Spill the Beans

Earlier today I tried to clean in the basement. Last fall, before it snowed, I was taking and organizing toys in an undisclosed location (outside the basement door) and I made great progress, and packed them all away. But during our winter months inside, my bins have been discovered. And they have been opened. And they have been dumped. So I'm back at square one. Today I made a small dent in sorting it all, but it's very small progress compared to all that needs to be done. I just need to get rid of it. You can't organize clutter. I'm tired of all our "stuff" sucking my energy as I manage with my hands and in my mind. Peter was with me. I let him play with my other can of white beans again to keep him happy and entertained.

Such tiny pieces!

So little for such little fingers to hold.

Spread them around on the floor...

It did keep him quite happy. I love that little face!

And we ate seaweed.

He likes seaweed like all my kids do. Baby Sophi and little Daniel munching on it. I usually have to hide when I eat it or the kids will scarf it all down. But I'm ok to share a little bit with Peter.

And then I cleaned up the beans. And then he spilled them out again.

After the kids were home from school I had a momentary lapse in thinking. So we took the van in to the shop to get fixed. And they said they wouldn't have the part to fix it until Thursday. Corey thought we could just leave it there until then, but I have to take carpool in the morning, so no, we need to get it. Corey could take and Uber to pick it up or I could wait for the boys to take me to get it, but we had to get it before they closed at 6. Usually Ethan doesn't get back from working at my parent's until after 6. I called my mom to see if he could speed work and hurry home today. She said yes. But I guess I was still thinking I should get down there now (it was 5:00) Then I thought I could just walk there, it's just 3 miles. Then my brain said "Hey, it would be even faster to rollerblade down!" So I tried to hurry and sneak out with rollerblades. Several problems though - I don't have any. The ones we have fit the boys. I figured they'd fit me fine, but I must have been thinking ski boots size when I looked at them. I didn't try them on, I just went for it. And after I was a few houses down and past the empty lots, I laced up and oops... I encountered problem #1) these are too big. It'll be okay. I got going, and then I realize problem #2) turns out I haven't rollerbladed for, like, twenty years. And problem #3) hmm, rollerblading down a hill is not like skiing down a mountain doing pizza. But I had already started. Doh, I just got myself in a little mess. Luckily I made it an ok distance without wiping out in the street, and only one neighbor kid saw me (that I'm aware of). But now I'm a quarter mile away from home. I took off the rollerblades and left them in a neighbors backyard and decided I'd go with my original plan to walk. I told Corey to tell him how silly I am to think I can rollerblade, and he told me to go back home. It's too far to walk. Ethan is coming home, right? "Yes" So why not wait for him and let him take you. The last thing he wanted was to imagine is his wife rollerblading down a busy street. I again admitted it was a lapse in thinking. I was enjoying a moment of adventurous youth, forgetting that I'm a mid-40s mother of a large family. Lesson learned, I won't do that again! So that was kinda funny.

I got back, Ethan showed up, but then my visiting teacher took me (I was hoping I could call and tell E he didn't have to come, he was a little bugged that he came home early for no reason). I got the car, we made dinner, the kids were playing nicely this evening. They've gotten into my games. ...The ones that I try to hide cause I still (miraculously) have all the pieces to them (Otrio). But they were playing nice so I tried to relax.

Then it was music practice and just a treat for FHE tonight. Abi was sad to miss Nutella and strawberries. My brother and his wife are more whole food plant based than I am (after she read like a year ago the Word of Wisdom book by Jane Birch that I gifted her in 2018 when they moved to Texas) so Abi is one day into eating super healthy and is wondering if she'll survive the next two weeks. "I need shugar!" Abi! It's "sugar". (Texting reveals her poor spelling ability) but it's funny.