Today's news

As of this time both of the hermit crabs are still alive. They seem to be getting along fairly well together. My sister came over today and agrees that they are a little creepy looking. When you pick them up (if you are brave enough) they come almost all of the way out of their shell. I picked one up and she gagged. I was able to laugh at her only because I have gotten a little used to looking at them. When they reach out and touch you with their claws though... that is the stuff horror movies are made out of. I moved their tank out of the kids rooms and into the bathroom because the sound of their little legs scraping on the side of the plastic wall is not something you want to wake up in the middle of the night and hear. I must move on to another subject before I give myself nightmares.

Today we decided to do something fun just as a family. Kind of one last thing before school starts. My husband and I choose blueberry picking. Apparently we chose poorly. First of all, the only time we could go today was when the temperature was at least 150. By the time all 6 of us got out of the car we were totally drenched in sweat (I know I should try to find a nicer word but there is not one in this case). Before we even got our buckets and reached the trees, the complaining began. As a parent I must take a moment to brag on my children. They are experts when it comes to the art of complaining. Here are a few examples of todays award winning entries:
1. Who thought this was a good idea? ( read with extreme sarcasm-- one guess who said this)
2. Am I allergic to blueberries? (extremely disappointed when told no)
3. How many of these do we have to pick?
4. I need to go to the bathroom right now. ( Where do you do what needed to be done in the middle of a public orchard? Her suggestion-- that nice grassy area over there.
5. It's hot.
6. I'm hot.
7. It's REALLY hot.
8.And of course: Can we go home now?
The baby had the best time of all. Once we got started they did have a good time. They tried to see who could find the best shady spot to pick berries from. Will it be what they write about in their "what I did this summer" essay? Probably not. Did we have a basically enjoyable outing as a family? I think so. But then again I thought it was a good idea in the first place. When the master chef in our house (no ,I am not giving myself a compliment) makes some of his famous desserts with the 4.5 lbs of berries we picked, will we all be glad we went? DEFINITELY!!!

The saga continues..

When we woke up this morning the force was no longer with Luke Sandwalker. Our luck with hermit crabs seems to be getting worse fast. This one lasted a whopping 12 hours. We checked it all day. Didn't move. The boys handled this loss very well. My 10 year old, who has inherited his fathers incredible sense of sarcasm, said they should not be called "hermit crabs" they should be called "hermit crap". Last night when we were getting ready for bed the 5 yr. old looked at the new beautiful pets and said " so how long are these going to last?" If only I knew then what I know now. I could have prepared her. Two crabs in less than 24 hours. Is there any way to prepare for that?
When we went to church tonight we discovered that we were not the only ones to suffer this week. Another child's hermit crab had died. Because these fine animals come with a 14 day money back guarantee or exchange, we were able to trade Princess for a new crab. Not because we(me) wanted more but because they had already traded one in. The little girl whose crab was was replaced was not there tonight. We got her crab because they didn't have anything else to do with it. So now we must take Princess from her place of burial back to church so she can be exchanged. Something about all of that just sounds wrong. Now we are back to having 2 live hermit crabs. One for the boys and one for the girls. The boys decided to keep the bigger one formerly known as Sandy and change its name to Luke Sandwalker ( when you find a good name you should stick with it). I guess this shows that they don't have attachment issues. The newest crab( is it bad when you have to distinguish "new" by hourly increments?) is now just Shortcake instead of Sandy Shortcake. The original Luke is going to be taken back from whence it came to make good on the money back guarantee. They have been told that these are the last ones we will get. As much trouble as these have been they are actually pretty interesting. So the few hours combined that they have all been alive have been a good science lesson.

One of many lessons learned from all of this: Be cautious when buying animals with 14 day money back guarantee or even exchange.

Stay tuned for the continuing story. Hopefully the next part will be be much more positive.

Our newest family member...

