All About Me-- Tagged Again!

I've been tagged by Dana over at Life Turned Upside Down. She writes a wonderful Blog so go and check her out. Meanwhile I am to answer some questions about myself and tag 5 people. The following is a list of the people tagged before me and I am supposed to knock off the top one and put my name on the bottom:

1. Families Are Like Fudge


2. Special K Family


3. Blogging Obsession


4. Life Turned Upside Down


5. Mountain Mama

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was happily engaged and frequently calling in sick so we could spend all day in bed doing you-know-what!

What were you doing 1 year ago?

Same thing I am doing now except with a 6 month old baby attached to the boob!

5 snacks I enjoy:

1. I go nuts for cashews
2. Edy's chocolate cherry ice cream
3. anything rhubarb
4. (does anyone remember) SKOR (why'd they stop making it, is beyond me! I misssssss it!)
5. My Aunt Nellie's fruit cake

5 songs I know all the lyrics to:

1. Madonna's "Material Girl"
2. Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors"
3. Jefferson Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
4. The Eagle's "Hotel California"
5. R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion"

5 things I would do If I were a millionaire:

1. Pay off all debts
2. buy 200 acres and build 10 houses for certain family members and friends with a shared pool, garden and play area
3. help parents out financially
4. set up college funds for the girls
5. vacation to Hawaii

5 bad habits:

1. I'm an occasional nail-biter
2. I twirl my hair
3. I procrastinate
4. I read blogs instead of paying attention to my girls-- sometimes
5. dirty dishes sometimes sit in the sink until the next meal
   

5 things I like to do:

1. Spend time with my girls and Hubby
2. sew
3. baking/cooking
4. thrifting/yard sale-ing
5. making stuff

5 things I will never wear again:

1. skinny jeans
2. size 36B bras
3. daisy dukes
4. leg warmers
5. banana clips in my hair

5 favorite toys:

1. my computer (Hubby says we have to get another computer, I SO agree!)
2. my mandolin for slicing perfect slices of potatoes and other foods
3. my retro stand mixer for all the baking I do
4. my digital camera and photo printer
5. Hubby

Did you learn anything about me?? I am supposed to tag 5 people but it gets hard to tag people when I did a tagging game not too long ago. If you want to do this, be my guest and tell me you did so I can peek at your blog and learn about YOU.

The Aftermath

It's over. Weeks of preparations, days of menu planning, hours of working the party lists, and in 3 hours, it's all done (almost sounds like I was planning a wedding!). Oldest had a great time at her 5th birthday party and that is what counts.

We invited just over 30 people, family and close friends with children, and 10 people showed up. I CLEARLY had on the card I made, with a lovely picture of Oldest holding a cupcake inviting you to come to her party, a RSVP date. I asked people to please let me know if you can come (or not) so I can be sure to have plenty of food on hand. the RSVP date came and went and I had only heard from 10 people. So I sent out emails to the delinquent RSVP'ers. Half responded with, "Sorry, we are going out of town." or "We aren't coming. Having a graduation party." And the others didn't reply at all. Now, I didn't expect everyone to come, but have some courtesy and let me know if you can make it (or not). If you get invited somewhere and there is a RSVP on there, puh-leeze reply and let them know if you can make it. Common courtesy!

I went to the grocery stores on Thursday, before the party, and bought all the food I would need to make tacos and cakes, and ice cream and party favors. I dragged 3 girls around town with me to the stores and nearly set off 3 ticking time bombs in the process. Then I spent the next 2 days, cooking and prepping the food so I could actually enjoy myself at the party instead of slaving away in the kitchen. Hubby spent all day Saturday trying to fix the riding mower so he could cut the grass and make the yard pretty. He was so proud when he came in the house, all dirty and greasy, and said, "I fixed it!" Then he went back out and mowed the lawn.

