Today Cotton asked if I thought she should eat her dead goldfish, or bury it.

I told her we don't eat fish from the carnival unless they're fried and on a stick.

Bedtime is pretty much a disaster. We'd been on an even keel for a while, but then there was a day at Wilderness School where poisonous critters were discussed. Telling the 5-7 year olds that poisonous snakes like attics, and spiders live under beds, and some spiders bite you while you're sleeping and you don't even notice is a choice I wish that the instructors hadn't made, but it was done, and that night bedtime was rough. Now, Cotton doesn't like being upstairs alone, which makes sending her to bed difficult, since the others stay up later. And Rone wants to stay up as long as he wants, like Seph. Seph wants to have her own room and not have to deal with all these people at bedtime. And they all want to leave the toothpaste cap off and throw clothes on the floor. So from the time Cotton goes up at 8, until Seph heads up, it's mayhem--up, down, it's not fair! why do I have to go!down, up, water, not cold enough, until someone loses it and there's yelling. No, not always me!

Generally, things settle down about 10pm, and that's when I start working on Cheepie. It's going ok, but I'm now obsessed with bar graphs showing me how many hits I've had, and how many likes I've got. Close a window, open a bar graph. I'll need more traffic before I can get ads, and make money, but I'm hopeful!

Seph played Titania in a scene from A Midsummer's Night Dream at her school's small Shakespeare festival. She's going to play it at the Ren Fair near us, as part of a school field trip, too. I'm really happy for her. She also had a choir concert last week, and it was easily the most entertaining so far. I got video, so I'll be able to put that up for people (you, Mom and Judimom!) to see.

Cotton is making videos with her My Little Ponies, and wants to start a youtube channel. How she even knows what that is is beyond me. I showed her how to prop up her brother's ipad and make videos without being in them herself, and she thinks it's the best thing ever. The ridiculous toddler belly laughs that come out of her, still, at age six, are hysterical to hear, and are the only reason I'm letting her have the youtube channel. When I get it up, I'll link it here.

I brought Rone and a friend to the drive-in last weekend, to see Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice. It was a lot of fun. Before we left, I asked them to get pillows and blankets, and they went about eight steps further and put the back seats down for me and then layered the couch cushions and pillows to make a heck of an event of it! While we watched, they alternated from the roof of the van to the nest of pillows. It was a fun night. Today Rone went to his improv class downtown at the Hideout Theater, which is attached to a coffeeshop. He has class, then hangs out with friends until I pick him up two hours later. I repeat, my 10 year old son hangs out at a coffeeshop for two hours. I'm still not sure what to think. They sit and watch Minecraft videos for the most part, so at least he's with other people and not on our couch, right?

Chance is still on his sabbatical, as we're calling it. He's working on his game, and walking the greenbelt, and is generally happier than he's been in a long time. So that's a good thing.

My great good friend Kelley gave me one of her old phones. My iPhone 1 was no longer a mobile phone--the battery held for about 5 minutes--and I was dragging a charger everywhere. They had a 4 in a drawer, so now I've got what is, to me, a slinky new phone even though it's cracked and not pretty. Most importantly, it takes those videos I mentioned, and takes photos. And it helps a ton with Cheepie, because the old phone couldn't get any apps because of the old OS, thus no tweeting. With this phone, I see a deal, snap a photo and post. So much better!

For this blog, it means back to more photos! And less me yapping!

We've got a full plate here. Scouts, school, choir, friends, soccer, art projects, costumes to plan, and uncountable other projects around this place waiting to get done. Why yes, I do include those lights from the last post on the list, how did you guess? Fun Fact: If you return a goofily expensive light fixture to Home Depot and get one that might work, you'll have enough left over to buy mums, seeds for Tiny, a lampshade, and a six-pack of one of the only vegetables Chance will eat: collard greens.

