Computers are taking over

Ever since our huge laptop crashed last year and I replaced it with a tiny notebook, the kids have been begging for a desktop. "How do you do anything on that itty bitty thing mom? It's soooo lame." (Everything I do is lame to them though so I'm not too worried. Though it did worry me when my four year old called me a n00b yesterday! lol)

My husband knows how to build computers so he asked me to keep an eye on freecycle for old ones so he could put something together for the kids. It's acutally been really fun, for the past few months we've been going out on "computer salvage dates." :-)

He finally found enough parts to build one complete computer for the kids, they are playing on it right now! Of course they are using it on the floor because I forgot that we'd need a computer desk too! That's now next on my freecycle list. lol

Want to know what the aftermaths of a computer salvage operation looks like?
Here's the leftover computer parts in Jason's office.
(But note the game table in the back corner, I loooove the fact the he put that in there just so he could play games with the kids while he works!)

Sooo, what to do with all these useless electronic items?
They can't go in our trash. (It's harmful to the environment.)

And we really don't want to just chuck them into our basement. 

Perhaps some crafts?

A cat house?

Or a fish tank?

Or here's an an awesome blog about an e-waste recycler, she's got some amazing computer jewelry!

Or we could recycle them properly, more info HERE.

Ok in other news, I might be shutting down my blog. I started blogging 6 years ago so my large family could stay up to date with us, however I use facebook for that now and like it better because it's private. Plus I've really been struggling to find time to post updates. There's not a lot going on right now anyway, we'll be here for another year at least but when we do move I promise to come back to blog about our next adventure. :-)
I'll be posting a review once in a while but not much more for the time being.

Things my kids say

I'm a mother.
My kids are adorable.
So yes, I will be annoying at times and post the cute things they say. :-)

Me: Jarod aren't you going to get the mail today?
Jarod: Nah
Me: Uh, why not? You get it everyday.
Jarod: It's Thursday.
Me: And....
Jarod: There's never anything good in the box on Thursday. So why bother?

Jarod: I want to be a cop when I grow up.
Me: So you can uphold the law of the land?
Jarod: No....so I can eat donuts everyday. Duh

Alex: *Trying to talk me into the bag of giant marshmallows at the store*
Me: No sweetie, let's put them back. They will just give you a tummy ache.
Alex: But mommy, I will cut them in half and then eat both halves, so they will be smaller and not be too much in my tummy.

Jarod, in a whisper: Here Alex, go give this to mommy.
Alex: Eh no, why does mommy want a dead flower!?
Jarod: It's not dead. It's.....picked.
Alex: You picked it dead.

Alex: *Looking at my list* "How do you buy "huh?"
Me: Buy what?
Alex: huh? huh? You want to buy huh?
Me: I have no idea what you are talking about, silly boy.
Alex: Grabs the list and points to the spot where I had put down "??? for Jason" and says "you want to buy three 'huh?" for daddy but how do you buy "huh?".
(He didn't know it was called a question mark but knew the concept..."huh?" is the sound cartoon characters make when they are confused and question marks float around their head. lol)

Rebecca: After explaining that if we move to the Netherlands the school she would be going to would be taught in Dutch: "But mom, I wouldn't be able to understand them for a FEW DAYS!"
(We've always encouraged her self-confidence but this time we did have to explain that it will probably take her longer than a few days to learn Dutch. lol)

P.S. Jason has another interview with the university on Thursday so stay tuned for that update! :-P

Last Day of Summer

"Kids, school time is HERE!!! Arrrghhhh, what should we do on our last day of summer!?"

Go swimming!

"Oh, sorry. 50 degrees outside....too cold."

Go to the library or the children's museum or the forest museum!

"Ach, sorry.... holiday weekend, they are closed."


Go on a drive and find something awesome....and then eat pizza and chocolate milk!!!

"Uh, ok.... we'll try!!!"

And succeed we did.

Turns out there is an old, abandoned school 30 miles away, with an awesome playground!

It's huge, this is jsut one corner of it.

The boys turned me into a dragon and ran around protecting their fort whilst dancing and climbing and jumping and begging to stay forever and a day. Rebecca found a nook to hide from her brothers and read.

And when we got home we had paleo pizza and chocolate almond milk!

(Next post will show how I made the pizza!)

Now....it's time for me to cry because our beautiful summer is over and I have to miss the kids...even Alex who will be going two days a week to head start!!!! :-(

No socks. No Service??

As I mentioned, Fridays are hectic. Really crazy. Tear you ovaries out insane kind of day. It's the only weekday I have access to our car so we have to cram all the kids therapies in, Alex and Rebecca have speech and then Jarod has speech, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. These all take an hour...each, on a good day they can schedule them all in a roll, on a bad day they are spread out and we have to find things to do to fill the time, they are in another town so there isn't time to run home and drop off kids that are finished. And on the really bad days they are scheduled early in the morning and I have to wake them up early to get there on time. I bring toys and snacks but we all still get cranky and bored and tired.

Today while we had an hour to kill I took the kids to McDonald's, to play...not to eat. I wanted to take them to the park but I couldn't find one, I even had directions to one from a staff member but I was brain dead and couldn't figure them out. So we went to the magical indoor play area and it was.....not magical.

The kids ran into the play area while I ordered some orange juice. I walked in with the juice a few minutes later to find all three of them looking like someone had taken away their favorite toy. I mean, I know McDonald's isn't all it's cracked up to be...but I didn't expect big huge frowns.
"What's wrong? Not fun?"
The big lady yelled at Alex. YELLED at him mom! Said he can't play because....because he's got no socks!
Alex ran into my arms sobbing that his feet were NOT dirty! 
I looked around and sure enough there was a sign that said "No socks. No Play."


Really? You now have to wear socks? When did this start? I haven't been to a McDonald's in years but last time we went, in AR, that was not a requirement. I'm pretty sure if they tried that in AR, at least where I'm from, they'd lose a lot of business. Most people in AR I know don't wear socks....it hot! Shoot....lots of us Hillbillies don't even own shoes! :-P

Rebecca saved the day by offering her socks to Alex, so that he could run around in socks way too big on him and trip all over the place. Yeah. Much safer than bare feet. And she sneaked up to the top and stayed up there where the big, mean lady couldn't see her feet. And everyone was being so good that I decided I could run to the bathroom...that was 2 inches away...because...what could happen in the 30 seconds it would take, right?

Wrong!

I was mid-pee when I heard a siren go off.

And I  knew what had happened.
I just knew that it was the fire door.
And I just knew that it was my kid that had opened it.
(And turned out I was right.)

I thought about just staying in the bathroom. (Hey, only for a second...or two. I'm human.)

Anyway, we made it through all that and headed back to Jarod's last therapy session....where in answer to the question "My you sure are growing up aren't you" he proudly pulled down his sleeve, showed his therapist his newly grown armpit hair, and said "Yup! And I'm got even more on my legs now!"

I think that at that point my ovaries packed their bags and left for good.

:-)

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