the sleppys

This morning, I woke up to go running. I stepped into the kitchen to drink water when I realized that I had to bake and decorate two cakes for the babies’ birthday. Since it’s cooler in the mornings than in the afternoons, I decided to forgo the running and start on the cakes before the sun came up (the oven heats up the house).

Slowly the house started getting louder with each child who was waking up, screaming, asking for water, giggling, screaming, laughing, tickling, screaming. By 7:30am, I had baked two cakes and set them aside for cooling.

At 8am, I got a call from the piano moving company, saying that they can be ready to move the piano at 9am. The church that hires me to play music has moved locations, where there is already a piano (two, actually). They gave me the piano from their previous location, and I was supposed to pick it up before the end of the month, when their lease ran out. Dad and I cleared out a space for the upright piano, and Dad went on a quick errand to the store to pick up confectioner’s sugar and other things we needed. As soon as he came back, I hopped in the van to meet the movers. Everything was relocated and paid by 10am, and the children were playing the new piano as if they didn’t already have one in their house.

I spent the rest of the morning making icing, coloring the icing, and decorating the cakes. In the middle of all that standing around in the kitchen, the children kept walking by, standing next to me, telling me that they wanted to watch me decorate or that they were hungry. It reminded me of the day that my great aunt and mother stood in the kitchen for what seemed like all day, baking and decorating my birthday cake. Why did it take them eight hours? My brothers and I were staARGHving, and all we got to eat was an apple. A quarter after twelve, I chopped onions, sauteed them in butter, and made stuffing for lunch. I had a glass of milk, put a load of clothes in to wash, and took the time to hang them outside to dry. Half past twelve, I continued my project.

An hour later, I finished decorating both cakes. I placed them on top of the bookshelves and washed the utensils (and put them away).

Now, I’m going to take a nap.

Dad here….for the second day in a row I took one of the boys to the toy store. Each wanted to spend his saved paycheck. Kyle made his very first purchase with his own money yesterday. He bought the Bionicle Skrall. Today, Ty made his fourth purchase, second toy purchase, with his money. Each time in the toy store I was keenly aware that my boys, our oldest children, were the only children in the store making their own purchases. I cannot begin to describe my pride. Ty also went to work with me and ran all of the normal errands. He met every encounter with the people of my world with engagement and politeness. Rarely did I have to step in and help direct his conversation to facilitate adult to seven year old communication. Our confident seven year old boy was remarkably friendly, polite, and refreshing as he talked about the nature in our yard, his helpfulness around the house, and the accomplishments of his siblings. Now, if only this home-schooled child could learn some basic social skills.

Kendall and Talon say Please, Thank you, and You’re Welcome. They doesn’t sound the like way practiced speakers do, and each girl has a unique way of speaking. But for experienced parents, we understand that they are trying to say these phrases. Talon points to something, anything, and asks, “What’s this?” She points to something else and asks, “What’s that?” But it sounds like “wash deesh” and “wash dat.” Kendall is repeating the Knock, Knock jokes that she hears from Kyle. “Na na,” she says. “Who’s there?” I ask. And there’s a pause. She smiles and says, “Eee!” I think that’s the extent of the joke because I ask “Eee Who?” and she giggles.

*******

Dad brewed some beer a month ago. Ty and I helped him bottle and cap it. We had some during the “Lost” season premiere. We gave some to Dad’s brother and a cashier, with whom we are friendly, at the grocery store. We really downed the bottles during the Daytona 500 last weekend.

We took a different kind of trip to the Everglades today. Dad woke up at five in the morning and started on breakfast. I made sure the children were dressed and prepared for the day’s hikes. We piled into the van at six-twenty and drove to the Anhinga Trail.

The sun was coming up quickly, and it was already sunrise when we got there. The photographers were out, taking pictures of the birds’ morning feeding. We saw more kinds of birds that usual. A Black-crowned Night Heron stood quietly along the water. A few common thrush????? skitted back and forth, between the pond apple trees and the sawgrass.

The boys took a hike on the Gumbo Limbo trail while I sat with the girls in the breezeway.

At Flamingo, we drove by a group of birdwatchers and photographers who were observing an osprey that was having a meal on its nest.

We weren’t too impressed Flamingo, the last stop on the Everglades’ Main Road. The camp sites were all open, no privacy, no shade. Well, it was the beach. There was a parking lot across the street from the camp sites. We prefer to have some foliage for privacy, some shade, and our van right next to our picnic table.

On the way back, we stopped for a meal at Parotus Pond. One particular Swallow-tail Kite kept showing off for us – or checking us out while we had lunch. It flew gracefully, moving its v-shaped tail at all angles. A Roseate Spoonbill flew over us as soon as we got there. It was a very pretty bird, all pink. The hawks ki-reed at each other right over top of us, hovering in the wind. The other hawk was about 100 yards away. There were plenty of turkey vultures hoping around, too.

We LOOKED AT where an alligator was sitting earlier. We formed hypotheses on how he used his claws to get back into the water. We knew that he was there earlier because we stopped by Parotus Pond while on our way to Flamingo and saw him.

We also had some small talk with a couple from Pennsylvania. They were familiar with Yeungling.

Bonnie came over this evening with her daughters. She had called me earlier this afternoon, asking us to go over to her house, but it was really short notice. Piling all of us into the van and staying out until nine wasn’t really in the cards for us, but we told her that we would appreciate her company. We already had plans for dinner as did she, so we kept them. She came over with some Pollo Tropical and sat at our table to have dinner with her daughters. Dad had already started a tomato sauce for our Mexican pizzas that we were going to have for dinner.

After they ate, we all went outside, where the children (our five and her two) played hide-n-seek and chased the dog around the yard. Her older daughter brought out the guitar, and we sang “The Blue Tail Fly” and other songs. Taylor kept bringing us beers from the refrigerator.

Karina and Natalie (Bonnie’s daughters) got acquainted enough with our dog, Isis. Toward the end of the visit, Natalie, 2, was petting the dog.

Dad started a backyard fire. It was small enough to fit in our home made pit. As it got closer to dusk, we brought out the skewers and marshmallows and roasted them in the backyard fire.

Our children were getting really hungry as they hadn’t had dinner yet, so I toasted flour tortillas in the oven and made Mexican pizzas with a side of the pasta and artichoke salad that Dad made for lunch. Bonnie’s daughters had some leftover pasta, and the children all ate together at the table – after Ty led them in grace, of course.

After dinner, we cleaned up, found Karina’s shoes using teamwork and our flashlights, and Bonnie and her daughters went home.

It’s on days like these that I just want to forget the home schooling and take the guitar out to the front yard and strum it while the children chase each other. It’s quiet today, with only the breeze making a sliding down through the trees. No big engines. No lawn crews. No loud music from neighbors’ homes. Just birds’ chirping, honking, mewing, cheetering, and all those wonderful noises that define the springing of the year. The skies are partly cloudy but mostly sunny. Under the shade of a strangler fig is the perfect spot to sit and practice the tin whistle.

Dad woke up extra early this morning to go with his friend to the Everglades. They planned to catch the sunrise.