It's still May

Hurray! I have a few minutes on the computer at the library so I will post again before the month is over. We still have Henry. I think it is almost time for him to go live with piggies of his own kind. This morning I looked in his bin to get him up and he wasn't there. I stood there baffled for a moment - until I saw him snuggled up with Anastasia in her bed. I'm not sure what we're going to do with him!! What else? My radishes have sprouted!! I may not be much of a gardener -but I can grow radishes. I just can't bear to thin them. It seems like such a waste. But then they all grow lumpy and gnarled together. But back to Henry. He is just SO cute. SO SO cute. But I have this bad feeling that we are going to be warming up bottles for him the rest of his life and I'm not sure how that will work when he is 200 pounds.

Henry

First of all - I forgot to post in April! My lofty goal was to at least write once a month. And here it more than half way through May. Well, our big news is a little piggie named Henry. I am such a sucker! And so are the kids. We brought him home from a friend's farm - poor little thing was the runt and so tiny. He's almost a month old and only weighs about 5 pounds! So we're bottle feeding him and learning Piggish. I have this strange personality disorder, I think. On one hand I would like a nice clean house and imagine how lovely peace and quiet would be. But then I do things like let a runt pig live in Anastasia's bedroom. Along with 2 rats she is taking care of for Victoria. And somewhere between 2 and 4 dogs (depending if the granddogs are here for the day) and 3 cats and 5 caterpillars doing their thing in a jar in the kitchen. And 3 4H pigs (but I never let them in the house.) That I am on firm on.

My Monthly Update

Yikes. March is almost over. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. Well, spring is springing around the old Funny Farm. We have 3 little piggies; Howard, Herman and Charles.
And they certainly are not the gentlemen their names' would suggest. They don't call them pigs for nothin'. It is strangely quiet in my house this morning. Two boys off to school, one husband off to the office and two lazy girls still in bed. I was torn between getting them up and at em - or having some peace and quiet. Guess what I chose? I have this middle child guilt. It's a blessing - and a curse. I always feel like I have to please someone or prove something. So - just to prove I'm not lazy - here's the list of what I've accomplished so far this morning.
1. Made lunches and a nutritious hot breakfast for the boys.
2. Did the nasty dishes and pots and pans from last night.
3. Put in 2 loads of laundry.
4. Fed the pigs and the dogs.
5. Swept the floor.
6. Cleaned out the refrigerator and turned it into soup. (the contents - not the actual fridge)
7. Made bread dough - soon to become cinnamon buns.
8. Played several games of lexulous on Facebook. (Its good for the brain.)

So - now I can sit here in peace and quiet without any guilt. Thank you. I'll give you my recipe for Refrigerator Soup.

Add the contents of one refrigerator to a pot of water. Season to taste. Cook. Serve.

That's about it really. Well, here's what I actually put in mine this morning. Water, 1/2 carton beef broth, 1/2 can of spicy tomatoes, 4 wilted stalks of celery, a handful of dry baby carrots, 4 green beans (why they were on a plate in the fridge I do not know), 1/2 onion, 6 cloves garlic, some leftover rice, 2 shriveled red potatoes and a pile of meatballs. Then I added a can of corn, a can of green beans, a can of tomato soup and seasoned with a little of this and a little of that. Talk about classy. Mmmmmm good.

Palm Springs

Just got back from a week in Palm Springs. Had fun hanging out with the snow birds. Palm Springs is really different from where I live. For instance - out here in NW Washington I have never seen a car pulling a trailer for "Flossie Paws - Mobile Dog Grooming, Training and Parties." I'm sure they have theme parties for little FooFoo doggies that look just like their Palm Springs Mommies. Out here when dogs get together they sniff, growl, and go roll in something smelly. They do not wear tiny zebra print jackets and I have never seen a local dog wearing sunglasses.

Happy New Year

How can it be 2010? Doesn't that sound like something out of a science fiction novel? Well - it my little world, this year will be different. Down to 4 kids at home. It's almost empty nest around here. Victoria's wedding was wonderful. Nothing horrible happened. We all had a terrific time. So many friends and family pitched in and helped - I really couldn't have done it without them. One of these days I'll tell about my shopping, cooking, catering experiences. Right now I am exhausted and looking forward to a little bit of normal.

From a kid's point of view...

Last Sunday morning Anastasia walked into the kitchen and saw James. She made a face and said "There's James - he's the mean one." I reminded her gently that we are only supposed to say positive things about people. To that she replied, "Well, I'm positive - he's the mean one!"

Later that day she was telling me about her mini golf outing with some family friends. I asked her if she got a "hole in one". She looked at me and said, "I got a hole in ALL of them!"

Birthday Boy

Tomorrow is William's 17th birthday. I was thoughtful enough to give birth to him on his Grandma Tippery's 75th birthday. That makes us both pretty special! She was delighted to hear we had a boy - after 3 girls. William was also the first Tippery grandson - someone to carry on the name and all that. He's a great kid. He was born smiling I think. When he was little and in swimming lessons the teacher kept telling him to stop smiling and close his mouth. Even when he did naughty stuff - he had a little grin on his face. I'm pretty proud of my son. He's hard working, honest, thoughtful, tender hearted, tall, handsome and loves his Mama. Couldn't ask for much more.