Weekly updates - July 8, 2022

Let's jump right in.

• I am feeling more optimistic today after a good night's sleep. A good night's sleep where I clenched my jaw all night based on the headache I woke up with. Something is going on since I just generally feel a little edgy, which, thankfully, is not my norm anymore. If it's a traumaversary, then the best thing I can do is ride it out and stop worrying about it. It will pass.
• Having so many children about the same age means that they all tend to outgrow their clothes all at the same time. So many people need a significant amount of additional clothing. And shoes... ! Since we received our tax money, I have earmarked some of it towards clothes. This also meant that a couple of days ago I took three girls shoe shopping. There is a big difference between shopping with grade school age girls and middle school girls. The younger ones are happy to let me go searching for shoes to try on and then picking from that selection. The middle school ones say things such as, "I know what I want, I just need to find it. You wander somewhere else." So I did, and she did. Shoes that were acceptable to the wearers were found and purchased. 
• I have made some good friends out here. It makes me happy to be able to write that.
• G. and L. are spending the night at W.'s and MC's tonight. They were very excited. So excited that they have been counting down the days for the past three weeks. 
• We still do not have a working oven. I think it is now decided that the warranty agency will send us a check in order to buy a new one. At least that's what they say they will do; their response rate has been less than spectacular. I'll believe it when I see the check in my hand. And then, after the check, there is still the purchasing and installing of the new range. In the meantime, we can bake nothing. No bread baking, either, which means I will probably have to actually purchase bread from the store. L. cannot bake any clay creations, either, which depending on the moment can be more dire than the lack of bread.
• Not wanting to feel left out, the coffee maker also decided to stop working this week. That need felt more imminent than an oven, so J. went out and purchased a new one today.
• Tomorrow is the homeschooling retreat I am hosting. I made an extra packet of resources if someone wants to join us at the last minute. Let me know.
• Some days I walk into my kitchen to discover a child has decided to do a deep clean of it for me. Yesterday it was Y. who decided to completely clean the two islands that we have. They look much, much better.
• I saw school supplies for sale today. It's not even the middle of July for goodness sake! I'm just getting into my summer stride. 
• The baby ducks still travel everywhere in a clump with the shorter one always in the middle. I find them totally hilarious. And because they are drakes, they are starting to get tail feathers that are starting to curl up in back. Ducks are totally worth the mess they make.
• The baby chickens still keep to themselves and don't really mix with the older hens. I can't say I blame them. More often then not, though, we have to go out and carry them into their pen because they have decided to roost on a shoe rack on the back porch for the night. They are also the two birds most likely to stare in at us through the sliding door that looks into the kitchen.
• No oven also means that children cannot bake cookies, which they will often do a couple of times a week. This is sad. Sad that there are no cookies, not that the children bake.

And with that I'm going to say goodnight. My knitting and books are waiting for me.