Saturday evening, in the middle of making dinner, I had 2 friends that I invited to the party show up out of the blue (one was a delinquent RSVP'er and never replied). They happened to be in the area for an anniversary party for her grandparents and decided to pop over since they weren't going to come the next day. As nice as it was to see them, and Oldest enjoyed playing hide-and-seek with her kids, I was sorta, kinda, just a little bit in crazy lady mode, trying to get stuff ready for tomorrow and making dinner at the same time and Hubby was wise to stay out of the kitchen when I am in such a mood.

So, everything was put on hold for a couple of hours so us girls could shoot the breeze and the kids could run around and play. By the time they left and we sat down to dinner, it was 8 o'clock. We normally eat at 6. Girls are normally in bed at 8:30. Instead of sending the girls to bed at 8:30 and then having the rest of the night to myself to decorate the cakes and clean up my messy kitchen, I had to wait for the food in their tummies to settle and I ended up making cupcakes instead because by then, it was 10 o'clock and my energy was quickly running on empty.

Sunday morning, day of the party, Oldest wakes me up at 5 in the morning mumbling something (she was probably talking clearly but with no glasses or hearing aid on, it came across as a mumble). I turned to Hubby and he said she wet the bed. I got up, and saw Middle was awake, too. I had a flashlight so as to not disturb Middle, but since she was awake, I flipped on the light. I was not happy with what I saw. In the middle of the floor, Oldest had pulled off all the sheets and blankets from her bed and already went into the linen closet and pulled a clean set of sheets and tried to dress the bed herself. I had to think a little bit and asked Oldest, "If you wet the bed, then your jammies should be wet, too. Why are you still wearing your jammies? " I checked her and both her underwear and jammies were dry! I checked the sheets-- dry! She just wanted to change her sheets. At 5 in the morning! 5 o'clock! Then because Oldest got clean sheets, Middle wanted clean sheets, too. I told Middle she could wait until later and then I turned off the lights and stumbled back to bed, muttering to myself what crazy little girls I have and they must have gotten it from Hubby's side of the family.

I am officially awake at 8 am and I know I have barely 30 minutes before Hubby's parents get here. They are early birds and when they come to visit, are always the first to arrive and usually the first to leave. Sure enough, before I even get to washing the dishes from making cupcakes the night before, they're here. And then a half hour later, my aunt and uncle get here. Then an hour later, Hubby's sister and her family get here. On the invitation, the party time was put down as 11-4. Everyone was here before 10. I think in the future, I'll have a breakfast birthday party.

We had a good time seeing everyone and Oldest enjoyed playing with her cousins and opening the presents, blowing out the candles on her cake. So it was all worth it, to see everyone with full bellies and the smiles on their faces. The best part was the girls conking out after the party and I was able to sit down with my aunt and uncle (whom I hadn't seen in nearly a year) and catch up. They stayed for dinner and I was sad to see them go. Crazy lady is locked up in the attic and I wont be seeing her for awhile. I am happy, tired and pooped, but happy!

Berry Hot Days of Summer

Spring has stepped aside and Summer has bullied it's way in! Whew! It's hot here and humid, too. I must admit though, it's nothing like it was in DC. My school years in DC were so hot, you'd melt the minute you stepped out, leaving the cold embrace of air-conditioned buildings. Beads of sweat would appear as if a crown of water was placed on your head. Another minute or two, the fabric under your armpits soaked through. A sheen of sweat would appear on your arms and legs, hair would stick to your neck and if there was any slight breeze, it wouldn't cool you, it just merely moved the hot air around.

Here in the lush, green mountains, it doesn't seem to get as humid. You can play outside and it would be an hour before you finally start feeling the effects of the hot sun beating upon your shoulders. With all the trees, you are able to stand under a leafy umbrella and instantly feel several degrees cooler, and you are tempted to sit at the base of a tree and watch the dappled sunlight dance with the shade. Of course, with the children, there is no chance of taking a catnap in the shade and I must constantly be on the lookout for where each child has run off to. We are surrounded by trees with maybe 2 acres of cleared land where our house sits and the garden area.