Her name is ( I guess now I should say was) Princess. My 5 year old daughter received her as a reward for completing an animal care class at church. She was the most beautiful hermit crab you have ever seen, hence the name Princess. She was also the most loved hermit crab. Every time we go to the mall my children beg me to get them a hermit crab. I say no, we have enough people and pets already in our home. Had I known they were giving out hermit crabs at church we probably would have been sick that night. But now, after seeing the joy on my childs face caring for her pet, I feel sorry that I did not give in to her demands sooner.(please read that last sentence again with just a little bit of sarcasm) No really, it was very enjoyable watching her care for this tarantula in a shell. She made sure it had plenty of food and water everyday. The problem was Princess didn't feel the need to eat any of the food. After about 4 days she lost her first limb. OH NO! you may be saying. Well, it turns out this is common among store bought hermit crabs. So I did what any good mother would do and went to hermit-crabs .com, a very interesting and informative site about hermit crabs. We made all of the necessary changes in her living environment, known among those in the hermit crab world as a "crabitat". But, all of this was done a little too late. Princess lost another leg this morning, this time, not a good sign. She was gone by this afternoon. What do you do when your child's most favorite thing is gone? You guessed it, offer to buy her a new one. She said "no thanks, it will just die too." How do you deal with a 5 year old who is in despair? Right again, buy her one anyway and pray really hard that it lasts for awhile and assure her this time it will be better. The boys had also fallen in love with Princess. Hermit crabs, contrary to their name, do not like to be alone. So we didn't buy just one. We bought two. We had already spent the money upgrading the crabitat so why not get something to live in it. The new hermit or "land crabs" that we bought are very cool looking, for bugs in a shell. They are the strawberry variety, called this because they look like strawberries. They are huge. Everyone is very excited. One of them belongs to the boys. He (?) has been named Luke Sandwalker. The other belongs to the girls and has been named Sandy Shortcake. Beause the animals share a home, the owners have worked out a joint custody agreement. One night in the boys room and one night in the girls room.

I know I said I didn't want any more pets. I also said that when our dog died we wouldn't get another one. Well, we did . My kids are happy and I guess that is what's important. I know some may say we didn't give enough time for grieving. Some part of me agrees. But, if you have ever had to watch your children grieve over the loss of a beloved family pet, you would get a new dog the next day too. ( and new hermit crabs the same day)

It is eerily quiet around here.

My boys have gone to camp. I miss them terribly. Having said that first, I must say it has been very quiet around here. I haven't heard " I hate you" "stupid idiot" or any of the other lovely phrases older brothers say to their younger sisters just to make them mad. There has been little if any fighting, screaming and toy throwing. The girls and I have had a very nice time together. We needed this time. We still miss the boys . Even though they fight and pretend not to like each other (their biggest insult to each other is "you can't come to my birthday party"), I know deep down they really care about each other. Today when we were at the store, the girls made sure we bought presents for the boys for when they come home. If the girls go out with their grandmother, the boys complain that they can't play their games because they don't have enough people. The theory of " I can make fun of my sister all I want but someone outside the family better never do anything to hurt her" definitely applies to our house. They make fun of the girls, but any time they think their sisters have been wronged by an outside party, they get mad. I hope this feeling continues when they get older, well at least the second part. They will be very well protected teenage girls. In theory anyway.

Why do boys/men feel the need to protect? I think it is one of those traits God gives them. I have had the role of protector this week. My husband went to camp also. I must say I am much more comfortable being the protected. I haven't been able to sleep very well. My husband gets frustrated because when he is home I fall asleep sometimes before the kids. I think he believes it is because I think he is boring or I don't want to spend time with him. After this week I am pretty sure it is because I just feel safe. When the protector is home, all is well.

We were discussing with friends the other day that using a Lord of the Rings character analogy we all know more Sams than Aragorns. We all know people who are dependable and supportive, who will stick by you through it all. We all need these people in our lives. I even told these friends that I thought my husband was like Sam. He said he wished he were more like Aragorn. I think a lot of people probably wish they were more like Aragorn, not realizing how much they really are like him. This week has sort of changed my mind on some things. I think in order to be a dad and a husband you are like Aragorn. You must have a sense of adventure to take on these roles. You never know what might happen next. You must be prepared for anything. You must be a leader. You must be willing to fight for what you believe in, especially if you believe in your family. But most important of all, you must be the protector. Don't you think Frodo and Sam felt safer on their journey when Aragorn was there? I think there is more of Aragorn in some people than we give them credit for. I don't know, maybe I missed the point of these characters. Maybe I am just rambling because I haven't slept in a week. All I do know is that, as annoying as he may be, I will be glad when the king in our house comes back, the little princes too. So, to all of the Aragorns disguised as Sams that I know, thanks for taking such good care of your kingdoms.

