Big Girls, Late, Barker Keys

Do you ever feel behind enough that it's just better to start again where you are?  Me too.  Even though it's been mainly the last month that I've slacked, it feels like climbing Mount Everest getting back there.  But I will.  ...?  So here's the latest.

Yesterday morning at breakfast, for whatever reason Melanie decided she needed to do some motivating for Madeleine to finish.
Melanie:  Madeleine, let's race, and whoever finishes first is the big girl.
Adam (already done and apparently only half listening):  I win!
Mom:  hahahahahahahahahahah

Again yesterday all my men folk were gone.  The girls and I were hanging out trying to get some Saturday stuff done, when Melanie (my personal secretary) walked up and handed me a card.  I looked at it - an invite for my cousin's fiancee's wedding shower that had started 40 minutes before.  (Why Melanie doesn't remember my appointments better is beyond me.  Sheesh!)  The boys were at an Eagle project, so I got the girls some lunch, found out how much longer the boys would be, got the girls ready to go, stressed about the boys needing to be at the church later for a hike, gathered the girls up to go, the boys got home, I told them to walk, and we headed on our way.  We arrived with less than 10 minutes of the shower left.  It was at my grandma's house, so at least we could hang out there with her, my mom, and sister.

(Not sure why these pictures turned out so green?)

Although a few hours later grandma probably wasn't so happy we went to all that effort to go when she discovered the skeleton key from her front door missing.  Not so easy to jaunt down to the local hardware store and get a new one of those.  It's such a temptation for the kids to play with, and I think Madeleine took the bait.  Erin said she heard her playing with it.  When I asked her if she played with the keys at Grandma Barker's house, the light immediately turned on.  She told me grandma took it from her and put it up high, so she got a chair.  Ummm . . . grandma didn't take it away this time, so . . . yah.  Looks like we'll be taking another jaunt to see grandma tomorrow so maybe we can help track it down.  Thank goodness when we got there we realized she left her shoes home (remember the big rush?), so at least we know she didn't pack them down to the farm with the other kids.  And I don't remembering hearing clinking keys outside, so hopefully they are still inside.

Overheard recently after an egg was dropped on the ground:  "The floor is fine, but the egg will never be the same."

Carolyn was laying on the couch with a headache recently.  She was getting up for something and told me not to let anyone lay on the pillow she was using because, "someone with a headache was been laying on it," almost like it was catching or something.  Or maybe she was looking for enough sympathy that it would still be available when she came back.

Sammy came home from the park the other day, walked in the door, and said, "My shoes are FULL of socks."  After we all settled down, he told us he meant to say rocks.