Back to Feeling Productive

I think the answer to me feeling productive is just to plug away at the current projects until they are done and then move on to the next one. I am trying to do this and not look around too much.

Friday I left work and went to complete a trade. I traded for some work clothes for 2 rolls of tp each. Of the 5 items I traded for 3 will work now and 1 will when I lose about 5 pounds. I can actually wear the pants now but they will actually look decent 5 pounds from now. After leaving the trade I headed home along a path I normally do not take. Within a couple of miles of my house I came upon an accident. This one looked to be terrible, a motorcyclist was hit by a Ford 250 pick up truck on a stretch of road with a 55 mile and hour speed limit. The motorcyclists friend was laying him out flat on the median. I was 3 lanes over and would have caused an accident getting over so I called 911 as I worked my way over and to a place I could turn back around. The dispatcher told me they had already been notified and EMS was on their way. By the time I started to circle around the ambulance was coming so I went ahead to my next errand praying that everyone involved was ok. I was right by the car wash at this point so I swung in to use the vacuum on my trunk. Hauling all that monkey grass home had left my trunk and everything in it covered in dirt. Once home I had to tell Phillip about all that happened on the way home. I was going to make Baked Corn Dogs for dinner but Phillip said he really wanted grilled cheese. Grilled cheese sounded great because it is easy, I used up the leftover bacon on Phillip's two sandwiches. Once dinner was done and baths taken care of the kids played while I tried to get stuff ready for Saturday. I pulled out all the picture frames I had traded for and bought at thrift shops. I worked briefly on the photos getting them all sorted and rubber banded but really just got stuff ready for Saturday.  Funny that I nearly forgot the emotional component of Friday night. I went ahead and took down the cast iron sea creatures off the boy's wall. Logan wanted to hang a world map there which is a big boy thing so the sea creatures had to go. I am the one who is not sure if I want to let them go yet or not.

Saturday morning I went ahead and got up early and got outside before the heat was overpowering. I managed to get 2 hours of work on the flower beds done by 9:30am. I got the flower bed around the mailbox cleaned up and then started on the beds around the house. In the middle of pulling out some weeds that were taller than me ( this alone should point out how far behind I am) a praying mantis fell on me. Of course when it fell I did not know it was a praying mantis and I nearly screamed. When I knocked it off I realized what it was, got a picture and then took it inside for Logan to see.

I got from the gate to the corner of the house done and then quit.I went in and got a shower while the kids were having breakfast. Once everyone was dressed we headed to the post office and then the library. The kids really love the library and since we know all the employees it has been a safe place for them to get around and explore. 

After leaving the library Logan was saying how hungry he was so I told him we would hit up the thrift store before getting something to eat because I need to find Phillip some jeans.  I thought we lucked out because we found 2 pair in his size but they are the cowboy cut Wrangler's and those are just a touch snugger in the crotch than he likes.  So those 2 pairs will end up on ebay so I can get my money back out of them. He is an unusual size so I usually do not have trouble reselling them. After leaving the thrift store with the jeans and Logan's great find of some legos we went to Chick-Fil-A. Clark was asleep by the time we got there so we ordered and Logan ate and played while I read some in a book I had just checked out. This was one of the few times I had actually left the house without the book I am currently reading in my purse. Clark woke up after a bit and shared my kids meal with me. I let Logan play for about an hour and then we headed home. I asked him if he wanted to go to Winco with me and he said no so I dropped him at home with his dada and took Clark with me to the store. We really needed milk, now that Clark is off formula he is competing with Logan's record of 3 gallons of milk a week.
Winco Trip:
1 gallon milk
7 packages lunch meat
1 pint sour cream
2 packages cinnamon rolls
~.25 lbs gummi
1 gallon apple cider vinegar
2 large Nutella
1 baking powder
1 pack Kleenex
4 boxes snack cakes
2 "packs" gatorade
1 pack fruit snacks
2 "bags" chips
1 tube toothpaste
1 sleeve instant milk
1 package croutons
~2.5 lbs bananas
1 loaf bread

Total:     $47.47 Cash
               $2.12 SNAP

After we got back home I unloaded the groceries and scanned the stuff into my apps. Once the groceries were put away Logan told me all about what he and dada had been up to. I sat on the couch for a little bit with Phillip talking and helping Logan with his legos. This lasted just a bit and then I went to tackle the picture frames. Logan came out with me and we painted the frames. First one side and then we took Clark on a stroller ride through the neighborhood and then came back and painted the second side. We walked after painting the back but they were still a little tacky so we went inside to wait. They did not take that much longer to dry but once we brought them in I still let them sit longer before deciding which photos to put in them. By this time it was time to get dinner started. I went ahead and made the Baked Corn Dogs which I had to eat on the run.

The tiny one had a long day and he was not going to wait for these to be finished so once I got them in the oven I fed him and then took them out of the oven. I ate one and then it was bath time. Phillip ate a couple and then I got his review which I semi agreed with. In order to get them in the pan the recipe called for cutting the hot dogs into quarters. This left us with a batter heavy corn dog. When i make these again I will only half the hot dogs and see how they turn out. The other difference is since I made my corn bread batter from scratch I had some left which I put in another cast iron pan and baked as corn bread. Once it was cooled I put it up for another night's dinner. Since the oven was warmed up and I had some bananas that needed to be used I made Banana Nutella Bread. After it was in the oven I realized I forgot the butter but it still turned out.

Sunday morning the kids slept in a smidge past normal. Once Logan was up Phillip stripped his bed and got the wash going hoping it would finish in time to put the clothes on the line. 
After breakfast and getting ready we headed to church and ended up being about 2 minutes late which for Phillip is like walking in after it is done. Mimi and Nene were there so it was nice to visit with them. Had to calm some child fears once we went up to the fellowship hall as some ants had taken up residence in the kitchen. Once church was over we went to the standard McDonald's for lunch with Logan's friend and while there I managed to squeeze in a trade. A member of BBT brought some orphaned nativity scene pieces by for free. She just wanted them to go to a good home. Now my set has Mary, Jesus and 4 Wise Men. Once we left there we headed home where once again there was hope of a nap but that did not work out. Phillip laid down but I doubt he got any sleep. This was the time I used to put the pictures in the frames which required spray painting the mat on one. I also got some pictures into albums and tried to make a decision on what needed to go in the albums I have versus scrapbook versus the baby books versus photo boxes. I am pretty sure I am going to end up with a mix of photo storage.  Once Phillip was up I went outside to work on the yard some before he was heading to the gym.

I got this bed by the fence cleaned up and monkey grass put down. I had a couple of flowering plants that may or not make it that I put in here and I will move some items from the front yard to this bed. When we have a little fun money I am going to get some bushes/plants with height to put behind the grass. I also cleaned up my succulent bed and put a couple of plants in there. The whole time I was outside I could hear Clark at the window crying for me which was mildly heartbreaking. I came in and needed a shower. Clark did not want to leave me so I took a shower with the shower door open. He kept throwing a frisbee he likes into the shower with me and I would just kick it over to him with my foot and then he would throw it back. Kept him entertained and I got a shower. Once I was out Phillip left for the gym and I fed the kids. They both had baths and then while Logan watched TV in our room I got some laundry done and cleaned up the kitchen counters. I did have a scare which could have turned out so much worse. I was making Logan's bed which is the top bunk and Clark climbed up there. I picked him up and then headed back down the stairs but missed the last one and fell. Clark's leg was pinned between me and the step. I seriously thought I had broke his leg but he was just mad at me for getting him off the stairs so he crawled away.  He ended up falling asleep before Phillip got home so I read while Logan watched mine craft videos.