Laundry Bins

It's the end of the day and the kids are a bit bedraggled. Me, I'm completely exhausted. It's time to exchange princess dress up clothes and the land of make believe for pajamas and the dreams of slumber land. I'm dreaming of my bed already.

The kids had a good day today and I managed to trim some trees, yes trim trees. I know it should have been done a month or two ago but the buds are barely forming and I hope it isn't going to cause a problem but I just couldn't get it done any earlier. The milk shed is swept, the hay feeder for the goats cleaned, some plants repotted... Well, you get the idea. But though it is really difficult to get things done with the munchkins, they do add an enormous amount of sunshine to our lives. Here the youngest is playing with the kitchen garbage. I'd gone outside to dump the sack that was inside and she carted it off down the hallway and was flopping on it.
That's why I don't fold clothes upstairs. She unfolds them and runs off with them. The middle daughter who loves to changed clothes upmteen times a day would see them, become inspired to try them on and nothing would be folded.

The solution is to fold clothes as they come out of the dryer and place them in dish pans. I had to go out and buy some more as I've only one left. They are so handy. I soak clothes in them for stain removing, wash wool in them, and fill them will folded clothes. It's one bin per person and I bring the clothes up when the bin is full. When the kids are older they can haul their own laundry to their room and the bins will be just their size. The rule in our house when the kids were young was that they couldn't pick through the pile, they had to bring the whole bin up and put the clothes away. Otherwise the folded clothes were no longer folded after they had rifled through them looking for a particular shirt or pants. I did laundry like this for our children up and through their high school years. But then they had to help me do laundry at that point. Ruined some washing machine parts during those lessons. Yup, the one I remember most is when the girls stripped the dials by turning them too fast and the wrong way.

If only the energy level was what it once was this having grand kids living with us would be easier. I've far more patience, I'm more organized, and I've already learned much of was does and doesn't work. Like putting the youngest in her high chair and rolling it up by the kitchen counter while I'm cooking. Give her a few kitchen utensils to play with while I cook and she pretends to cook mimicking me. I pause now and then to taste her imaginary culinary creations which brings a big smile to her face and for the most part as long as I don't cook for too long she's occupied and it beats her hanging on my leg wanting held.

In this manner I mixed up some pizza dough for tomorrow and since Raisin Bran cereal was on sale, I made the muffin mix that has the cereal in it. It's the one my mom use to make by the gallon when I was little and stored it in the refrigerator for several weeks. Now and then she'd bake up a batch. I haven't made it in so many years I don't know if I'll still like it. It should go well with fruit for breakfast and since it is partially made I hope to get a number of projects done. Oh, how I forgot how difficult it is to fix food while kids are making their constant demands. I really need some time to myself to make some make a head meals but alas it is not to be at the present.

I do plan on starting some sprouts in the morning though. Salad sounds really good right now. Hopefully I will be able to put some time in on the garden tomorrow though they are calling for thunderstorms. I need to get the manure spread on it and rototill. Surely in a couple weeks I can plant Argula, corn salad, and spinach. The only one I've had experience with is spinach. The corn salad and the argula I figure on planted extra of for the chickens. It would save on boughten feed and boost their nutrition, in exchange boosting our. Typically I let my spinach reseed itself and come up in the spring when its ready but I figure the seeds are probably inbred too much by now and so I'll put some new seed in. Besides, I'm putting a heavy layer of manure on and the old seed may not make it up through the thick layer. Yes, I've a large pile of fire wood to stack and a trailer load of manure to wheel burrow around the garden with the 3 kids but a friend of our daughter put up a tramp she'd bought the kids last Christmas so I'm hoping it will make a good babysitter.

I just keep telling myself I have just a month and our daughter will be in her own apartment relieving much of my present work load. I can make it until then. I hope.