I've been doing a lot of bus-duty (insert Chance saying, 'Duty, heh heh!' here), and working out a routine with the younger two. Rone's got reading/writing/math responsibilities every day except Wednesday. Cotton still gets to work on her own things, with some writing and math practice. Their other interests are growing.

I still worry that Rone will never want to do anything beyond Minecraft and other video games, but he's started working with Chance on his game, and that's a great thing. He also said, when I asked what was something he'd like to know more about, " I'd like to learn about architecture." It's possible Wilderness School stick huts have got him wondering how we got from there to here. I told him he can build a clubhouse out back and ban the girls from it if he figures out how, as motivation.

Cotton is interested in learning more about birds. And tigers. And polar bears. And anything endangered. It's a lot of animals to worry about and she's determined to draw them all. And paint them all. And get anyone who can spell to help her write about them all.

Middle school is still rolling along for Seph. She's got theater and choir, french and algebra. She's staying after often, but we're both glad that she didn't repeat the dance classes 4 days a week after school. She's been going to football games with her friends, and walking to coffee shops, and generally wishing she had a driver's license already.

Chance and I are both projecting. I've started a blog about grocery shopping in Austin, called CheepieAustin, and he's working on the game he thought of years ago. The game will be a desktop wargame like the ones he loved playing in the 1990s. My blog is a work in progress, but the idea is to scan all the sales and let people know what the best deals are. Both projects have been in our heads for a while, and the impetus of unemployment has us working on them. We'll see how it all pans out!

Lately, the peskiest thing here is bathrooms. The kids can't find the sink, the trashcan, the cup their toothbrushes go in, or the towel rack. I'm used to a certain level of mess, but crabbing at me about your mess is where I draw the line. I'm not the one squirting toothpaste on the floor, you cretins! I also don't leave wet towels on top of the pajamas I mean to wear again, and then cry because they're wet. It's a sad day when my personal space is the cleanest space. As anyone that lived with me in college can attest to.

We are sort of back in the swing of things, about a month after Seph started 8th grade. Four weeks is about how long of a reaction time we need to a schedule change. When it's all shaken out--school schedule, sports schedules, lesson schedules, we are less hectic this fall than we were last year, but I still feel like we're all over the place. With Chance home, he's been able to lend a hand with The Running of the Kids, so that's been a big help.

Seph is in theater and choir, and they're planning a big trip to NYC in June, so she's scheduling as much babysitting as possible to cover the costs. It's an exciting trip, but I'm not looking forward to the months to come as she worries about what outfit would be best for each activity, and how she'll pack it. She is also going to ACL this year, because in this town 13 years old is when you start going to festivals to hang with friends, it seems. I may go along to be home base. Home base is what you call the old lady sitting on the blanket texting her kid every 10 minutes to say, "Come check in with me right now."

Cotton just signed up for tap class. That's all I have to say about that.

Rone is my easygoing middle guy, as ever. Except about math, which he'd rather not do. He wants to learn about architecture this semester, so we're looking into resources for that.

Last week we had a day where it didn't get over 72 degrees, a record low for a summer day. Cotton collected sticks all day because she wanted a fire, and all the kids were generally hilarious about the 'cold'. Chance wouldn't let me open the windows, and we kept the AC on all day, because he is also hilarious about the cold.

Chance and I have started all kinds of projects. I've got a magazine to work on with the kids, and he's writing the computer game he's been thinking about for years. We attempted to fix the lights in the dining room, which have been eating lightbulbs for years and finally gave up. We got as far as taking the light off the wall and purchasing a light from Home Depot that will not go on the wall in its place. This is, for us, an amazing amount of handiwork. I'm hoping to get step 2: return light to Home Depot, by Halloween.

We are sort of back in the swing of things, about a month after Seph started 8th grade. Four weeks is about how long of a reaction time we need to a schedule change. When it's all shaken out--school schedule, sports schedules, lesson schedules, we are less hectic this fall than we were last year, but I still feel like we're all over the place. With Chance home, he's been able to lend a hand with The Running of the Kids, so that's been a big help.

