Something new we are trying

I have a kiddo that desperately wants to earn money.  I struggle to think on the spot.  I struggle with consistency and memory issues.  For instance, how much was the job worth last time???

I, also, want balance.  There are different beliefs regarding kids and chores and allowances and do we pay them for chores?  Well, I haven't had a clear solution or hint of what to do in 18 years of parenting, that is till this weekend.  

The challenge?  Coming up with a solution that addresses the personality and heart issues and needs of multiple children in the home.  For instance, I have one or more that would be all over getting up in the morning and working for money.  Meanwhile, regular chores and school work wouldn't get done.  

So I finally had a "duh!" Light bulb moment. I posted rules for earning money.  I posted jobs available to be worked for money, and kept the amounts low and affordable for me.  I made sure there were jobs that would need to be done frequently.  I, also, put in a stipulation...An act of kindness stipulation.  For every job done to earn money, an "act of kindness" needed to be completed.  I want them to experience the balance of just doing because it is right and good.  What never fails to amaze me is the "blindness" to things on the floor or odd little tasks that need doing and NOONE. notices. them.  The glazed over zombie looks when I point them out just causes me to shake my head.  In the last few weeks, I have heard, "but you didn't asked me" or "you didn't tell me to" more times than I care to count.  Even once is one time too many considering the age of the culprits.  So I am hoping my plan will encourage initiative and thoughtfulness and a change in attitude.  I, also, left a post-it notepad nearby to jot down job ideas to stick to the posters.  The kids were quick to notice jobs not mentioned, cleaning the car and vacuuming the upstairs.  Post it notes have been added.  I, also, created a note for the Christmas nativity.  It needs to be put away with love and care, so it is stuck to the acts of kindness chart.  What isn't pictured are the cards with their names on them and their "assigned" chores, individual to them.  They each have a couple of jobs to do on a regular basis throughout the week.  I haven't decided how frequently I will swap those out, but for now, I am hoping this works.

A little funny tidbit to add.  My college student walked in while I was hard at work creating my posters.  She got super excited!  Couldn't wait to join in on this new endeavor.  Apparently I got a little distracted and my cent signs were switched to dollar signs... Cleaning the entryways was suddenly worth $75 each and the pantry was worth $50.  She was ready to get busy!   Eye rolling commenced and I quickly burst her bubble.  She made my point!  And I quickly fixed my mistakes.  Amounts may need to be tweaked, but I would rather increase rates and create cheering than decrease and experience mutiny.   

Before I could post this, we also encountered another heart issue.  There was an offense.  A big hurt.  It wasn't the kind of hurt that could be resolved by buying a replacement thing...no tangible restitution could be made.  Apologies were made.  Forgiveness given.  But how does one demonstrate regret and love??? I am not all about earning forgiveness and grace, but there are times when a personal effort can go a long way.  Since creating the assigned chores and the charts, an INSpired Idea hit me.  An "act of kindness" which I called an act of "redemption"/"repentance" could be done.  I suggested to the offender that since I had to take the sibling away from the house an act of kindness could be done by completing a chore that would become a hardship later in the day... leaving the house always means less time to do school and chores, especially when there is a desire for "free" time. Translation...less free time.  My kids don't think "free time" spent at doctors' and other appointments is all that much fun!  Go figure?? :)  Before I left I heard the "offender" declaring "I HAVE to do..."  I quickly responded with "No, you don't have to, you get to choose. This is something you get to choose to do to show love and repentance and kindness.  No one says you have to, it is your choice.  I think it is the right thing to do, but it was only a suggestion.  So only do it, because you choose to do it."  Out the door I went.  My heart soared much later, when I discovered the job done and nothing more was said. 