To quote Dash from The Incredibles," I love this family."

I've been tagged!!!

In response to the movie tag:
1.What was the last movie you watched?

I watched Spirit:Stallion of the Cimmaron at the free summer movies yesterday morning and Beethoven 5 last night.

I watched Spanglish the night before that. I still haven't decided what I think about it. There were a couple of scenes they could have left out and it would have been a better movie. Adam Sandler did a pretty good job in a serious role. Tea Leoni did a good job also, her character was just a horrible person. I would not highly reccommend it.
Miss Congeniality 2 is on the list for tonight.

2.What was the last movie you bought?

If we are being honest here, I must admit that it was Napolean Dynomite. It is a very interesting movie. Funny in a boring way. After you watch it once you need to watch it again with the directors commentary. Then the next time you watch the movie it will be funnier because you will have a better understanding of the events in the movie, plus the commentary is "flippin' hilarious". The sound track may be the best part of the whole thing. My children are trying to memorize the dance scenes. I must also say that it was not my idea to buy this movie. I did enjoy it though.

3. What was the last movie you went to the theater to see?

Not counting Spirit, it was Batman Begins. I thought this was the best of the series. Christian Bale did a very good job.

4. What is the movie you have seen the most?

I have no idea. Most of the newer kids movies I have seen more times than I can count. If I like it and it comes on tv, then I watch it, no matter how many times I've seen it.

5.What are the 5 movies you like the most?

That is a hard question.
1. Imitation of Life- both versions of it are good
2.The Lord of the Rings trilogy -I like the third one just a little bit more than the others
3.The Incredibles- one of the best new kids movies. It teaches how important family is, and that each member may have different abilities,but if everyone works together you can accomplish a lot.
4.The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
5.I reserve this spot for all of the old movies that I have watched and loved I just can't remember their names.

How do you decide what to name your blog?

This is a very important question. This name becomes your identity. It is almost as difficult as naming a child. I asked my sister for some help since she made me sign up for this (see first post). Most of the cute and somewhat witty names had been taken. So, I ended up with "loads of laundry" or if you read it too fast in the address bar it looks like " loads o flaundry". You may be asking yourself why I chose this name. Well,it is because that seems to be what my life is all about . There are 6 people in my house so it doesn't take long for the laundry to pile up. Notice I never said I wash loads of laundry. I mostly just look at them. I look at the dirty pile getting bigger while the clean pile gets smaller. Eventually when the occupants of my home begin complaining, I wash . In hopes that the laundry situation in my house would improve, my wonderful husband made me my own laundromat, 2 washers and 2 driers. Wasn't that kind of him. Who has time to wash clothes? There are so many better things to do with my day, like reading other peoples blogs to see how they are spending their days and now I have my own blog to keep up with.

The "because I said so" part of my new identity came from a shirt I have. The new fad in my house is t-shirts with sayings on them. My oldest children, which in this case includes my wonderful husband, are in competition with their friends as to who can find the best shirts. I, who never want to be called unfashionable(HA HA), decided I must have one of these. I found one that said "because I said so". The part of my day that I don't spend not doing laundry I seem to spend saying that phrase. So by wearing that shirt I can cut the volume of words I say in a day in half. I never realized how much I said that phrase until I bought the shirt.

Well , at least now with all of these funny shirts, doing laundry is entertaining.

Where do I start?

I feel under so much pressure now. Can I be as creative as those I know with English degrees and who have their own libraries? (I tried to make a link here, I just couldn't get it to work)(it should work now) I have 4 children, so my once brilliant mind has turned to soup. It is though, a soup with many ingredients. I can discuss a wide variety of topics, from potty training to how to find the area of a square- to light sabres(?)- to which store has the shirts with the funniest slogans on them. These discussions just all usually take place at the same time, so please excuse me if I ramble.

I'm a blogger!!!

I made her start a blog.