Hallelujah!!!!!

They're here! I never knew just how much I really liked my washer and dryer until I spent two weeks without them. I need to send many thanks to Jenny, Krissy, and my mother-in-law for allowing me to use their machines while I didn't have any. I have to say, however, that there is nothing like being able to do your laundry at home ... especially with kids. Here they are (can I just say how incredibly excited I am?). Yes, I got the white ones on purpose! I did this for a few very good reasons. (1) you have to pay between $150 and $200 extra for the colors, (2) white goes with everything and I don't have a "color scheme" for the laundry room, and (3) color just dates things. I already have avacado appliances that somebody probably paid extra for when it was in style ... need I say more?

In other news, most of the fence posts have been set. There was no TNT (much to the kid's disappointment) but I took my turn with the jackhammer, which was an experience and that's all I'm going to say about it.
Robert has been an excellent helper today. In addition to moving a wood stack at the back of the property, he helped mix concrete, carry water buckets, fill in holes, and measure. He was finished by lunchtime and offered (without my having to ask) to mind the children for the afternoon if I needed. :-)

First "honey do" completed!

The Closet is back! My wonderful husband started on Friday to put shelves into the hall closet. He is not happy with the fact that it took four holes to find the stud - even with a stud finder. I pointed out that those holes would be behind the wood, but he said that he would know they were there. I told him to get the spackle and patch them then, and he decided that maybe they were fine after all. :-)

Next, I got a new door knob - complete with key entry - so that I can lock up the markers and most of the toys (Josh has already started testing keys when he thinks no one is looking). Hurray, I love my closet! Thanks honey!!!

You know that wise man with the house on the rock?

I'd be willing to bet he didn't have a fence! Lynn & Ed (with crew members Rooster & Ron) have been here for the past couple of days to dig post holes for the chain link fence that is a necessity for a house with 3 small children and a dog. The first day, they came with a post shovel and a nifty auger. About 2 hours into the exercise, the auger was protesting and they started pouring water into the started holes to try to soften things up. The thing about water is that it takes more than 24 hours to soften bedrock ... and that is what we have. Today, they returned with the most obvious solution - a jackhammer! That shiny silver jackhammer lasted all of about 20 minutes before it was stuck fast into the rock. It was quite the sight! First they tried running it and trying to jerk it back and forth - so as to loosen it from the rock (no luck). Then they pulled their huge white truck winch over and tried to just pull it out (the truck lost that tug-of-war). Finally they noticed a friend working a full-sized back hoe on a new construction site across the the street. He was happy to come in and dig the jackhammer out ... or at least try to. In the end, it took the backhoe, and a couple of shovels and breaker bars to free the jackhammer. After that, Ed had his friend just dig some very big holes where the posts are supposed to be ... we got some forms to pour the concrete around the posts. That worked for most of the holes, but there are a couple where the rock is just too big - it even moved the tractor! The kids were, of course, excited about having the tractor in our yard, but I had to send them into the house when Josh started telling the tractor driver how to drive his truck (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?). I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow someone shows up with TNT. Good news is that we shouldn't wash away when the "rains come tumbling down!"

I am soooo hosed ....

I have been trying to practice a parenting concept that my friend Karrie calls Ask - Tell - Make rather than my own rather automatic Ask - Yell - Spank (I am still way too impressed with my little rhyme). At any rate, it has been doing well in some areas. In others, we are still working on it. Another consequence I have used very successfully is that of the cold shower. I started that when Robert was nearly 4 and still refusing to poop in the toilet. I remember feeling at the time that while I might have to clean him up there was no reason that he had to enjoy it (Robert really likes hot water). It took exactly 3 luke-warm (which to him is sub-arctic) showers to convince him that the toilet wasn't quite so inconvenient. From then on, I applied this theory to other situations as well ... again pretty successfully. It takes the frustration out of the punishment - unlike spanking which can still be done with a fair amount of anger and thus can be taken too far. By the time you get the kid undressed and in the tub, most of the initial frustration is gone and the only satisfaction to be had is the turning of the knob (of course in the case of my overly dramatic children, the absolutely blood curdling shrieks before the water has even touched them can be rather therapeutic to a frustrated adult, but I digress ...) At any rate, this has been very effective with Robert and also with Joshua as he is getting to that same age and, again, really likes hot water. Tonight was Ben's first opportunity to experience this dire punishment. He decided not to come with the other two when I called for the shower (warm) time. He was too busy playing. I informed him that if he didn't come then he would not be getting warm water - he just grinned. So, trying to follow through even though I don't have the time or the energy, I finished the other two and got them dressed and settled and then went to "make" Ben do what I had asked him ... adding that cold consequence. I might have known I'd had it too easy up until now. I started luke-warm, Ben just giggled. I turned the water colder and he started laughing out loud. I threw the knob all the way over to cold, just to see if he would notice, and he just clapped and played with the water. Back to the drawing board ........

The Thompson Circus is going to be all Thompson!