My mulberries are starting to ripen, and every morning, before it gets too hot, we go out and pick the dark purple berries. I have 3 trees, one on the back corner of the house, one by the far end of the driveway and another in the garden area. The garden tree is the largest, has the most berries and also the one where the birds like to frequent. I feel like I am in competition, who can get the most berries, the birds or the human! Most of the branches are high and I have to reach to grab the end and pull it down towards me, so I am able to pick the juicy mulberries. The girls want to help and I will pull a branch low enough for them to pick a few, but they all end up in their mouths instead of the bucket. I'll tell them to search the ground for fallen berries and that gives me time to concentrate on the berries in the tree. I'll check on the girls and I'll see a purple stain slowly spreading around their mouths and fingers.

After awhile, when most of the ripe berries are picked and the gnats are winning the battle, the girls start losing their interest, having filled their little bellies and start to complain about the heat. "It's hot, mommy. Can we have a popsicle?" At 9:30 in the morning, I let them have a popsicle. Before you think I am teaching them poor nutrition, they are JUICE pops, made from 100 % juice. It IS hot here, after all and the icy cold popsicles help cool away the heat, their squirming slows down and they are happy to lick away at a frozen treat.

We have escaped into the cool recesses of the house, and because of the towering trees around us, it is still cool in here. When it starts to feel warm, I turn on the ceiling fans, one in every room of the house and it is enough, the blades cutting the heat and tossing the air around and the rooms cool again. Only when the temperatures rise above 100 and the heat becomes oppressive, the humidity wrapping it's wet, sticky fingers around you, do we close all the windows and turn on the air-conditioner, "canned air", Hubby likes to say. At night, when temperatures dip and the air outside is cool, but the house still hugs the warm air, we turn on the attic fan, which draws the cool night air into the house and up through the vent, out into the darkness. Curtains will billow from the air being pulled inside and I like to stand by the sheers and feel their softness on my skin, the cool air smelling sweet with mountain flavors. You can smell the nectar of flowers and the pungent, sweet smell of the earth.

Ah! Summer, the season to do all things outdoors and then to laze in the cool shade, taking a brief respite from the heat. When it is too hot to do anything, when simply stepping outside makes you break into a sweat, life is telling you to slow down and take it easy. Those lazy, hazy days of summer...

Story Time at the Library

I took the girls to 'Story Time' at the public Library today. I am ashamed to say that in the more than 2 years we lived here, this is the first time I have stepped foot in the library. When we were kids, I practically lived at the library, devouring books and knowing the names of all the librarians. I was even given a job to help clean the library, but I digress, I am talking about 'Story Time'.

I wanted to do something different, to have the girls away from familiar surroundings and do something they've never done before. So, I looked up local events and saw that the library had story time every Wednesday morning at 11:00. Perfect! I made sure to tell Hubby the night before and again when I woke, that I was leaving to take the girls to the library. Hubby has a busy mind and tends to forget unless I remind him several times, and then he'll snap at me and say, I know, you told me already! Then when I am headed out the door, he'll ask where am I going. I made sure to tell the girls to get dressed after breakfast because we were going to the library and we needed to leave at 10:00. As any parent will tell you, it takes a bit longer to get ready for things with children than it was when you were a single individual, so I was trying to herd along the girlies so I could at least leave by 10:15. Middle told me she didn't want to get any shots at the library. Oh dear!

It takes about 20 minutes to get into town, driving up and down winding mountain roads, and then suddenly, you are in town. What made people see a mountain and decide that this was the perfect place to build a town? To carve out solid rock and make room for a house here and a store there. To bull doze part of a hill and put a Deaf school there. It makes for beautiful views but it stunts growth and there is no room for more, which come to think of it, makes it ideal for those small-town lovers.

