Spuds or Sprouts

Finally!!!!





As much as I enjoyed having all of the Critters home for the holidays, I am thrilled to finally have the house  to myself this morning.  This is me recovering:



If I appear a tad "spud-like" its for good reason. 

 

When the Critters are on vacation, I'm not.  In fact, that's when my work load significantly increases, as any mother can tell you. (Please note that the dirty dishes and stray laundry were not there when I went to bed last night.  The living room, at least, was clutter free, but teen Critters stayed up to enjoy their last homework-free evening.)  Good Momster that I am, I want them to relax and enjoy their time off, but I can't wait until they actually learn to pick up after themselves sans hounding.

 

Sweetie Petite-y and Bonus Baby have been back at school for nearly a week now.  The former spent the majority of her time off reading, and is becoming as much of a bibliophile as her look-alike oldest sister.  

 

Bonus Baby enjoyed her break the old fashioned way:

 

 

Lucky for her, Husband is still young at heart and a ready and willing playmate.  I get out there occasionally --- okay, VERY occasionally.  Usually, I'm inside playing catch-up. 

And where are the other Critters?  Well, most of the time they are in the basement playroom....

 

....playing?

Dropping the Ball

The year of our Lord two thousand twelve has passed into history, and a New Year taken it's inaugural steps as this day draws to a close.  Much that I wanted to accomplish last year was left un-attempted, unfinished, undone.  Many things I did or said could have been omitted and no one would have minded, myself included.  But, all in all, it was a very good year.

This year FirstBorn graduated high school, and began college.

Only Son played God, to the delight of an appreciative audience. 

Third Child became a Hilltone, following in her older siblings' musical footsteps.

Sweetie Petite-y landed her first major role, and was finally recognised for the brilliant actress she is.

All of the above had a stellar dramatic year, logging more hours on stage than some runs on Broadway ----and their loving Momster logged more hours driving them to rehearsals than Shirley Jones spent behind the wheel of the Partridge Family bus!  Yes, I realise that comment dates me....

.....and Bonus Baby started PreK, adding her own needs for chauffeuring to the mix.

Husband & I celebrated a milestone anniversary just as in love as ever, despite the fact that we are ships passing in the dark of part-time-jobs-to-make-ends-meet night.

As for me I made art, wrote despite not getting published yet, fed my crew mostly homemade food, kept our home passably clean, loved the people who matter most, and gave what I could to those asked of me.  Not a great resume perhaps, but one I'm thankful for having the opportunity to share. So, forgive me for not having the time to make a new picture for you.  Instead, here for the first time ever is a photo of this blogger-

-taken from my best side.



Happy 2013!  Hope it finds you climbing ever upward.....