Memory...

...foam, that is!

My girl Jen and her man are moving to Appleby (one of my favorite villages) and got a new bed and mattress. We've acquired their old one. We went over yesterday to help load it in their little trailer, and discovered that it is a memory foam mattress. And the greatest, and funniest, part about it is, Jen had no idea. They've been sleeping on the wrong side of that mattress since they got it. So it's memory foam that has never really been used.

It's an English king size, which is an American queen. We've been sleeping on a double bed since we moved here. This is 6 inches bigger, and though it doesn't sound like much it really does make a big difference. Especially when the whole family is lying in bed in the morning. Martin was so excited to sleep on the new mattress that we slept on it last night, even though we don't have a bed frame that it fits on and the only sheets that are big enough have a hole in them. And you know what? Even resting on bare floorboards that mattress was nicer than our old one! It is so comfy!

Now we just need to acquire all the necessary bed linens, etc. I've posted a "wanted" ad on Freecycle and have already had several responses. So far I've found us a bed frame which needs a minor repair and a duvet cover and pillowcases. Now we just need a couple sets of sheets and the actual duvet. But I wanted some new sheets anyway, and now I can put my nicest sheets on the bed in the guest room. I'm thinking that if I hold out for a few days I may be able to get all the linens off Freecycle. Man, Freecycle rocks.

Possibly of more interest to my mom--Edith and I had a little conversation yesterday. It was kind of exciting, because it was the first one we've ever had. I got her out of her high chair after lunch, and held her up next to the mirror on the dining room wall. I said, "Who's that? Is that Edith?" She said, "baby." I said, "Who else is there?" She said, "mama." Then she started waving to herself and saying "bye bye, baby!"

Cute, huh?

Ok, so basically those are nearly all the words she knows. Still, it was adorable. And Dylan got a late start talking, and now we can't shut him up. I'm not concerned about Edith's speeech development at all!

Speaking of Dylan, he was very naughty at school yesterday. His teacher told me that he had "made poor choices" all day at school and that he had to "stand outside" quite a few times. To be honest, I had expected it. He woke up an hour early yesterday and was incredibly tired. I warned his teacher when we dropped him off that he was very tired so would likely be hyper and a handful. I'm glad I gave them advance notice. We had a little chat with him on our walk home about being a nice boy and doing what his teacher told him to do. Part of me was glad that he was naughty at school, because he'd been a pain in the backside all morning. At least he was like that with everybody, not just me. He took a nearly 2 hour nap in the afternoon, and still went to sleep at 7pm and slept until 6am.

Work on the quiet books is going well. I'm currently making bee wings. I'm doing a flowers and bees page, and it is by far the most intricate page of the whole book. Plus I am making two of them. One for each kid. The five bees each are black felt with yellow ribbon stripes and wings made out of lace. I got all the stripes sewn on last night, and got one set of wings done. The bees will snap on to flowers, and will be stored in a little beehive pouch when not in use. I'm having so much fun making these silly books. Parts of the project are boring, but selecting the trimmings and doing the finishing work is more fun than I thought it would be. I can hardly wait to give the kids the finished product for Christmas.

Martin actually got his full day off yesterday, though he did have to go cash out and lock up in the evening. It was so nice to have him home all day, especially with Dylan being difficult. I couldn't have coped if it weren't for him! Thank goodness I am part of a parenting team instead of trying to go it alone. I have so much respect for single mothers--how on earth do they do it?

Wow, this has turned into a long and rambling post. I didn't think I had much to say when I started posting this morning. Just raving about our new mattress. Now I can't stop typing. I'd better get some breakfast made though. fingers crossed for a better day with handsome Dylan!