We arrived at the library in good time, but the parking lot was packed, and by packed, I mean there were 15 cars in the parking lot and no room for any more. So I had to park across the street at the Rite Aid where there were signs every 20 feet warning, "Parking for Rite Aid Customers Only Violators Towed At Owners Expense". I felt obligated to drag three girlies into Rite Aid with me and buy a couple of drinks and then place them on the front seat with the receipt face up, clearly showing the Rite Aid logo, thereby proving I am a Rite Aid customer.

We jay-walk across the street and into the library and I can see, in the back where the children's book section is, other children are gathered. There were maybe 10 children altogether, mostly girls. Oldest was absolutely delighted to see all the books and happily went up and down each aisle grabbing random books to add to the growing pile in her arms. Middle was clinging to my leg and Youngest was giggling while running and playing peek-a-boo with me, disappearing behind the shelves.

Finally it was time to begin and there is a large wooden rocking chair sitting at the top of a large oval rug with a colorful border of the alphabet. I assumed the reader would be sitting in the rocking chair so I told two of my girlies to sit close to the chair so they could get good viewing of the pictures in the book. Youngest sat on my lap, flipping the pages of a picture book. A plump, casually dressed woman with over-done, highlighted hair grabs a kiddie chair and sits opposite of the rocker and starts to read. If you were looking at me, you would have seen my eyes roll around and if you were listening hard enough, a hiss escaped my lips. My girls flipped around and scooched closer to hear Miss Reader tell her tale.

I was sitting maybe 10 feet away and I couldn't hear her, so I don't know what was said. She read 2 books, of which my girls sat rapt and didn't move a muscle, while 2 rambunctious little boys ran around from one end of the room to the other, a curly-haired girl kept getting up to drink water out of a paper cone, and another girl rolled back and forth on the floor, her arms and feet bumping the other children. I was tempted to tell the mothers to take their kids and shoo! But my mouth behaved and I busied myself with Youngest. When the second story was over, Miss Reader stood and said she had a surprise, then she pulled out a brown paper bag puppet modeled after the bear in the second story. Apparently the bear was sleeping a lot and so when the bag was closed, the bear had eyelashes shut and he was asleep, but open the bag to expose 2 eyes and the bear was awake! Oldest looked back at me, with eyes that asked me if she could make a puppet, please please please! And I waved my arm, indicating her to go ahead and craft away!

Middle hung back, her eyes heavy with tears, her bottom lip quivering and I knew at once, there were too many people crowding around the table, mothers helping their children and the sound levels of voices talking and directing and laughter was too much for Middle to bear. I checked to be sure Oldest was doing fine, then I grabbed supplies for making another puppet and lead Middle to a table by herself and helped her make her own bear puppet. Her big smile when it was complete was enough to melt my heart.

Time to go and Oldest started stomping her feet and pointing at the books, "I don't want to go home. I want to buy some books!" I tried to explain, first gently, then sternly, that you have to borrow books from a library and that I just applied for a library card and they would send it in the mail and we could borrow books next time. "I don't want to go home. I want to buy some books!" Finally, I just dragged her pissy butt out of the library, across the street and much to my relief, my car, which was not towed away. All the way home, down winding roads, I had to endure kicks to the seat and when I looked in the rear view mirror to see what she wanted, all she had to say was, "I want to buy some books!" Argh!

Happy Birthday Oldest!

Today, June 5th, is Oldest girlies' birthday and I can't believe it has been 5 years since I gave birth to her. I still remember all the details vividly, as if it happened yesterday. My mom says that women tend to forget the pain of childbirth in order to continue to make more babies. I totally disagree, because I remember the pain, too, but the joy of babies overshadow the pain and that is what lets women have more babies.

5 years ago today, I was 2 weeks past my due date and carrying very low. My ob/gyn/midwife told me it was time to induce labor because she was afraid that if I waited much longer, the baby would be too big. Off we went to the hospital to get induced. After the gel was inserted, I was told to come back in the morning at 7 am (blink-blink... who wakes up that early? To be at the Hospital at 7 would mean I have to wake at 5 because rush hour is a bitch and we lived 45 minutes away). We got to the Hospital at 8:25.

