Yesterday we ventured out into the world again. Husband dear is off until Monday, and the children got some money for Christmas. We took all six to Target to hit the sales and my head did not explode. A Christmas Miracle, truly!

I am always a little surprised by my oldest, who talks and looks like he's 8 going on 9, but emotionally he is more like 5 or 6. He bought a bucket of army men and has been playing ever since. His younger brother bought another Bionicle, because he just can't get enough of them and if one is good, two are better. I have not sucked a single Bionicle part into the vacuum - another Christmas miracle!

We had a very nice clerk who didn't mind each child buying their treasure individually, even though it meant he had to ring up six different sales for our family. We also got new shoes for #4 - two weeks ago he lost one and it is nowhere to be found. I have no idea what the boy did with it! One day he came in from playing in the back yard with one shoe on and one shoe off and it was never seen again. Here's how the interrogation of Mr S, age 4, went:

Me: Where's your shoe?
Mr S: (looking down at his foot, confused) My shoe?
Me: Yes. You should have two shoes.
Mr S: I don't know.
Me: Well, where were you when you took it off?
Mr S: I didn't take it off.
Me: Well, did it fall off when you were running?
Mr S: I think a T-Rex got it. He was going to eat my foot.
Me: Go get your shoe.
Mr S: My shoe? (confused again).

We had Christmas dinner on Tuesday, so family members could make it. We're still eating ham! I finally found a good Brussels Sprouts recipe, which is great because Husband Dear loves them and the rest of us wouldn't touch them... but now even I'll eat them. The kids were chowing down until I thought I'd be funny and tell them they were Turtle Seeds. Instantly they put their forks down and stared at their plates... maybe we need to emphasize some basic biology around here next quarter!

Miss E told me on Friday night that she had an earache... within an hour she was crying. Of course it was Friday of a holiday weekend, with no prospect for a regular doctor until Tuesday! I have a no-fail ear drop cure for infections (breast milk- really, you have no idea how great it works!) but since I'm out of that, ;) I tried a new home remedy. It seemed to work - she was able to fall asleep and I've heard no more about sore ears! Crush a clove of garlic, and put it in a small pot or double boiler with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Put the small pot in a large pot of boiling water and heat indirectly for 1 hour. Cool slightly, and use as ear drops. Save the rest covered in the fridge, and just heat to slightly warmer than body temperature to use as needed.

Today, we are going to work on Projects.
Gardening, yard cleanup, and finally finishing putting in the closet organizers - all of these are husband chores, though, which means my main activity today is to nag supervise. And try out my new waffle maker.

I am going to try a lasagna garden, and hopefully get my salad garden planted. We are Zone 8, but the tiny bit I learned about gardening was a Zone 5 Alpine Desert - so Zone 8, 20 miles from the Atlantic Ocean will be much different! I primarily want to grow food, but so far most of the information I've found are for flowers. We'll see how it turns out! I'm told tomatoes do terribly here, which is quite a disappointment.

The experts claim that April 15 is the last frost for my area, which makes me laugh, since we haven't had a first frost and my bushes are blooming. In Colorado the last frost date is Memorial Day, and you can have snow up to and including that weekend! Then it will be 80 degrees the next day. Denver is the only place on earth where the weatherman can be 100% wrong Every. Single. Day. and still keep his job. I'm still slightly surprised when the forecast here calls for rain... and it rains. Although, our local weatherman has been known to say things like, "It's currently 73 degrees... high today was 69." Um, no, wouldn't the high be 73? Must be the new Everyday Math, I guess.

My grand plan is to grow Spaghetti Squash, which we love and which is surprisingly hard to find around here, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and radishes. I have great dreams of self sufficiency and bumper crops - but in our family tradition, will get some scrawny half sized vegetables, I'm sure!

I also want lettuce, spinach, peppermint, and catnip in the salad/herb garden. I need to find somesort of quick growing vine also, as I am going to make a trellis to shade the air conditioner unit. For some reason, the builders down here put it on the southwest corner of the house, with no cover, no shade, and no protection. I'm hoping to drop our AC bill by seeing that it is shaded in the late afternoon. Any ideas? I'm putting my salad garden next to it, so it needs to be a quick vine, preferably yeilding food, or at least looking pretty! I'm thinking string beans... I guess I could always do a morning glory, though!

My goal is to cut our spending, and we eat a lot of veggies. My other goal is eat more nutritious foods, which is a challenge because, Martha Stewart I ain't. Whole wheat baking continues to elude me, although I can finally make a decent whole grain pancake.

I'm getting more and more interested in natural remedies, since they work, are cheap, and generally a lot less toxic than pharmaceuticals. I'm also becoming one of those weird conspiracy theorists regarding the FDA - who knew I'd be the crazy lady people roll their eyes at! I constantly surprise myself. Next stop, 400 cats and saving every newspaper. Gotta make room in the garage for that... hmmm... another Project. That's what the peppermint and catnip are for.

I'm also busy today with New Year's Resolutions... I always think I can scam it and start a week early, then I'll be in the habit, and it won't be so hard... you know, get a jump start. What actually happens is I peter out in mid-January, but convince myself it doesn't really count as a New Year's Resolution, since I started in December, so I can try again later.

My current New Year's Resolution reflects my redneck eclectic, laid back style:

We will all sleep with sheets.

Now, most people find it strange that we don't always have sheets, but I'm telling ya, these kids are going to drive me over the edge! It started with Mr R, who would strip his bed and make me nuts - looking back, I think it was a sensory thing. He now refuses to sleep in a bed at all and has spent the last two years sleeping in a slumber bag on the floor. This convinced his younger brothers and sisters that naked mattresses were cool, and if you add in a mom who's strength is NOT folding and putting away laundry... now I have to work very hard to get them in the sheet habit. I mean, really, it looks like a cheap hourly motel around here.

Off to work, I suppose!