Surgery Day...

Yesterday began at 5:30 in the morning for us. My husband stayed home with the older 3 kids, so they could sleep in. The baby and I left the house at 6:15 and arrived at the surgery center at 6:30. By 7:15 he was in surgery and my stomached ached. You would think by four children it would get easier...but it doesn't.

Within, 25 minutes they were done. Ear tubes were in and adenoids were out. (Before this moment, I couldn't even tell you where those things were located...much less did I want to know how they came out). The doctor appeared to say that everything went well...did he notice that I was about to cry? Ten more minutes went by and I was allowed to see him. My tears flowed as I sang to him his favorite lullaby as he screamed. Nope, this doesn't get any easier...this whole parenting thing.

By 8:30 we were home and I laid down with a groggy little boy who wouldn't let me go more than 2 feet from him for the rest of the day. I'm sure if he had asked for a pony I would have given in. Personally, I'm glad it's over - simple procedure or not...it's never easy to go through. I'm glad to say though that today is a new day and my happy little boy is coming back to me.

From the desk of the CEO of domestic affairs...

I feel like I have all but given up on updating our blog everyday...it's just too hard to sit down with four VERY ACTIVE children in the house. Plus, it's summer for us and we rarely stay in the house, we are always going and doing something. So with two children asking "what's for dinner?" and two children playing right below my feet....I'm going to have to be quick with an update. Here goes...

-Soccer ended on a high note for our smallest little girl scoring several goals this year...yeah for her!!!


-With soccer ending swim team training began for the oldest two (actually it's a non-competitive swim team, but we hope that they can join the competitive one later)...so everyone is swimming up a storm here, twice a week.

-Gymnastics training is once a week for the girls (but between you and me...I'm hopeful it's a sport we can give up soon...terribly expensive).

-The older kids just finished a two day science and engineering camp up at Iowa State University.





The crying has begun from the little one below my feet so I've got to get faster....


-The dog has survived two years with all these kids...Happy Birthday you four legged one - good luck holding your own with now four kids ( I only thought she was hyper-active)

-Our baby has reached the "toddler stage" and now RUNS through the house...cabinet locks here we come...oh, goody.

-We leave in a week for a quick trip to Chicago and then onto Kentucky to spend time with my husband's family.


-And finally...as of today I have caught SEVEN chipmunks and one is awaiting his destination in the trap outside the front door....a big ol' fat UGH!!!!







O.k., the crying below my feet is now too loud to be ignored and dinner can no longer be put on the back burner so it's off to my "Mom job" and my "quiet time" (whatever that means) is over.

So from the desk of the CEO of domestic affairs...I'm signing off for now...

And don't come back now ya hear...

Alright, so you know I've been having some chipmunk "issues" here in my garden. I caught the first chipmunk and was overjoyed. I had read somewhere that chipmunks are notorious for coming back to their homes even over long distances. With that in mind, we took the first one with us on our way to Costco (several miles away and over the interstate) that day and released him telling him loudly..."they got more food than they know what to do with so stay here and enjoy yourself."

The second chipmunk took three days to catch and when we finally did get him we took him to our gymnastics classes (even further down the interstate and over the river). We told him that "they've got exercise classes here so he could enjoy himself just fine".

Three more days went by without any problems...and then. Yesterday, there was a half eaten strawberry in my garden. Oh no you did not come back. This had better be your brother or cousin or somethin'. Because I'm pretty sure I told you...and don't come back now ya hear.

What do I do with it now?...

For the past few weeks (and probably all of last summer) I have been dealing with a tiny little garden nuisance called a chipmunk. Some people think these things are quite cute. Obviously those people have never had to deal with coming down to their garden only to find many much awaited strawberries partly eaten. It was like the chipmunk said to himself..."Nope, not this one. How does this one taste? Nope, this one's too tart, how about this one?" Frustrating for all of us since there is nothing like the taste of fresh strawberries.

Now, it wasn't just the strawberries this creature had gotten into. This weekend I have been staining our deck and left a bag of bird seed among the flower pots on the ground. The next morning...man, what a mess! Bird seed everywhere. That was the last straw for me...

So I took it upon myself as a challenge. Last night, I set a trap to catch it (actually it was a store-bought trap) and baited it with bird seed...apparently they really like that stuff. Lo and behold...it worked. I got me a chipmunk. YES!!!!!

After about two seconds of rejoicing I look and see yet one more problem....there are two of them. UGH!!!! This one had a buddy trying to break him out of his jail cell. As the two seemingly communicated their plans as I watched from the window it finally dawned on me one important fact about this entire fiasco I had overlooked in catching a chipmunk...what do I do with it now?

The eagle has landed...

The eagle has landed. I saw that on a movie once as they were talking about someone really important finally showing up somewhere or another. (Obviously, I don't watch too many movies, or at least I'm much too tired to remember it exactly) My point is that Daddy made it back. He had to stop in at work for a while, but at least he's a quick drive away. The kids are overjoyed and our smallest little girl can't wait to show him her new little secret. Yesterday, she learned to ride her bike without any training wheels. Yep...she really did it. Way to go my little girl!

Day two flying solo...

Well, I made it through yesterday. That's about all I can say. Don't even ask me how much I got accomplished...unless there is a world record for just about nothing.

So today I awoke with a new day, a fresh start and a new tactic on how to approach the day and NOT lose my sanity. Knowing that there will be no "relief troops" coming home today, I decided that I would forget any notion of getting much done around the house, so we left and spent the morning at a local park. My goal...wear them out.

At lunchtime we chose to grab lunch out and bring it home (why dirty up a kitchen I would not be able to clean later). After lunch the older kids relaxed a little and the baby got in a much needed nap, which left me some precious "ALONE TIME". I headed outside to do some gardening. Now, we are all up, alert and refreshed (o.k., maybe refreshed isn't the word I want considering we are back outside sweating and playing).

Come to think of it, I'm on the homeward stretch now. Just a few hours until bath time and bedtime...I just might make it and this time with all my sanity intact. Tomorrow the relief troops come home and life gets back to normal...whatever that is

The homing device...

My husband leaves today for a business trip, so for the rest of the week I'll be flying solo. And to tell you the truth, I've already called my husband once to tell him that I'm going back to work when he returns (that really only happens on the "VERY" trying days). You see this morning, the baby, I believe, has attached a homing device to me with about a three foot radius on it.

Here's how it goes... for the moment everything is going fine, I'm toting our little one around trying to clean up the house. Oh, I put him down to put away some dishes. Out goes the bottom lip and the tears begin to fall. As of now, no sound is coming out. I step outside of the three foot radius of his device and oh, have mercy...you would have thought he was the most mistreated individual. Step back inside the radius, and the sound goes away but the tears still fall. Pick him up and everything in his world is right again.

Yes...this has been my morning. So today, I don't get to go very far from my little shadow. By now, you are probably wondering how in the world I even was able to post this blog. Well, it's an amazing thing really...it's called nap time...my favorite time today