I put on the dorky gown and got settled in. Nurses came in and out to attach all sorts of devices to me; an IV, a blood pressure cuff that checks my pressure every 15 minutes, a strap around my belly for the baby's heartbeat and a finger thingy to keep track of my own heartbeat. Now, I am Deaf, and all these wires are getting tangled around my arms and hands when I need to sign, so they made a few concessions for me, the IV was placed a little higher and to the outside of my forearm, the pressure cuff was put around my ankle, but there was no escaping the finger thingy. I had my Hubby there for support (which took some convincing on his part. I had to tell him that he helped make this baby, he can help me get it out! And I didn't expect him to catch it for pete's sakes! That's what the docs are for!!), an interpreter and my mom. Mom was thrilled to be there to see her baby having a baby, and plus, my mom was asleep when she had us, so she didn't really know what childbirth felt like, she only knew the before and after parts.

Anyway, we sat and waited, made small talk with the interpreter and the nurses that came in and out to check on me. About 11 am, the nurse told me to stop being so tough and get the epidural. Huh? I had no idea what she was talking about. Apparently I was having contractions and the spikes on the graph showed I was having them strongly and usually women are screaming for an epidural by now, but I didn't feel a thing. I felt fine, really! Fast forward to about 2 pm and I felt the first painful contraction of many more to come. Under the constant pressure of the nurses, I succumbed to asking for an epidural. I had every intention of going natural without pain meds, but I guess I freaked a little bit when the nurses kept talking about more pain and long labor and basically using scare tactics on me.

Finally about 7:30, I was ready to push. I pushed (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, deep breath and push again!) and pushed and pushed until I was red in the face. My face usually turns red at the slightest bit of exercise (pretty, I know) and it is normal for me, but the nurses all freaked out and slapped an oxygen mask on me and a cold, wet washcloth on my forehead and turned the fan on me. I was more than a little irritated. I didn't want the frickin irritating mask on my face that steamed up my glasses with every huff and puff, my hair was now wet and dripping and when I finally meet my baby, she was going to see crazy hair, but the fan was fine, it was hot with 26,000 people gathered around me waiting for a head to pop out (ok, more like 20 but it felt like more).

Baby head was finally starting to inch through and the doctor reached for his scalpel to give me an episiotomy, I shook my head no and this very cool, laid back doctor nodded his head once and put it back, pushing the tray away and let me rip naturally (I read that women heal better when they rip instead of being cut with a scalpel, plus my mom has a horror story of when she had me and the pain meds wore off at the exact moment the doc sliced my mom and she jumped and the knife went all the way to her anus, causing her lifetime pain down there). Out came the head, then finally I was given the 'go ahead' to push out the rest of baby-- It's a girl! A big girl! She was 8 lbs, 5 ozs!

I finally got to see this baby, that I had carried around and fell in love with before I ever laid eyes on her and I fell in love all over again. I saw Hubby crying, Mom crying, the interpreter crying, it was a crying party! Hubby went out in the hall and announced to waiting friends and family, "It's a GIRL!" and came back in to me and his new baby. A brand new family. I remember everything about that day and the following days. It's the other stuff in between that becomes blurry and then I have to ask Hubby when this happened or look through the photo albums.

I remember, after they cleaned up Oldest and I was decent, they allowed our friends and family into the room to see us and meet the new baby. I thought to myself, go away, I'm tired and I don't want to let her go, I just had her, I don't want to share her just yet. But I did let her go and let everyone ooh and ahh over my brand new baby.

It has been so much fun to watch her grow and learn, to amaze me with the stuff she knows. I look at her and see me, I see Hubby, I see my sister and other family in her. I have seen her adjust to becoming a big sister and then teaching her little sisters what she knows. I have actually seen the wheels turning in her head, figuring out how to do something and then watching the joy spread across her face, a true "Eureka!" moment. I look forward to the future, knowing she can grow up to do anything she wants, and I'll do my best to help her get there without becoming smothering or turning into one of those pushy mother types. I look forward (and dread) the day she gets her first boyfriend and I hope I am there to catch her when her heart gets broken. I hope we have the same bond that I have with my own mother and that she will trust me with her secrets.