Favorite Things...Vinegar

Vinegar. 
I rediscovered vinegar when The Man was diagnosed with an egg allergy.
We had to start keeping vinegar on hand to make a substitution mixture for eggs when baking.
It works.
Then he grew out of the allergy, and now I forget about this little trick for egg substitutions.  If only there was a trick to remind me when I run out of eggs so I don't have to run to the neighbor's house to beg for eggs. 
Once vinegar was in the house, I started to experiment a bit with it. 
I love it in my laundry.
My Sis-in-law told me she used it as fabric softner.
It works.  Put it in the rinse cycle.
When I use vinegar as fabric softner I get a bonus out of the deal...my clothes don't fade.
If you ever do a dying project at home, they always recommend a run through the washer with vinegar at least once to set the colors. 
Well vinegar will do that for your clothes. 
My daughter was the first to notice.  Cause she gets those t-shirts for this or that and they have to been worn every week.  Well hers wasn't fading like her friends.  Vinegar. 
It is, also, a disinfectant.  Sick kids/family.  Colored sheets?  Colored towels? Colored PJs?  Want to disinfect all this and whatever else the germy family has drooled and snotted all over.  Bet you don't want to use bleach on all of it.  Well vinegar won't hurt the color or fabric.  If I am feeling real germ-a-phobic, I will put it in the wash cycle and the rinse cycle. 
There are lots of recipes out there for window cleaners, multipurpose cleaners... I haven't gone there yet. 
Maybe one day, I will take a moment and give some of the other possibilities a try. 

Cooking Lessons and Trades

I have been out of commission for almost 2 months now.  Though to be honest I have not done a whole lot of cooking for over a year now.  Thanks to hubby's job and the shifts he works....well I tend to teach school and work on any number of things around here (at least till the car accident) and someone else takes on the job of food prep.  One of the tasks that would normally fall on me, but can be delegated else where.  I had to let go of somethings, and well I was comfortable with this one.  I prayed for husband that could cook.  I got one!  I also got a husband that has the patience of saint in the kitchen and he doesn't get flustered by kids and he teaches them well.  Lately, my older two are proficient in the kitchen and I teach by giving them verbal instructions or an older shows a younger. 

This particular day we needed a chicken cooked.  Fun Girl just grosses out over whole chickens.  I do remember being a teenager girl and freaking out about them as well.  Except, my dad wanted me to chop it up and fry it.  That went over like a ton of bricks much to my Dad's frustration.  My kids have it easy.  Just rinse the bird out, make sure nothing is inside, put it in the cookware.

Well the commotion in the kitchen was absolutely crazy.  Fun Girl is offering to clean the kitchen.  (She despises this chore, only slightly less than laundry!)  Will Hockey Player please prep the chicken??  He doesn't know how.  Fun Girl offers to tell him what to do, standing over his shoulder she gives instructions.  Little Princess runs for my phone to take pictures.  There were like 20 plus pictures on my phone when all was done and over. 

 

Dinner was perfect!

Favorite Things....Whole Chickens

Thanks to my sister early on in my mothering years, I discovered whole chickens.

Can't say I started cooking them right away.

I think I waited till child number 3 was a year or two old.

Before that, well, I had all the time in the world.

I just didn't know it!

Why do I love whole chickens??

They are super versatile.

Put in the oven at 350 for a couple of hours.

Put in the crock pot all day.

Put in a pot and boil on top of the stove.

 

All are ways to cook and forget about for a time.

 

You can pick the/carve the meat and serve as part of your meal.

You can use for making enchiladas.

You can use for making soup.

The possibilities are endless.

Depending on the size of your family, you can get 2 to 3 (or more) meals out of one whole chicken.

You can even freeze it, just like you would turkey and use it later.

The great part is, you can start the cooking, leave it and go about your day.

Talk about multi-tasking.

I like these menu plan ideas.

 

We often have a meal with it.

The leftovers are made into a soup.

If I am industrious enough, I will use the juices/broth for the soup.

Just depends on my time and energy for the day. 

Now a days, I am lucky to have enough for soup later.

 

It is the most economical way to have chicken for dinner in my family!

Sibling Sweetness Melts My Heart

One particular day, I entered my living room on two different occassions.  I found THE MAN with his sister(s). 
1065.   School for her + WebKinz for him

1066.  Itouch game together.

I want this!

I saw it at Marshall's.  Didn't think I had a place for it.  Then my brain stuff started kicking in....
Hubby has been more than accomadating to get the basement in order and I found a place. 
But it was gone.  Sigh.....    I think this sign fits out home very well.  Maybe another day, another time. 

He took a Pounding!

Daddy O came home Friday morning with a Suprise!

He received his official pounding !

Defined~ The guys all got to punch him in the arm where his new stripe will be attached!

 

This past spring he was promoted and received his new job duties.

However, with all things government and military.

There is paper work.

Sometimes the paper work gets misplaced.
Sometimes the paperwork needs to be redone.

But, alas, it is done.

Daddy O learned the news the day before when he looked at his future pay stub online.

Friday morning before his shift was over the Boss Man asked if he would like to do this thing?

