Bedtime is pretty much a disaster. We'd been on an even keel for a while, but then there was a day at Wilderness School where poisonous critters were discussed. Telling the 5-7 year olds that poisonous snakes like attics, and spiders live under beds, and some spiders bite you while you're sleeping and you don't even notice is a choice I wish that the instructors hadn't made, but it was done, and that night bedtime was rough. Now, Cotton doesn't like being upstairs alone, which makes sending her to bed difficult, since the others stay up later. And Rone wants to stay up as long as he wants, like Seph. Seph wants to have her own room and not have to deal with all these people at bedtime. And they all want to leave the toothpaste cap off and throw clothes on the floor. So from the time Cotton goes up at 8, until Seph heads up, it's mayhem--up, down, it's not fair! why do I have to go!down, up, water, not cold enough, until someone loses it and there's yelling. No, not always me!

Generally, things settle down about 10pm, and that's when I start working on Cheepie. It's going ok, but I'm now obsessed with bar graphs showing me how many hits I've had, and how many likes I've got. Close a window, open a bar graph. I'll need more traffic before I can get ads, and make money, but I'm hopeful!

Seph played Titania in a scene from A Midsummer's Night Dream at her school's small Shakespeare festival. She's going to play it at the Ren Fair near us, as part of a school field trip, too. I'm really happy for her. She also had a choir concert last week, and it was easily the most entertaining so far. I got video, so I'll be able to put that up for people (you, Mom and Judimom!) to see.

Cotton is making videos with her My Little Ponies, and wants to start a youtube channel. How she even knows what that is is beyond me. I showed her how to prop up her brother's ipad and make videos without being in them herself, and she thinks it's the best thing ever. The ridiculous toddler belly laughs that come out of her, still, at age six, are hysterical to hear, and are the only reason I'm letting her have the youtube channel. When I get it up, I'll link it here.

I brought Rone and a friend to the drive-in last weekend, to see Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice. It was a lot of fun. Before we left, I asked them to get pillows and blankets, and they went about eight steps further and put the back seats down for me and then layered the couch cushions and pillows to make a heck of an event of it! While we watched, they alternated from the roof of the van to the nest of pillows. It was a fun night. Today Rone went to his improv class downtown at the Hideout Theater, which is attached to a coffeeshop. He has class, then hangs out with friends until I pick him up two hours later. I repeat, my 10 year old son hangs out at a coffeeshop for two hours. I'm still not sure what to think. They sit and watch Minecraft videos for the most part, so at least he's with other people and not on our couch, right?

Chance is still on his sabbatical, as we're calling it. He's working on his game, and walking the greenbelt, and is generally happier than he's been in a long time. So that's a good thing.

My great good friend Kelley gave me one of her old phones. My iPhone 1 was no longer a mobile phone--the battery held for about 5 minutes--and I was dragging a charger everywhere. They had a 4 in a drawer, so now I've got what is, to me, a slinky new phone even though it's cracked and not pretty. Most importantly, it takes those videos I mentioned, and takes photos. And it helps a ton with Cheepie, because the old phone couldn't get any apps because of the old OS, thus no tweeting. With this phone, I see a deal, snap a photo and post. So much better!

For this blog, it means back to more photos! And less me yapping!

We've got a full plate here. Scouts, school, choir, friends, soccer, art projects, costumes to plan, and uncountable other projects around this place waiting to get done. Why yes, I do include those lights from the last post on the list, how did you guess? Fun Fact: If you return a goofily expensive light fixture to Home Depot and get one that might work, you'll have enough left over to buy mums, seeds for Tiny, a lampshade, and a six-pack of one of the only vegetables Chance will eat: collard greens.

I've been doing a lot of bus-duty (insert Chance saying, 'Duty, heh heh!' here), and working out a routine with the younger two. Rone's got reading/writing/math responsibilities every day except Wednesday. Cotton still gets to work on her own things, with some writing and math practice. Their other interests are growing.

I still worry that Rone will never want to do anything beyond Minecraft and other video games, but he's started working with Chance on his game, and that's a great thing. He also said, when I asked what was something he'd like to know more about, " I'd like to learn about architecture." It's possible Wilderness School stick huts have got him wondering how we got from there to here. I told him he can build a clubhouse out back and ban the girls from it if he figures out how, as motivation.

Cotton is interested in learning more about birds. And tigers. And polar bears. And anything endangered. It's a lot of animals to worry about and she's determined to draw them all. And paint them all. And get anyone who can spell to help her write about them all.

Middle school is still rolling along for Seph. She's got theater and choir, french and algebra. She's staying after often, but we're both glad that she didn't repeat the dance classes 4 days a week after school. She's been going to football games with her friends, and walking to coffee shops, and generally wishing she had a driver's license already.

Chance and I are both projecting. I've started a blog about grocery shopping in Austin, called CheepieAustin, and he's working on the game he thought of years ago. The game will be a desktop wargame like the ones he loved playing in the 1990s. My blog is a work in progress, but the idea is to scan all the sales and let people know what the best deals are. Both projects have been in our heads for a while, and the impetus of unemployment has us working on them. We'll see how it all pans out!

Lately, the peskiest thing here is bathrooms. The kids can't find the sink, the trashcan, the cup their toothbrushes go in, or the towel rack. I'm used to a certain level of mess, but crabbing at me about your mess is where I draw the line. I'm not the one squirting toothpaste on the floor, you cretins! I also don't leave wet towels on top of the pajamas I mean to wear again, and then cry because they're wet. It's a sad day when my personal space is the cleanest space. As anyone that lived with me in college can attest to.