My sweet 5 year old baby, how much I love her. How I find it hard to believe sometimes that she is mine and came from me and Hubby. We created her out of love and the miracle of life still awes us. Today is the day she was born, and it was also the day a set of parents were born. I only hope that she can look back when she is older, and know that everything we did was to help her grow and learn and to prevent her from breaking her neck. I hope that one day she will come to me and say thanks for being the kind of mom I am.

Happy Birthday to you, my love, and may you have many more to celebrate.

Long Lost Sister

I just finished reading Suffering Summer's post about her nephew and it made me think of my own family dynamics. She talks about how her nephew has changed her life in ways she never knew or expected and how much she loves him. I am saddened to say that I have never met my sister's daughter in person. She is pregnant with baby #2 and is due in September and I really hope to see her this summer. Sis hasn't met my youngest girlie, either.

Sis got married to a man that lives in another state and so after the wedding, and when job transfer came through, she settled with her new hubby in his home. They have been busy making his house their home together and got pregnant not long after the wedding. I was so excited for her and the pregnancy, and it was nice that I was pregnant with baby #3 at the same time she was pregnant with her first. We could compare notes and I enjoyed being the experienced one for a change, me being the youngest and already on my third child. But her baby came prematurely and then I felt helpless and prayed that baby would come through healthy. She did and has grown to be a beautiful little girl.

Sis lived with us for a while when we lived at the old house and she was a great Auntie to my first 2 girlies. Then life happened and we got pulled apart; we moved, she moved... I miss my sister and we talk about every 2 weeks on videophone. It's one of those things you hook up to the TV with a camera that sits on top and you call someones' videophone (VP) and have conversation. It's great for us Deaf people, to sit and sign and the conversations flow much faster than it would to type on a TDD (tele-type device for the Deaf) or via e-mails. The kids come in and say hi to each other and then we shoo the kids away and talk and catch up on news, happenings and life. I hope that when we finally manage to get together again, my niece will recognize me as the "lady" that her mommy talks to on the "TV" and won't shy away from me for too long.

My Sis and I grew up sort of separately, with her going away to Deaf school in the fall and coming home on weekends. We had summers together and I remember them as being filled with adventures of us exploring the creeks and woods, imagining ourselves as pirates or detectives. We found the bones of some animal once, and all sorts of tales sprouted-- hunting for vampires eating poor defenseless animals, or something eerie lurking about and what have you. Or we would play on the couch and pretend we were on an island and there were crocodiles swimming in the carpeted ocean just waiting to snap up an overhanging arm or leg and then we'd flail about crying to be rescued! Sis was always a crafty child and taught herself to crochet and cross stitch and plastic canvas, so when she didn't want to be bothered by her little sister, she would shoo me away while she crocheted a granny square blanket or bury her nose in Nancy Drew mysteries.

During the week, when Sis was away at school, I dutifully went to public school every morning, came home in the afternoons and spent my days with mom and dad. We moved a few times and I found it hard to make friends, so I spent a lot of my time reading books or losing myself in fantasy world. I'd wander around the neighborhood on my bike or hike through the woods and come home in time for dinner. Life then was different, and a kid could be left alone without parents worrying about bad people stealing your child away to do harm. I looked forward to weekends, for the short time when Sis was home and I'd have someone to play with. We'd pick her up on Friday afternoons, stop at the food store and then we'd take her back on Sunday.

Now that we are adults and have families of our own, with Sis there and me here, I find it hard and I miss her. I wish she lived next door and our children could play together, grow up close and I could come over for lunch when our hubbies are away. She is a great partner when we go yard sale-ing and thrift store shopping together and I miss her company. I never dreamed that we would end up living so far away from each other and I know that life will do that sometimes, life will take people and tear them apart and plant them to grow in different places. Sis is living a life I am not familiar with, a town I have never been to, a husband I have known only a short time, a daughter I have never hugged. I don't see our paths crossing any time soon, and I have to satisfy myself with occasional visits and bi-weekly VP conversations.