Daddy O chose to not call us.

Chose not to have the formal ceremony.
So much time had passed.

So he came home with his suprise. 
GOOD MORNING Peeps!

 

 

Sometimes it takes me a while...

I have been slow to come around. 

You see I can remember back in the day...way back in the day
When Candle Light (spelling) was all the rage.

It was back when I was young and in love and newly married.

Before 5 kids.

They smelled pretty.

The home parties were fun.

So I have heard rumblings here and there....Scentsy.

No way! 

You see I gave up my candles. 

Somewhere around kid number 2.

Just couldn't keep up when I was alone. 
Someone was always out of sight.

And well fire can be so pretty.

It can be so fascinating.

Then they learn to blow and well, they just blew them out.

Then I was hook line and sinkered into scrap booking.

Then along came child number 4 and 5.

Well, not doing much there. 

But all these neat and wonderful things cost money to keep up with and keep going.

My kids are the same way!

Come this past March I visited my frugal friend Dara.

Hook line and sinkered me! she did.

They got to her.  She is just as penny pinching as I can be, but they got to her.

I fell in love.

Pretty to look at. 

Pretty to smell.

But I didn't buy.  I just smiled.

Then summer came.

My boys played!

Need I say anymore.

I got to where I didn't want to go downstairs.

Opening windows helped.

Air freshners helped. 

Deodorant helped.

But only for a while....

Then I went to my family reunion.

They auctioned off some scentsy.

For sure what I thought was a bargain price.
(and it was!!! I soon found out...see the frugal me. )

But I had no warmer.

So I batted my eyes and said pretty please to hubby

and

he looked at me with this look that I know all too well.

The one that says, what is this really going to cost.

And he asked me what is SCENTSY???

Makes the house smell pretty.

Still the look.

Remember Candle light when we got married??

Maybe that wasn't the best comparison, cause that was a little pricey...

The eye brows go up!

But there is no fire.

We don't have to worry about the house burning down.

We would have a pretty smelling house....

He just can't resist my smile and eyes.

And I know it and I am sooo bad.  

He asked how much?

I had to restrain myself so he didn't go apopletic.

Then the next week, I inherited some from Papa and Grandmama Mac
(my parents!!!)

I saw them in their house and was so excited cause they were a part of the club!

Papa was like I don't know where the baseball thing is.
It was for a fundraiser, here take it all!!!

Are you sure?  It is pretty.  Surely Momma wants it.

Nope, they stuck it in my box of books.

I have been waiting and waiting.

My stuff came today!

My bathroom, cause I should get first dibs!!

 

My living room!

 

 

I quickly plugged them in and left for the night.

When everyone re entered they smiled!

Even hubby! 

He even agrees the basement needs one or two!!!

Then he asked about the cubes. 

I figured it out. 

Well it is a bit more than I spend in air freshners...

but it smells so yummy!

Surely I can stretch it out a little bit...

Surely, with some frugal conniving,
I can sniff to my heart's pleasure!

 

Going Vertical !

 

Grandpa Mac retired from teaching this past spring, well sorta...

We received an email offering us some bookshelves.

I got kinda excited. 

Cause despite our best efforts, school always ends up in the dining room.

School gets scattered all over the table.

School time runs into meal time and well we end up with piles.

Piles everywhere.

Piles on the floor.

Piles in the living room.

Piles on the piano.

Piles on the fireplace ledge.

Well maybe this would be the fix...?? 

The Hubby was not to sure about more stuff in the house.

First he said, "No," then he paused and said, "Yes."

Then he asked where?

He was not too sure about my plan.

But after this many years of marriage, he is learning to let me try and fail....

and sometimes not fail!!!

This was definitely a win!!!

I am learning too.

As time has passed and lots of decorating fails, I am learning.

With his agreement to buy some pretties to pretty up my dining room.

I spent a whole weekend in between activities and such

sprucing up my dining room and going vertical.

 

 

 

 

 

Just Telling it Like it is....

So, I am not much for pretending to be perfect.
Far from Martha Stewart. 
My home will never be featured in Better Homes and Gardens unless it is a before shot or maybe in a what not to do article. 
But that is okay.
We laugh, we smile, we cry, we live and we embrace all that life is at the moment. 

