back to philly

we have enjoyed being home. sophie goes back to philly next week. her leg is almost straight right now. i am hoping after this visit she will be sent home for the duration until the next surgery scheduled sept 19.(I think) she is bored mostly. and a bit whiny and spoiled. the other kids are having mama boot camp also. they ran wild while I was gone. noone did anything for chores. with the exception of Natasha who did try to keep things clean and has a sense of what its like to clean up after these monkeys. the laundry was 3 feet deep and I am not kidding. on the last of it right now.  good thing I came home early. I cant imagine what would have happened if I stayed gone another two weeks. Natasha also has a sense of what Mama likes and she likes to please. she knows it stresses me greatly to walk in to a disaster and start cleaning the moment I walk in. My standards are not high but I do like to have a trail at least!

My friend Teresa and her husband Mark stopped by today. They drove in behind my friend Cindy that was driving down my driveway to bring me some handmedowns. Cindy called me from the driveway to tell me she was driving down the driveway behind a BEAR! The bear was not at all concerned about the two cars behind it. it eventually turned off at the gas pipeline clearing just down from the house. so the kids are staying close to home this afternoon.  The dogs stay out all night to keep critters away.

It has been very warm here this week. Might have to bust out the one and only lonely fan we have. its an old box fan that doesnt even have a knob any more to change settings or turn it off. its either plugged in and on high or unplugged and off.  Probably going to have to invest in curtains for our room also. the sun beats so hot on our windows and the door always gets blown shut and then we go to bed and its like an oven after baking all afternoon. the rest of the house stays fairly temerate. if you get too hot you just go outside for a bit and suddenly its not so hot inside lol.

Andre had a doozy of a tantrum today. every so often he does. I ended up on his bed holding him (or rather holding myself in a way that doesnt allow for him to get up and leave.  He screamed and hollered and told me all kinds of nastiness. but after awhile he always comes to the point where he realizes it isnt working and asks if I still love him. I assure him that I do love him but I do not like his behavior. He decided to clean his wall after he calmed down. It is filthy from all his pounding with his hands and feet.  They have only beds in their room. Ben loves it because he can walk without falling down. I like it because its easy to keep clean and nothing gets destroyed. Andre does not like it because he equates "things" with love. he is hover extremely irresposible with his things and destroys things so putting toys in his room is just asking for it. clothes in his room just asking for it. so nothing in his room works best. One thing he really wants is a guitar and I wont give him one until he can show me he is responsible. that is proving hard for him to do.

When I got home last week I got a package in the mail. it was a beautiful flower basket arrangement from Pat who reads my blog! It totally made my day. made my week!!! I was thrilled.  Thank you so much Pat! It was so thoughtful of you!

I guss thats all the news from Lake Wobegone. where all the women are strong, all the men are equal, and all the children are above average.