bake-a-thon.

with seven kids back in school this week, I've been taking full advantage of the absence of chaos to tackle a few things around the house.  well, maybe I shouldn't say 'absence of chaos', but rather an absence of kids hovering around the kitchen like a pack of vultures waiting for the Head Honch (me) to busy herself with something besides standing guard* so they can go in for the kill and score that last cupcake.  the one I specifically told them not to eat because I wanted a little sweet with my afternoon coffee.  harrumph.

* after the kids polished off two and a half gallons of milk in ONE day, I was left with no choice but to guard the kitchen. 

like, seriously.  if I had to name one thing about summer vacation that gets under my skin the most, it would be the never-ending phrase, "I'm hungry, what's for snack?"  dude, you haven't even swallowed your last bite of dinner, now scram.  and if you're on the verge of thinking, aw, those poor kids must be starving!  well, don't waste your energy.  aside from three squares a day, these kids were mowing down a snack after breakfast, a snack after lunch, a snack in between snack, a snack after dinner, and?  you guessed it.  a snack before bed.  (to clarify-- those last two snacks I mentioned?  you know, the snack after dinner and the snack before bed?  well, according to my kids, they differ from each other.  how?  I'm not quite sure.)  so now with the big eaters out of the house all day, I'm hoping we'll see a drastic decrease in food consumption.  plus, I won't have to fight for that last cupcake. 
      
wow.  I obviously have a bad habit of veering off subject.  hm.  remind me, what am I supposed to be doing again?

oh yes.  sorting through the last of the moving boxes, hanging those last few decorations that have been leaning against the walls, patiently waiting for me to assign them a proper place, sealing grout, and listing that heap of clothing that's been hogging up all the floor space in my closet on Ebay-- that's what I'm supposed to be doing.

as you can see I'm a busy lady!  so busy, that instead of trying to come up with something to write about in the coming days, I'm going to focus on posting a few pictures.  that, and listen to my four year-old and two year-old argue over what's more stylish-- diapers or underwear.

Rowan:  I'm a big boy, I wear undies!

Scarlett: so, I wear diapers, nah nah!

shucks, if only life were that simple.

*

the following pictures feature the four cousins, Chloe, Myra, Jennah and Sophie, who decided one day to make a quadruple batch of chocolate chip cookies and sell them (along with the golf balls they collected) out on the golf course.  after two afternoons of selling, they made $90!  what?!  yeah, and I bet you could never guess who the girls' main customers were, could you?  why the grandpas, of course!  because, and I quote, "my wife doesn't bake goodies anymore.  and can you make these with walnuts next time?"  apparently those grandpa golfers are picky.    

hey, you even got a sneak peek of my unfinished kitchen!

good day! 

-jessica