Imagine all that bubbled into a home school day.
Gonna be one of those stories.
I wake up.  Kids are getting along.  (yes!  Maybe I should stay under the covers and let it last a little longer...and yet I get up. )  I shower.  Still harmony.  Kids are cleaning the kitchen (without being asked, oh yeah! ).  Some kids are working on school without being asked!  Hallelujah, the angels are singing.  We are communicating. Laundry is going. Lunch is in the crockpot.  I come out of bedroom after my shower and I smell yummy lunch cooking. 

This is an incredibly awesome day.

I sit down with The Man and we start school.  He is doing so well.  He is motivated.  He is reading with interest.

I pull out the flash cards.  Yes!  there is no crying, whining or begging to stop.  What an amazing day. 

The angels are singing. 

Oh yes.  Please come into my home and see all this.

The Man, doesn't have to sound out "THE" any more. 

Heaven is exploding with praises. 

We have been working on "THE" for weeks, months...can I say I was starting to raise my voice a little everytime I said THE....why couldn't the darling remember it?  But I hear the choir singing. 

Next sight word.... "SH*T"

The angels stop singing.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!  SHE    SHE   SHE  SHE  SHE

Silence and then the older siblings start laughing and come running to see what the word was?
"WHERE did THAT come from SHE?" they ask.
Well The Man just likes to add "it" into any word he is sounding out when he chooses to be lazy.
We say, SHE SHE SHE SHE over and over.
I mix flash cards and it comes up again.  What does he say, but, SH*T again!
NO!
WE don't say THAT word, son.
TM:  What is SH*T?  in all innocence.
A Very BAD word for POOP.  DON'T SAY IT AGAIN YOUR MOUTH WILL BE WASHED OUT WITH SOAP!
Siblings STOP laughing.

Oh yeah, everyone who came into my home to hear the angels singing, they aren't anymore.  My 5 minutes in Happily Ever After has come crashing back into reality.  This is life, My Absolutely Crazy and Fantastically Humorous Life.   I secretly wonder how many first graders and kindergartners say colorful words in the classroom when reading out loud.

Free Household Cleaner anyone?

My sister recently received the opportunity to test out Soft Scrub's All Purpose with Bleach cleaning product.  The spray bottle works upside down.  She mentioned it is difficult to get it to work upright immediately after using it upside down.  That would be a little bothersome if you forget.  However, I am forever just needing a bottle to work from strange angles.  Getting a chance to give it a try for free excites me....woohoo!! 
Just so you know, I get nothing more than a friendly and loving thank you from my sister for helping to spread the word.  I don't even get extra "tickets" in the drawing. 

Check out this post and opportunity for free bathroom cleaner from Soft Scrub.



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Hubbie is a little tired today...

Our Parent Teacher Conference was canceled today. 
Hubbie was a bit tired. 
I wouldn't care to guess why...

This is what we did on Saturday:

Up and deposited Fun Girl at work first thing in the morning &
Hockey Player to the church for training.
Yard Work
Trip to the store to :
Search for special lightbulbs for the basement....gotta have light to do school
Parts to repair the stairway gate
Curtain rods for his daughter's rooms
Pick up Hockey Player, cause shopping took just that long!
Meanwhile I am taking pictures for Ebay
Running the dishwasher (mind you...we did 4 loads of dishes on Saturday... there were some left from the night before...breakfast, then we did a massive leftover feed for lunch and that alone produced enough dishes for a load)
The laundry machines are running as well.

Hung the curtain rods and curtains !  What a guy. ;)
Fixed the gate
Replaced the basement lightbulbs.  The Man enthusiastically noticed and said a glorious Thank You to his dad.
Due to a lack of rain and childish curiousity which led to unplugging the sump pump, our sump pump has not run all summer.  Not a good thing.  The water has become stagnant.  Thankfully, it was discovered before the house started to smell.  Stirring the water to flush it out, there was some odor, but the house vented really quickly. 

Trip to the nursing home to see Granny.  Her birthday was Friday.  84!
Cheesecake and a song were on the agenda.









Lots of Smiles.  If we didn't reflect back on the happenings of the day or stop to look at the photos.  An hour of smiles and relationship could easily be lost in the business.


Home to work on Home School Planning and Preparations.  We managed to get through 4 kids' studies. 
While Daddy O was working on all the above, I was cleaning...purging and recycling old school stuff and.........
packaging up Ebay items we have sold.
Kids worked on various chores and played games together. 
Hockey Player cleaned up all his old hockey gear.  The younger brothers have found their own paths and no longer desire to follow big brother in hockey.  So it is time to sell brother's stuff.
Stomped down the recycle bin more than twice....and filled it some more. 

