the human brain was not made for this

Do not, I repeat, do not try to do the following things all at once. I tried. It wasn't pretty.

• help E-man with a sudoku puzzle - his first sudoku puzzle, as in he doesn't know what the heck a sudoku puzzle is, and he needs you to walk him through it
• answer questions about KK's Latin translations: Mom, I need help. What does prima luce mean? Mom, I need help. What does multa militum vulnera Romani mean?
• smile lovingly at (but try not to be distracted by) Little Miss, who is jumping up and down, one hand raised high in the air, and shouting things like: Ooh, ooh! I like bananas! and Ooh, ooh! I like doggies!
• wonder where Moops is and call her to come do her math
• jot down a note to remind yourself to do your dear husband's laundry - for some reason, which you have yet to discern, he prefers his clothes to be clean
• try not to block out the beeping timer which is trying to remind you to put the bread in the oven
• yell at the dog, who is sticking her head in the trash, again
• make a mental note to walk the other dog, soon, because he's pacing in front of the door
• wonder where that infernal beeping noise is coming from
• put the bread in the oven - but don't turn the oven off, because the bread won't bake (you should know, because you did that yesterday)
• wonder where Moops is, again, and call her to come do her math, again. And then curse yourself for calling her to come do her math when you know there is no way you're going to be able to concentrate on algebra right now
• grab Little Miss, who is now shouting, Ooh, ooh! I need to go to the potty!

Windy Wordless Wednesday

straight from the baby's mouth...

Life-altering philosophical tidbits, brought to you by Little Miss:

while sitting on the potty...

I falled in the potty this week, and then I got messied.

after I stepped on her toe...

You stepped on my beautiful toe!

while scratching...

My butt itches; I need to take a bath.

after dinner...

That was good, Mom-Mom. It made my belly button happy.

our current read-aloud

This prequel to Peter Pan was inspired by co-author Ridley Pearson's daughter, Paige, who wondered how Peter first met Hook.

Wordless Wednesday

(not so wordless) update: that's Moops working on Lial's Introductory Algebra

Wordless Wednesday: Special Eyelash Edition

lucky ducks

Our ducks suffered an attack yesterday.

I just happened to look out the window and saw one of the ducks flying down the driveway, with a small white dog running behind it. There was a much larger dog farther up the driveway. The other two ducks were nowhere to be seen.

Moops ran outside to rescue her duckies. KK and I came out to help, and I found Quacker in the privet. She was highly offended, but unhurt. We looked all over the yard but couldn't find Lucifer anywhere. We recognized the dogs and knew where they lived (they belong to the hillbillies who live on the corner), so we went up to the road to look for them. As we headed toward the hillbillies' house, we saw something white on the ground, and a large black puppy was pouncing on it. Lucifer. He wasn't moving, and I assumed he was dead. At this point, the dogs must have had him for about ten or fifteen minutes.

Moops ran down the road, screaming at the dogs. As we got closer, we could see Lucifer was holding his head up. He must have been in shock, because he was being very still. This was a good thing, however, because he was right next to the road. Moops scooped him up and carried him home in her arms.

I think the dog who had him, a large black lab pup, didn't know what to do with him; Lucifer was alright, except for a puncture wound on his belly and a loose flap of skin under his wing. He was breathing heavily and quite out of sorts for a while. After spending yesterday afternoon recuperating, and being doted on by our resident duck-girl, he is feeling much better today.

worth mentioning

If 3 out of 6 people in the house are reading the same book, it must be kinda good, right?

E-man has been reading The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart. He recommended it to me, so I've been reading it. Moops saw me reading it and, since she always has to one-up me, she's been sneaking off with it, trying to finish it first. Now I'll be darned if I'm going to let her finish first just because she doesn't want me to finish first, so we've been having a bookmark battle over who can pass who in an effort to finish first. And poor E-man is left trying to catch up with both of us...

Anyway, if you're a 9 year old boy, or a 13 year old girl, or a thirty-mumble year old mom, and if you like mysteries and unlikely heroes, you just might enjoy reading it. That is all.

p.s. I'm going to finish first.

here we go again...

Little Miss is sitting with big sister KK, singing her ABCs. What a sweet sound. She's been walking around with her Hello Kitty backpack, asking to do "ghoul work." I guess it's time to add another student to the mix. At least this time I have plenty of teacher's helpers.

look at this kid

That's Moops. She's wearing my old leather jacket - the one I wore in high school. How is it that this kid is big enough to wear my old leather jacket from high school?

When did she do all that growing? And why won't she stop?

Doesn't she realize that she'll grow up if she doesn't stop getting bigger? Does she really want to make me be the mother of an adult? Does she like making me feel old?

She was a baby only yesterday. She was a four year old who wasn't human at all, but really a squirrel, just a few hours ago.

Wasn't she?