Peace

Yesterday was lovely.  I’m pretty sure I offended a short list of people, but I was determined to have a “down day.”  After our crazy weekend, and family staying with us (although helpful, still off the norm) I was eager for just one day when the kids took normal naps at the normal time, and we didn’t leave the house or have visitors.

The phone rang off the hook in the morning.  Someone wanted me to bring bars (cookies) to something.  No.  Someone wanted me to drop something off.  No.  We ran out of milk, but I did not go to the store.  Knut had a softball game, but I did not go to cheer him on with 4 munchkins in tow.  No, I stayed home and did nothing.  It was a day where I said “no” to about everything, and just rested with the kids.  It’s not that I was physically so exhausted, but mentally I needed some peace.  I absolutely require these days, and Sunday had a bit too much running around for me for it to be considered rest.  Well, for me.  Knut felt so refreshed by seeing all the people we saw.  I love all the people we saw, but then I needed some non-people time.

Knut said the wet lake things that we hung on the clothesline on Sunday might be dry now.  Ha!  That’s how bad it was.  So today it was back to work.   The washing machine is once again running, and our kitchen once again has clean counter tops.  I’m working on finally switching over my closet to maternity clothes again…a project that has been taking me a really long time for some reason.

There’s a terrible smell when you go upstairs in our house, and I did spend some time walking around and sniffing.  At first I thought it might be a lost diaper.  It only smells when you’re on the stairs, though, and doesn’t smell once you get to the top.  With Elias using underwear for over a month now, it’s not usual for him to have accidents and not tell me about it, but I wiped down the bathroom anyway.  The smell was driving me mad.

It was in the afternoon when I realized what on earth I was smelling, although I did not physically locate it.  It was the smell of decaying mouse that must be coming from the floor of the upstairs/ceiling of the downstairs.  There’s a space in between that we know mice dwell, and one must have died.  It’s driving this pregnant lady’s nose bonkers.  Fortunately, whenever we encounter dead-mouse smell it goes away in less than a week.

I’m sure you all loved that little story.

One of these days we’re going to break down and get a cat.  Today is not that day, but perhaps someday.  I’m not a cat person, and neither is Knut.  However, I’m even less of a mouse person.  Silje’s a cat person, so maybe she’ll take care of it.  Maybe.

The chicks are nearly as big as the chickens now, and they don’t run from me terrified anymore.  They now just step slowly away, but stay close enough to see if I have food.  They’re really growing on me.  I’m now beginning to believe they’re all girls.  In the beginning, since they were various ages we wondered if we had accidentally picked up some roosters, but so far I don’t see any signs of that.  I’m not breathing a full sigh of relief, but my hope is up.

So today we ran some errands in town, saw my brother and sister-in-law who just temporarily moved into Knut’s parents house down the road until they find a place.  They just finished a big drive from New Jersey with their kids and I’m so happy they finally took the plunge and moved out here.  My brother-in-law is pretty cool, but I must admit, I’m so stinkin’ excited my sister-in-law will be close.   She’s another city girl like me, and sometimes it feels like my mind works so differently than everyone else around here.  I’m grateful to have another like-minded kindred spirit nearby.

Lastly, since I fell off the blogging-wagon last week when my family was in town, I thought I’d post my 2 favorite pictures from the 4th of July celebration.

One is my little Solveig Joy.  She found her big sister’s sunglasses and would not take them off.  She was posing while someone next to me started snapping pictures.  The diva…

Here’s Solveig and her great-grandpa (known the the kids as Oldefar which means ‘oldest father’ in Norwegian).  His name is Jorolf, and it’s his cabin we always celebrate at.  He inherited the cabin from his father, so the family that gathers is quite extensive.  The kids always enjoy playing on the 4th with their 3rd cousins.  I’m pretty sure I have no idea who any of my 3rd cousins even are, but my kids could name off their favorites.  Jorolf and his wife, Alice are in their 90s but still live in their home not far from us on the farm.  Our kids adore them.  Jorolf can’t see much anymore, but he still smiles grandly at the great-grandkids, and speaks to them in Norwegian, which none of them understand but he still feels is important to do.  I think it’s wonderful.