Hello friends! This morning is newsworthy indeed. Robert asked Byron to formally adopt him this morning! What does this mean to Robert? Mostly that he will now be named for all three of his grandfathers (Robert - Roy - and Thompson) and also that he will be a true half-brother to Bryce. I imagine being a son to Byron fits in there somewhere too, but hey what can we say? We will start the filing as soon as we can get the paperwork done. Robert is hoping to have his new name in time to get the priesthood ... which is in January for those of you unfamiliar with our predisposition for January birthdays.

Also, since Robert asked me to update the blog with a special picture, I noticed that I haven't put up some of the transitional moving pictures I have taken, so here they are:

Before ... during ... and after the impulsive decision to remove the kitchen cupboards over the bar (I actually took the pictures in a vain attempt to be able to prove I didn't actually do it - I should have had someone else take the pictures). I really like how it opens up the room - I hate overhead cupboards. What do you think?

A few weeks ago, Josh and Ben decided to be cuter than normal. Ben went around and copied everything Joshua did. They kept running to the middle of the floor to stand with their legs spread apart. It took Ben a few tried to get the hang of it, but he managed ... then he took Ben for a ride down the hallway. It was really funny because Ben couldn't get his leg up and over his "mount" so Josh just got down on his belly and slithered backward into proper "horsey" position and off they went. It was pretty fun until Josh tried to turn when Ben wasn't ready and Ben tumbled into a door. That's what the reins are for, who knew?

And, of course, who couldn't smile at my little circus? I love them all. We are trying to figure out what "circus" image suits us best. I like the image of lions and tigers and girls balancing on horses, Byron is opting for clowns, and Robert has voted for monkeys - I guess they all fit in!

Update

Hello again! It has been a very long couple of weeks! We are now fully into the new house. I will have pictures up soon ... I hope. I wanted to document a couple of events even though I didn't have the camera with me.

Robert got to go fishing a couple of days ago with Ed (thanks again Ed!). He came back with one fish (about 8 inches long) which Ed obligingly cleaned for him after I informed both of them that I was NOT cleaning fish under any circumstances. Josh came into the picture just after the cleaning while I was inspecting the headless (and gutless) body and complimenting Robert. The conversation went something like this:
Josh: Mommy, is that a fishy?
Me: Yes it is
Josh: I don't like fishies
Me: Yes you do, you love them.
Josh: Are we going to put in the water?
Me: No, we're going to put them in our tummies.
Josh: They can't swim there! I want fruit snacks.

Don't ask me what the connection between fruit snacks and the fish are, but Josh looked in the fridge every couple of hours to see if the fish was still there and to ask for fruit snacks.

Today we restarted our Canebrake Thursday ... going to get the horse poop, as Josh likes to say. This time, I took the horses out of their pens so that all of the kids could help. Josh and Ben were so excited! Ben spent more time running through the piles of the freshest (and greenest) horse apples he could find. Josh, on the other hand, really wanted to help. I finally got him a rake and he picked up more poop that Robert initially (he ran out of enthusiasm after the second pen, so Robert came out on top of that contest). Ginny ran around coaxing the horses to come to the edge of the pen and the swatting them on the nose when they got there. I'm not sure what charm she was using because the silly horses kepy coming back for more ... but it kept her entertained for a solid hour (I kid you not!).

The kids are really enjoying the new house ... and trying to see how fast they can find new things to destroy. I can't wait until we can get a fence in so that they can run a bit without my having to run after them! Robert is loving the tree - and he has found that under the house is fun too. He had a friend sleep over last night and I let them sleep on the back porch. It would have been fine except that our bedroom window is right next to the porch (we only had to tell them to be quiet a couple of times). Robert decided to set his alarm clock for 1:00 am - not because he had any intention of getting up, but because then he could tell himself that he had 5 more house to sleep. Please let me know if any of you actually follow that logic. What actually happened, however, was that the alarm went off and went off and went off and went off until Byron got up and killed it (killed the alarm, not the boys although he might have been tempted - I know I was). The boys, of course, slept right through it ... I'm still trying to follow the logic.

Byron is doing well in school and I am still doing well as the official "study buddy" (Byron prophesied before school started that we would end up strangling each other). In fact, he has taken to heart one of the first lessons and is trying to develop his sense of humor. He even remembered and passed on a couple of Viagra jokes at dinner with the Tuckers. That has to be the first time in our entire marriage that I have heard him tell a joke on any topic. The jokes were pretty good (you'll have to ask him for them - he needs the practice). He then managed to inadvertenty top himself by referring to event as his contribution to the "stimulating" conversation ...

In other news, I have decided to swear off moving for good. This move has all but killed me. I have also decided to blame it on the kids rather than, as my mother suggested, old age ... kids are convenient scape goats that way (right Mom?). Now I am trying to get that 900 page book I mentioned read. The problem is that I stop so often to follow a tangent on paper ... a great thing for studying ... that I haven't gotten as far as I need to. So, now I am trying to just read. It is really frustrating and I wish I could just speak my thoughts out loud as I read and have they somehow simultaneously appear in note format. The class in is less than two weeks and the clock is ticking. I am slightly intimidated by not having been in a class like this before and I don't really know what to expect. I only know that I need to be prepared to discuss the book in general and roughly 2.5 minutes of a specific area of interest ... presumably with outside resources if I really want to impress. Well, back to it. I'll get the virtual house tour up soon!