She knows me too well.

The other day Caly offered to put some music on my MP3 player. I didn't have a player of my own until I won one a while ago and (being me) it took me forever to get it out of the box and put anything on it. Initially, I put an audiobook on it. The one drawback of having so many kids is that I don't get to sit and read like I used to. So audiobooks are great for me. After listening to the book, I let Scott borrow my player so that he could hear it. Then I got distracted. Long story, short... there's still no music on my MP3 player. So Caly offered to take the book off and put some music on for me.

She asked me what music I wanted and I told her to just put on things she thought I'd like. She knows that I like most kinds of popular music. I'm not that much into country or hip hop, but otherwise, if I can sing to it, I'll sing along.

So later in the day, Caly loaded it up and handed it back. And yesterday I put it on to keep my brain occupied while I cleaned house. I half-expected to have a tone of teen pop music to listen to, but Caly had been pretty conservative with the music she'd put on. In fact, I recognized almost all the songs as soon as they started playing. The only thing that threw me for a loop was when I heard the first few notes of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. I recognized it, but was kind of surprised that Caly had put it on. I tend to like music I can sing along with and Nirvana mumbles so much that I could never figure out what I was supposed to be singing. Then the I realized... it wasn't Nirvana. It was Weird Al Yankovic's Smells Like Nirvana.

Whoo-hoo!

A while ago I posted about Zaven thinking ahead to college. We'd learned that now was the time to research and choose schools that he'd like to attend even though he's still a junior. Apparently, good students spend that extra year perfecting their application, finding financial assistance, and doing everything they can to up their odds of getting to attend a school that's a perfect match for them.

When I first learned about this, I figured it was kind of overkill. But on the off chance that it wasn't, we started looking at the process. Turns out, so many kids do this that you're at a real disadvantage if you don't. So we started looking around at schools, considering majors and career choices, and Zaven took his ACT. He did good. Actually, he did really good. But then he found a school that he loved. Really, really loved. Kenyon College in Ohio. And for that particular school his ACT scores were just barely good enough. And maybe, not good enough at all. They're as picky as a lot of Ivy League schools.

But a few weeks ago he retook the ACT. And I got the scores today.

He kicked ass.

Kenyon College, you'd better get ready.

Today, Quinn tried to pee into an uninflated balloon. And in case you're wondering how that worked for him... it didn't.

Kitty Pie

I call Quinn a cutie pie all the time. Turns out, he thinks I'm calling him a Kitty Pie. He is so freaking adorable sometimes.

Zoe's engagement

This week, Zoe came home from Kindergarten with some news. She's getting married! Last week she met Jacob, her best friend's cousin. Apparently he fell madly in love with her at first site and has already proposed. She said yes. They've decided to wait for the actual wedding until they are grown-ups. For now she's happy just having a boyfriend. She says that when she thinks about him, her eyes sparkle. She's already kissed him (on the mouth!) and is planning to give him a naked barbie as a gift because she thinks it's fun how naked barbies make the boys at school so upset. She's very excited about giving him the gift and says that she's sure he'll be terrified. Wow. Only five and already she knows that having your fiance terified of what you might do is a good thing.

All two of me.

The other day was trash day. For me it's not a big event, but Zoe really likes it. What she likes is that after our trash is picked up, she can take the empty trash can back to the house. Our driveway is about a tenth of a mile long. Zoe loves to walk up from the road to the house and she loves it even more when she can drag the empty trash can with her. It has wheels so it's not too difficult, even on the gravel. But it gives her a big feeling of accomplishment.

This time, we had a lot of trash. We used all three trash cans. So after I'd picked up the kids from school I stopped at the bottom of our driveway and let Caly, Zoe, and Quinn out of the car so they could walk up the drive. Caly and Zoe both carried trash cans. Zoe raced ahead so that she could lead the way. I opened the window of my car so that I could hold on to the handle of the third can a carry it up the house as I drove. I let the kids walk up first, then I drove the van up. When I got out, Zoe asked me if she'd earned extra allowance. I said I thought that all three of them had because they'd all three worked hard. She said, "Well all two of me did, but I was in front so I should get extra."

I can't argue with that!

Wow. I haven't posted in forever.

I truly didn't realize it had been so long. Sorry.

Let's see. What have we been doing? Ummm... well we all got sick again. It was a boomerang kind of a cold. Or maybe we just picked up new germs while at the doctor's office.

Other than that I've been shopping a lot. I got that tax money I'd mentioned and went out and bought socks and undies for everyone. I know, boring. But when money is tight I avoid buying things we don't NEED. So if your socks get worn thin or your undies have a stain... well then you don't technically Need new ones. But after they all get worn and ugly, you really want them. Thus my big sock splurge.

I also got Zaven a ton of new clothes. Zaven has been a slob since he was about 7. He never looks in the mirror, never cares about how others see him, and never bothers to make sure his clothes match or look decent. But about a week ago he suddenly started showing an interest. Since the rare event of us having extra money coincided with the even rarer event of Zaven wanting nice clothes, I bought him a bunch of stuff. It felt good. And he looks really, really nice.