What are we doing today?

** Ate breakfast. We aren't feeling like oatmeal, eggs, pancakes or anything hot, so we've been working on all the cereal that I've been stockpiling lately. Today we ate Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes, and Cocoa Puffs. I don't usually have so many "sugared" cereals around, and the kids normally don't mind, but they also don't mind eating the sugary ones either!

** Chores. I'm using my mom's mantra of "Work before play" and having all the kids, even the 5 year old daycare child, do a chore before we do anything else during the day. I've found that less structure usually involves more mess, so I've also begun to have a 5 minute clean-up time after every meal so that the house is at least sort of cleaned up at least 3 times a day.

** Little kids played in the living room with the trains and the mega blocks while the older kids read their library books.

** Went to an activity at the library. Listened to A Pig Tale by Olivia Newton John, and then made a fish out of cd's and cut out pieces from wallpaper sample books.

** Went next door to the Ecology Action Center. Saw "garbage art" on the wall, held some worms, looked the snapping turtle, and I talked to the director about her house that she is trying to sell - an old farmhouse on two acres with 30 fruit trees and it is about 15 minutes outside of town. She said there was plenty of room for a garden, and a place for chickens. It probably won't become the Simple Farm, but it was fun to talk about it with her.

** Went to the grocery store and asked the kids about 10 times to please be nice to each other. Got some sympathetic looks from moms who were there without children.

** Little kids napped while the older girls watched a movie they rented from the library. I read a bit, used the computer a bit.

** Leaving to go to the park soon.

** Super is singing tonight with his Sunday School class at his Sunday School teacher's wedding reception. He is singing the chorus of "A Bicycle Built for Two."