They say that money can't buy happiness. But money could buy me some plane tickets and then I'd take the family and fly. I'd be happy. Money could buy two houses next door to each other and set up a college fund for each kid and have it so the Hubbies don't need to work. Money could buy Sis a craft shop and me a thrift shop. I'd be happy. I'd be happy to see Sis again, hold my niece, give her a kiss and have her meet her 3 cousins for the first time. I'd be happy.

Keep or Toss...

Oldest daughter came to me and asked me for a doll she saw on a commercial on TV. I really don't mind when they watch TV, I just dislike the commercials and I try to find stations that are commercial-free or have them watch movies. The girlies are only allowed to watch no more than 2 hours of TV a day, but sometimes it's more and sometimes not at all. I admit, I use the TV as a babysitter sometimes, I'll pop in a movie and then get dinner started, check my messages on the computer or run downstairs to do a load of laundry.

When I see the girlies watch a commercial, they are fascinated by what is being hawked.. a pony that walks and they can ride, or dolls that converse with you, and the (ever irritating) dolls that come with make-up for her and you! So, Oldest asked me if I would get her this doll that comes with a pet bunny for her, since her birthday is coming up. I made no promises, but used the opportunity to tell her that if she wanted new toys, some old ones would have to go.

Off to the basement we went where there is a mess of toys scattered, no, covering the floor. They haven't been allowed to play down there in a while, precisely because of the mess they made. I have tried all sorts of "methods" to get them to clean up after themselves. The put-it-back-before-you-play-with-another-one trick; labeled bins; setting a timer and letting them race about, dumping toys in this bin or that; nothing works! Until I tried this little trick last week and (so far!) it is working! I took out every single toy on the top floor-- not a single toy in any of the bedrooms or living room, kitchen, dining and sun room. Nothing! Then I got 2 empty bins and told them to pick 5 toys or games each. So they go downstairs and pick out 5 apiece and plop them in the bins.

"Here is the rule, girlies-- you must keep these toys in the bins and when you are done playing with them, back in they go. If you behave badly, I will take a toy away. Good behavior gets a toy." I told them, their eyes telling me that they aren't taking me seriously.

Sure enough, 5 minutes later, Oldest bops Middle on the head and tears erupt. "Give me a toy," I say, in my lowest and sternest voice. Oldest starts to whine and cry and tries to talk me out of taking the toy, but I stand firm and hold out my hand. Middle laughs when she sees Oldest hand over a doll, but she stops laughing when I take a toy away from her a few minutes later for shoving the Youngest off the couch. And so it goes, take a toy, give a toy back for good behavior. It seems to work, there are less toys about and I remind them often to keep their toys in the bins or I'll take them away.

Downstairs, today, we sorted through all the toys into a "keep" bin and a "toss" bin. I was impressed with how many toys they got rid off and I was even a little resistant to some that they wanted to toss. Until I realized that I was the one that wanted to keep it but knowing they didn't play with it, I let it go in the bin. They filled 3 boxes for toss! I will sort through them later, some for the charity shops and some I'll take to the consignment shop to sell and recoup some money back from them.

They had a ball sorting through the toys and when we came back upstairs, I looked at the clock and saw we had been at it for 3 hours! I am in a happy frame of mind now, with a cleaner playroom in the basement and knowing the girlies had lots of fun playing without the TV and not seeing more commercials to tempt them into materialism. I won't be getting Oldest the doll she saw on TV, but I will be getting her other things for her birthday. My baby is going to be 5 on June 5th! We are having a party for her on the 10th and she is looking forward to it, telling me to make strawberry cake, no, chocolate cupcakes, no, the sprinkles cake....