yardwork

so, since moving into this house, we've had to completely re-landscape the yard. (dang bank let it go to pot) this means a lot of pulling up weeds, pricker bushes, dead stumps/trees/branches/bushes, etc. then raking out all the other stuff and laying down that weed-free fabric and re-rocking/woodchipping, planting,etc.  

soooo...the other day i was fighting the wind. it was incredible.  i'm wrestling w/everything outside. i almost threw a rock at sparky. not really, but i literally had been fighting the wind and i was sweating and frustrated and i looked over and he's laying there sleeping. i had a moment of "YOU DUMB DOG....LAYING AROUND ALL THE TIME AND NEVER HELPING W/ANYTHING" ...but that's as far as it went. well, actually i did have a  rock in my hand and a momentary thought to throw it at him. but THAT was all. :) hehe...  i just sometimes wonder who has it better? man or dog?? bcs unless you're an unemployed democrat, you can't sit around and get fed and loved for nothing. they really have it easy. and i know you  might say "yea, but some dogs are tied up and left outside in the winter....or beaten by their owners...." to that i say, "yes, but so are some kids..."  :(  anyway, it must be nice. but i guess they don't have much self-esteem. bcs i would hate myself if i lived like that.

more tender mercies...

i know i haven't written in a while, but i've still been thinking. ("what?" you ask, ....YES, i do actually think...) and another tender mercy was made plain to me....

i don't know abt any other mom out there, but my kids have bad days. the kind where it doesn't matter WHAT i say or do, they are glaring at me w/"you disgust me" eyes, and smarting off w/a bad attitude. they might have woken up on the wrong side of the bed, or any of a gajillion other things. the point is, they are demon child for that period of time. well, this past wk, we had 2 journal-worthy episodes w/2 different boys. and it hit me kind of hard that we never have more than 1 boy at a time in that snarly mood!! do you have any idea what a tender mercy that is?!? bcs one is bad enough. sometimes it's all i can do to keep from putting my shoe down their throat. and i'm absolutely convinced that HF interferes somehow to make sure that i dont' have to deal w/more than one at a time. He knows my breaking point. :) THANK YOU. :)

....eric, on the other hand, thinks that when 1 is bad, the others are thinking, "this is my moment to shine" and polish up their halos for extra kudos from the parents.... 

:)

so.....this morning i have bralex taking the dogs for a  nail clipping and sparky's summer shave (he's a disgusting shedder). and they told sam and taylor they're going to sacramento. so sammy was saying to me, "mom, how come THEY get to go to sacramento?". i sd, "sam, really...do you know where sacramento IS??" he sd, "yea", i sd, "how do you think they're going to get there?" he sd, "andrew's going to drive them". i sd, "first of all, do you know how long it takes to get there?" he sd, "yea, one or two days" (smart kid). i sd, "andrew's not going w/them". i didn't want bralex to know i was giving away their little "joke", but sam was getting really worked up. so i was looking at him w/wide eyes and asking direct questions to get him thinking. i sd, "sam, in a few minutes, you will see the boys walking the dogs on their leashes w/out any suitcases down the alley way as if they are going to the pet salon". and taylor piped in, "sammy, THEY'RE TAKING THE BUS!!!"

you should have seen their eyes. i think they actually got a little teary-eyed. 

:)