Sunday: baby surprise

Last night Yellow died, and this morning I-Don't-Know died.  I think that the flow at the top of the aquarium was too strong and they weren't smart enough to go to the bottom.

After church we went to get more fish.  With the bigger tank and the filters, I figured we could get four fish, one for each of us.  We got them and I put the little bag in the tank to get the water to match temperatures while we ate lunch.  (I'm claiming the fancy tailed one and naming him Pumpkin.)

After lunch Isaac said, "Mom, there are baby fish!"  To which I replied, "They're just small, not babies."  Well, when I went over to the tank sure enough, there were baby fish.  Apparently I-Don't-Know (version 2) is a female.  I am pretty sure that I only requested males, but either the wrong type of fish was chosen or I can't read or there was a female in with the males.

I took out all the baby fish after an internet search because apparently the bigger fish sometimes eat them and they need to be fed more often.  I ended up with nine.  (There are also two more hiding in the big tank that are either really good at hiding or came later.)  Ok, baby fish are cool.  It could be cool to see them grow.  After a week or two I'll stick them back with the adults and let them fend for themselves.

Then I read something a bit more distressing...females are on a continuous child-birth cycle, having children about once a month, and can store sperm for several months.  I'm a bit unsure what to do now.  If it was my fish or Ben's fish, we would probably not keep it for every long.  I could keep my eye out for a similar colored male fish and switch them when Joshua isn't paying attention.  I could run two tanks with I-Don't-Know in her own and just getting rid of the babies.  I also don't really know what to do with the babies as they get bigger, assuming all these fish live.  The tank I got isn't really good for more than four fish.  So stay tuned...I could see this saga going several different directions.  (Also, does anyone want some fish?)

In other news, I was drying some large quilts/mattress covers on the chairs last night and woke up to a fort made under the table.  It came complete with a pretend fire.  I added a heater and yogurt smores.

Of course, they're sleeping under the table tonight.  It doesn't seem like a good idea, but it also didn't seem like a bad enough of an idea to say no.  I think it would be terribly uncomfortable, but they're also much younger and don't seem to care about such things.

Saturday: Joshua

Joshua: I want ranch!
Amanda: You can get the ranch for your fries.  It's in the fridge.
Joshua can't seem to find it.
Amanda: it's in the door.
Joshua: what door?
Amanda: the one that you're looking at

****
Joshua, crying: the chair ran into me!
(We won't count how many times Joshua bonked his head today, because it was absurdly high.)

Friday: Great-grandma's house

Today Joshua and I went to visit Great-Grandma for a little bit.  We read some books and Joshua was sort of all over the place.  Not in a too crazy way, but in an entertaining way.  Anyway, it was a nice visit.

Thursday: getting colder

Today was significantly colder than yesterday.  I've been warning the kids that they'll need to wear shoes and coats and such, but it seems like such a fight when the time actually comes around.

Today Joshua had some new tennis shoes.  He's been wearing some crocs that are really just a bit to big for him, and so he was not happy about these shoes.  I then told him he had to get a coat on.  (Or a sweatshirt, I don't really care at this point.)  He loudly refused.  He would only wear a hat.  Well, ok, we're in the car so it isn't too bad, but I took all his stuff in his bag for when they went outside at school.  Once we got to school I started to take it out of his bag so the teacher would know Joshua had warm clothing and I'm not a terrible parent.  That is when Joshua decided to put his sweatshirt on.  I rolled my eyes a bit.

We got a new, slightly larger fish tank today with a filter.  (Side note: I-Don't-Know managed to jump out of the fish tank yesterday while I was doing a partial change of the water.  I couldn't believe it.)  The boys were both very interested in putting the bottom stuff in the new tank and managed to cram together on one step stool and share.  I was impressed; I'm not sure I would have been able to handle such tight quarters.  (Speaking of quarters, the latest game that they're playing together is called "HQ."  I once again don't know the rules, but it involves getting all the pillows out.)

Wednesday: taxi driver

Today I felt like a taxi driver.  I know it's a common complaint of parents, but today was worse than normal and included five circuits.  (Where a circuit is, at the minimum, leave the house, go somewhere, come back to the house.)  With that many even the in between times weren't all that restful as I needed to be aware of the time most of the day.  I have found that setting alarms on the phone often helps me relax in between, but I didn't do that for all of the trips.

In other news, I managed to clean the garage and mentored a mostly successful Lego League meeting.  (Actually, my group at Lego League seemed very successful.  We made a robot, added additional parts, and got it to do something semi-functional.  This is more than we've done in the past.)

Tuesday: break

Yesterday Joshua convinced me to buy another fish and a castle.  Joshua named his new fish "I don't know."  I-don't-know hasn't eaten very much today; Yellow has been hogging all the food.

It was Fall Break today so I got the kids to school and then came back home to sleep in.  I stayed in bed until 11!  (Although I was up for an hour and a half in the middle, but still.)  I then got several things crossed off my list.  I also had 'clean the garage' so that some of the summer stuff can come in.  However, it was a very warm day so I decided to work on the loft project, which is taking infinitely longer than I was hoping.  However, when it is a warm day the paint comes off more easily.  As of tonight, I'm over half way done with this last piece.

Monday: as things change, they stay the same

Last night I continued reading letters that my grandma wrote to her children in 1969-70.  Have many things changed since then?  Yes.  But at the same time, so many things have stayed the same...

...women were still dealing with morning sickness
...vacation days were much appreciated
...house projects always took a while
...weather is interesting
...people stay up too late reading