Picked up our Fun Girl from work. 
Dinner. 
More work.
Showers...cause church is in the morning and we can't have smelly children. :)
Kids folded all the laundry from the weekend! 
Daddy-O reserved an hour to watch the fastest men in the Olympics.
And then we crashed....

The difference between REAL Women and Teens

Hmph,  Fun Girl laughed at me tonight.
She came home from Servant Team.  A small group, Bible study, planning group for her youth group and she laughed at me. 
Hmmmph.  Have to think about whether she should be allowed to go back. 
All of her siblings were super sweet when they came in the room.  Lots of hugs and I love yous. 
My oldest, she laughed at me. 
Why?  you ask..
Cause I was crying.  Tears rolling down my cheeks, crying.  Curled up on the couch under a blanket, hushing everyone crying.
Hallmark movie was on....
Even Hubby was sweet and gave me a hug and kiss and was quiet.

I informed Fun Girl.... "REAL WOMEN cry at Hallmark commercials AND movies."
(Obviously, Fun Girl is not a REAL WOMAN yet,  she is just a TEEN!)
I have been needing a good cry. 
With the week coming up, I sure hope there will be another good Hallmark movie to watch.
 Such good stress relievers.
 

Good Bye to my 6 Square Foot Wireless Router.

So we have this mammoth desktop computer.  You know the kind, I know you do.  The ones before laptops!  Not only is there a big hard drive, but there is this huge monitor.  I am talking anciently huge.  It covers 2/3 of the counter's width.  Not one of those thin flat screens.  Too frugal here to upgrade between the desktop generation and the laptop generation.  The only use it has been getting is we plug the wireless router into it.  Really!!!  Six square feet of valuable counter space has been occupied by what you could call "our wireless router."  Ridiculous.  But it has been my "procrastination project" this month. 
Yep, it has taken a month to do the following. 
Back up all the files I want onto my external hard drive that is smaller than my wallet.  (Actually took me less than 1/2 hour.)
Convince hubby to wipe the hard drive. That took some reminding.   Then it took some, "How long is it going to take?"  Then he walked over to the beast and started the process.
It did its job while we worked on other things.
Finally, tonight I looked online at Goodwill Industries.
Hubby sent me an email a month or two before this project was started.  The email informed us that Goodwill accepts Computers, etc. 
Hence my motivation to start this project.
But hubby questioned my memory.  Since I had deleted the email, I need to get online and research. 
Less than 5 minutes later, I had searched and located our area's Goodwill websites and found my answer.
Not only that, I discovered this page.  It is a Value Guide for items being donated.  I knew there was something out there.  But I have always done a guestimate.  LOoking at the values, I think I have been under-valueing our belongings.  Good to know for the future. 
And tomorrow...I hope we make a trip to Goodwill. 
Then I can say, MISSION COMPLETED.

Flutter Nutter is my Sunbeam for my heart but he doesn't take the wrinkles out of my clothes!

My iron met an early death this past week. 

Knocked over and dropped one time too many.

I ran to the store and brought this beauty back.

Flutter Nutter walked in while I was ironing.

He noticed right away and said,

"You got a NEW iron!"

"I like the blue and gray. 

It is Stylish!"

Stylish?  Where did that come from? 
This kiddo of mine is going to make some woman very happy one day. 
I know, cause he brought a huge smile to my face and laughter to my heart.

He's one special guy.

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I don't play possum !!