Seph is in theater and choir, and they're planning a big trip to NYC in June, so she's scheduling as much babysitting as possible to cover the costs. It's an exciting trip, but I'm not looking forward to the months to come as she worries about what outfit would be best for each activity, and how she'll pack it. She is also going to ACL this year, because in this town 13 years old is when you start going to festivals to hang with friends, it seems. I may go along to be home base. Home base is what you call the old lady sitting on the blanket texting her kid every 10 minutes to say, "Come check in with me right now."

Cotton just signed up for tap class. That's all I have to say about that.

Rone is my easygoing middle guy, as ever. Except about math, which he'd rather not do. He wants to learn about architecture this semester, so we're looking into resources for that.

Last week we had a day where it didn't get over 72 degrees, a record low for a summer day. Cotton collected sticks all day because she wanted a fire, and all the kids were generally hilarious about the 'cold'. Chance wouldn't let me open the windows, and we kept the AC on all day, because he is also hilarious about the cold.

Chance and I have started all kinds of projects. I've got a magazine to work on with the kids, and he's writing the computer game he's been thinking about for years. We attempted to fix the lights in the dining room, which have been eating lightbulbs for years and finally gave up. We got as far as taking the light off the wall and purchasing a light from Home Depot that will not go on the wall in its place. This is, for us, an amazing amount of handiwork. I'm hoping to get step 2: return light to Home Depot, by Halloween.

Tonight the kids and I ran movie night at the lodge. We showed The Lego Movie--I finally got to see most of the movie, and the kids all got to swim in the pool and eat french fries. Which pretty much is how summer should be, right? Swimming, movies and fried food.

Seph got a haircut today, and is suffering the way I assume is normal for a young teen parting with three inches of hair. It looks so cute now, framing her face and all, but the likelihood I'll have a photo is nill, given her reaction. With luck, in a few days she'll settle into her new hair. Failing that, maybe I'll let her cut my hair.

I'd thought I was the bus before. Last year, with Seph in dance 4 days a week, and running the other two here and there, it seemed like I was the bus.

Now I know I was wrong. I'd forgotten a key ingredient of the bus, which is now plain to see. The bus? It drops people off. It doesn't stop to chat and hang out a bit. It doesn't come in for iced tea while the kids play. The bus is transport only. I have four places to go today, and they're all bus stops, not iced tea sippin' time stops.

At least I can be the bus. They're in for a surprise when they find out how bad I am at being the bank.

This was a busy weekend. Rone had his 'Claiming Ceremony' for Camp Half-Blood. It's a camp run by Book People, and is basically a week of live action role-play. The thing is, a God has to claim you, and Rone was really hoping Aphrodite wouldn't want him. Happily, Zeus saw Rone's great potential, and thus he was saved from working his charm for a week, and instead can use his lighting bolts.

Cotton's having a Big Swim summer. I likely wouldn't call it that if either of her siblings had been big swimmers. As it stands though, I've got to balance being terrified when she jumps off the diving board and heads to the ladder with wanting to read my book. Both are valid, but more and more she doesn't need me watching. If we were living in Rainbow Lakes, where I grew up, she'd be hopping on a big girl, clamoring to be allowed to play Stump Tag.

Heat finally hit, and it's hard to be mad at it, since it's July and all. The kids got to do sparklers, and we saw lots of homegrown firework shows after a great day of pool games and fun at Rob and Tarlie's.

'So, in Spanish, Brazil is Brazilla.'
"No, it's not."
'Yes it is.'

"They speak Portuguese."
'Port-jew-ease?'
"No. Portuguese."
'Poor-jew-ease?'
"No. Portuguese."
'So, Spanish.'

'Do vampires have tails?'
"If you want your vampires to have tails, they have tails. Are they the kind that can hold things, or useless, ordinary tails?"
'Demon tails.'
"Okay, your vampires have demon tails."