ho-hum...

i used to post these update-sort of blogs all the time.  not sure why i haven't been.  oh well... for now, i'm in the mood, so i guess i'll just go with it.

as my facebook friends have noted, i'm in the market for a new coffee maker.  my carafe broke yesterday - fell off the dishdrain and shattered into the sink.  unfortunately, the coffee maker i had was not the kind with easily replaceable carafes.  ah well...  a few months back, i had considered upgrading simply because my current one was not performing as well as i would have liked.  but, instead, i decided to use it til it died instead of purchasing a new one that i did not necessarily need.  i'm proud of the fact that i waited... but now feeling the pressure to buy one quickly is not something i'm enjoying.  

i think i've made a substantial change to my laundry methods.  i realize this will not thrill many of you... but when you spend one entire day a week doing laundry, new discoveries are a big deal.  so, here's the thing.   i wash every item according to it's tag's specifications - warm, cold, gentle, etc.  that means i usually divide things into "cold-light," "cold-dark," "warm-light," "warm-dark," "delicates" (sometimes divided into lights and darks), then "underwear" which i always wash in hot water.  (ok... honestly, i can't believe i wasted so much time explaining all that.)  it occurred to me, however, that maybe i don't need to bother washing things in warm water - unless they are so dirty they need warmer temps to help remove stains.  as far as i can tell, using cold water only is more budget friendly and it allows me to combine loads - possibly shaving down my total load count by one.  any comments as to why this may not work?  really, i can't believe i have nothing better to talk about...

the kids have 3 more days of school.  they will be glad to be out... but i don't think they've considered what they'll do all summer.  as it is, by bedtime, they sometimes are wandering around the house complaining about how bored they are.  really?  bored?  i wish i had time to be bored...  in all fairness, patrick is never bored.  he would hole up in his room with his legos all day long if i let him.  but, i'm not sure that's the best way for a boy to spend his summer.  so,... in addition to family vacations, vbs, and church camp, i'll be planning a few things here and there.  chuck will be busy with contracting jobs and summer camps he's running, so it's not like he'll be around that much more often.  i've been looking into some fun activities provided by local libraries and movie theaters.  each child will also be doing a certain amount of school work, as well.  in fact, the three older ones have chosen topics to "study" throughout the summer and will be researching and producing to that end.  

my most exciting piece of news is that i am working with tucker on giving up his thumb.  he's only 3 1/2, but he's had his thumb longer than the others had thumbs or pacifiers.  i think that's partly because he's the youngest but also because he is the most strong-willed of our children and really doesn't like to be told what to do.  i had been talking to him about why he should stop using his thumb and how it would take him one step closer to being a big boy.  as with each of our other children, i told him that after a week of not sucking his thumb, he could pick out a new toy (which for him right now would mean a Thomas train).  i was so proud of him last night when he went to bed without his thumb!  i gave him a few "strategies" and he did really well using them.  i'm sure once he was asleep, the thumb ended up in his mouth a few times, but the real goal is to get him to fall asleep without it.  he even managed to nap without it today... although it took an hour for him to fall asleep.  it's ok... a few hours may be sacrificed here and there for the greater good.  we'll see how he progresses.

if, by chance, you've stuck with this entire post, i'm impressed.  honestly, i bored myself a few times there...