I catch frogs.  I catch toads.  I catch snakes.  I will even hold a boa constrictor.  I dissect creatures for science classes.  I put worms on fish hooks.  I take fish off of fish hooks.  I don't do possum. 
I "caught" a possum eating Gus' dog food last night. 
Scared it off.  Except it went under the house.  **sigh**
Now we know why Gus keeps having the HUGE barking fits.  Why he runs like a crazed animal we don't recognize.  He runs in circles from one of the yard to the other, back and forth, back and forth for what seems like forever.  Barking and freaking out. 
So I started making calls this morning.  Animal control won't do anything.  Told us to talk to Animal Services.  They don't do anything.  They told us to call  the Department of Wildlife.  They don't do anything. 
Somewhere along the line someone thought it was helpful to tell me we probably had a nest under my house. 
A NEST ! * ** * * *  A NEST !  * * * **
And noone can be of help.  They offer suggestions on how to trap them.  Tell you how to release them. 
And then they all feel the need to tell me the good news...they don't carry rabies.
And then they tell me, they have ugly smiles and yucky mouths.  Their mouths are incredibly dirty and full of bacteria.  BUT they don't bite unless provoked.  They are possums.  Don't bite unless provoked.  I kinda forget some of the other things they said it was rare for possums to do... Cause all I can think is I have 3 boys.  Setting a trap to catch a possum would be cool.  As for bites and how rare that is, I am having flash backs to a collison with a bowl of ice cream and the need for stitches....and the many other strange and rare events my family has had the joy of experiencing.  Somewhere along the line, something was said about kids and traps and not a good idea and I start hyperventilating..
Big O Daddy O looks at me.  I am hyperventilating.  Pretty much freaking out.  My kids jaws are on the floor.  I don't do possum.  Giant, filthy, bacteria infested, foaming from the mouth, overgrown, wiry, hairy, ugly RATS!  I break down sobbing, big sobbing.  Big O Daddy O just looks at me.  I sobbed, I don't know why I can't do this, I just can't.  I do all the other things, just not possum.  PLEASE, GET THEM OUT OF HERE! ! ! !  It doesn't help not knowing if there is a "nest".  I am certainly not getting down on the ground to look under my house.  This is not the kind of zoo I live in/with.  This could take days, weeks....  Can I go somewhere else, please????

My guy...without always meaning to often turns me back to My GOD...

Taken earlier this summer.  All dressed up for work.  He like his job.  Then the other day he blew me away with the question, "What do you think about moving to Kansas City?"  Stopped my heart, questions ran through my mind faster than a wild Cheetah.  Then I paused and asked him why?  What was he thinking?  Whew, so glad I asked those questions instead of responding with my first thoughts. 

But, he has gotten me thinking.  When we first married, moving wasn't a big deal.  I had moved a lot.  I had never lived anywhere more than 3 years until my teen years.  I lived in Colorado for 5 years and then moved my senior year.  Though I never changed cities or states after that move, there were lots of moves from family homes to dorms to apartments and then I married.  Our first apartment and then our first home.  I seriously told him, I wanted to never move again.  A home to grow our family in.  It wasn't that I was tired of moving.  But the cost of buying a home overwhelmed me so much, I never wanted to do it again.    Now a family of seven, each person with their own stuff!  I can't imagine the hurdle of moving.  I can only imagine it taking a year to accomplish.  A year to pack and then unpack.  Oh, my! 

But this time when he asked me what I thought about moving, I didn't think about packing.  I thought about the kids, their friends, our doctors, our church, our hockey association, our homeschool network, our family.  I realized we would still be near family.  There would be new opportunities.  A lot of new transitions.  A lot of new opportunities to see God work.  Relationships take time to build. I really rely on the security of having known our physicians for the last 5-15 years depending on the family member.  There is a security in the known.  I would have to trust in the security of knowing the One who Knows.  For now, I am grateful my husband was just looking for a conversation.  He does this sometimes. Makes me wish he would try a slightly less startling opener.  At least I was able to sleep afterwards. 

The storms of life....

It is easy to liken a tornado to one's home when the children walk through and leave a trail. Or the whole neighborhood ends up in the bedroom and every box, tote and drawer have to be dumped and investigated.
Hurricanes are what happens when a toddler/preschooler discovers how to turn the shower on and move the shower curtain around to maximize the experience of water in every which way.
I have discovered which natural disaster to compare my winters to...avalanches. How appropiate! There is the influx of STUFF! during the holidays. The weather is not suitable for garage sales, so the back corner of the basement begins to fill faster than rabbits or mice have babies. There's the extra shopping and doing and activities. I find myself wishing Passover, also included the pass-over of flu season and was celebrated during the winter. The laundry... it quadruples, due to all the extra layers needed to stay warm. Then there is the cabin fever. You encourage the natives to be quiet because with the mounds of laundry and garage sale stuff for spring, the slightest shockwave from rowdy children could cause a mountain to begin to topple. And then, it happens, your ever so comfortable home is full. Full of love, full of people and the cabin fever begins to affect dad. The roar of a dad is more than any home can take and the avalanche begins with the simple statement...."I've scheduled an appointment with a realtor to go look at a house." The mom, can't help, but duck and take cover cause here comes the avalanche..... He should have known better!