I vacuum are sucked into eternity. The luckier ones have been (re)contained in a rubbermaid cannister where they will live until the girls learn to really pick up after themselves...or the stone bruises on my feet heal.

Next up we have our trip to Raleigh to pick up this little guy from our 'friends'. I have to put friends in quotes because they are the people who gave us Nixie who is a big fat pain in my ass. But I still love her. Kinda. Anyway this is Jake. We got him so Nixie would have someone to play with. So far it's working out great and this little guy is pretty cool so far. Nixie's happy. I'm happy. Max is happy. All the dogs are happy. Great. Really. It is really hard to get a good picture of a black lab puppy. First off,, he's black. Second he's a puppy so he wasn't slowing down much as I tried to take his picture. And he was curious about the camera. So he's actually cuter in dogperson.

At least a trip to Raleigh enabled me to visit some of my favorite haunts. I got my haircut from my most favorite hairdresser. She's fabulous and I've managed to have her continue to cut my hair even though I'm 6+hours away. I haven't made a special trip to Raleigh just for that but I would! Then I did a little shopping at NOFO at the pig. Really very quickly. They had these cool cups for the girls and I wanted more. Then I drove past my Grandparents' house. They don't live there anymore. They've been dead for over 22 years. Wow. And I'm still driving by their house. hmmm. Well they lived in what is now a hot real estate market. I really wish I had bought their house when they died. It's worth a fortune now....seriously. It was on the market for about $260,000.00. It's about 800 square feet on 1/8th of an acre. But it's not the fortune I'm after. I just think it would be a really cool place to live. Of course I would have to do a little renovation I'm sure. That's what's happening to all the houses on that street. They are being torn down and replaced with 4000sqft homes. There are lots of complaints about it but I think they are doing a nice job. And those original houses have run their course.

Next stop was the State Farmer's Market. I was hoping to see some really cool jack o lanterns since they had just had a decorating contest, but most of those were gone. We did get to see some really beautiful pumpkins. I LOVE pumpkins! This one was bigger than my whole family!

I love the textures...

and colors....

and patterns on all these beautiful gourds.


I also love the way they are all lined up ready for Halloween! I'm talking about the pumpkins, not the girls.


And now for a picture that I just think if funny. The girls usually take a bath together although they are about to outgrow the tub. I call this our indoor pool. Why is the water super cloudy? 'Cause it has a whole bottle of soap in there.

Rain

I'm up way too early this morning. I don't know why. I've actually had almost 30 whole minutes to myself but as I type this I hear the first one thumping down the steps. It's Rachel. She wakes up happy and has come to join me in the dark in the chair. She just wants to sit beside me and suck her thumb. I think she's getting a cold. Probably the one Rena has given me.

Outside it's raining. I really can't remember the last time it rained. It's sad and a little scary. While most people down in Atlanta have probably forgotten the water restrictions that have been in place and tightened for the last 2 1/2 years, I drive over Lake Lanier almost everyday and I see our water supply quickly diminishing. I watch this one boat that has been neglected and left to rest on the shoreline by the receeding waters. One corner clings hopelessly to the water's edge, waiting for the day it can be launched again and set free from the muddy bank. Sometimes I wonder if that's truly going to happen. The vegetation optimistically sprouts on the new shoreline, taking over where waders used to tread. Hopefully it's days are numbered. But not by this rainshower. Simply a drop in the bucket that will quickly be siphoned off and processed and pushed through a hoseline in some upscale neighborhood to make sure their grass stays green and the HOA stays happy.

Well the days have been busy here. This fall caught me a little offguard...lolling in the last days of summer. Unstructured days and late nights sitting outside watching my children play barefoot in the street, riding bikes and chasing frogs by the light of the streetlight. The sound of children's laughter coming up from the darkness as they squeeze in one last minute with their friends. But now here it is October. My favorite month. And there's so much I want to do. Many things pass me in a blur. But it won't be those things I've missed that I'll look back on. It will be the things we managed to get done.

Last friday I took the girls to pick apples up in Ellijay.

The weather was beautiful and the apples were plentiful! I was going to take them the week before but I couldn't find gas and I didn't want to use any extra if I didn't have to. So the girls had a full week to get excited about it. We've actually been every fall since we've been here. The first year we went with a playgroup. Last year we went as a whole family. This year it was just me and the girls. The apple house has added a petting farm. It's only open on weekends but the girl at the counter told me we could go in as long as we didn't let any of them out. So we did.

Rachel is a natural around animals. Completely in control.

Rena likes them too.

Riley, not so much.

It was great. I must have been a farmer in a past life. The girls were pretty much done after we saw the goats and they were ready to go! I wasn't and I made them pick more apples as they complained bitterly about how tired they were. Oh well.

Little girls can pick a lot of apples in a short period of time. So now I have a bushel and a half of apples sitting in my garage. So far I've made an apple pie and apple bread. I'm making apple jelly today. It's been a long time since I've canned anything. I figured I'd start with something simple and work my way up from there. I'm hoping to do some applesauce and apple pie filling. Because I have so much free time. I sent some apples to school with the little girls. If I get really inspired I might bake something to send in for their classes to eat and some for the teachers too. We'll just have to see how much I can get done in a day.