The Day After the Next Day

You know, if I read my own blog I'd know which day it was supposed to be. Yesterday was such a blur. All the beautiful spring weather and my mother coming to visit gave me two reasons to want my house to be sparkly clean. Clutter is not the big things that can be easily picked up (or shoveled). Clutter is all the little things that congregate at the edges: Legos, crumbs, bits of paper, pebble of mysterious origins. The children managed to get the big stuff out of the way. I spent all my time tackling the details. It is easy to get lost in the details.

The girls had an extra room to do. They had a mud party. Holy cow! They were covered head to toe with mud. They certainly enjoyed themselves. I made them hose down outside before they came inside, but still, there was a lot of mud. They managed to get it all over the bathroom. I was assured they would clean up the mess. I think I want a refund on that guarantee.

Mom and Chandler arrived safely. I'm always glad to have my family visit. I wish Mom could stay longer. She is leaving this afternoon. I'm a little worried about her travelling. There is snow in the forecast. Snow! In Texas! In March! The weather weirdness continues. I'm glad I didn't put all my plants out this week. The weather seemed perfect for it, but I'm glad I waited.

Day Five

Tonight the girls decided would be a great night for a camp out. Daniel helped to set up the tent. They took the sleeping bags out. Elizabeth packed. Not sure what she needed to pack. They were just in the backyard. All seemed to be going well until Daniel decided to act like a boy and make scary noises outside the tent. E came in first. Elizabeth next. Now Hannah is trying to talk Daniel into staying in the tent with her. She doesn't want to stay out there by himself.

Day..uh..Four. Yeah. It's Day Four.

So, at the beginning of our grand adventure with E this week, I fully envisioned getting things done. I'd keep us all on track with chores and school work. Ha! The reality check was today. I can't say we accomplished nothing. We did the dishes. The kids spent most of the day outside in the sunshine. It started with a picnic. The picnic just never ended. I did mention to the children that we should get some of our lessons done. E replied that they were doing P.E. outside. Well. She was right and, honestly, I was tired today.

I do enjoy watching the kids outside. They seem to get so much just from the sunshine. They ran. They played. They looked for bugs and flowers. The boys pestered the girls. The girls pestered the boys right back. I regret that I didn't spend more time out there with them. I get too worried about dirty dishes and laundry. Seriously, it will still be there. Tomorrow I will ignore it and just go play.

Day Three, or Why Are There Sequins in my Bathtub?

We all slept in late this morning. I'm blaming daylight savings. Everything is just out of whack. Made pancakes even though Hannah wanted waffles. Pancakes are just quicker and E wanted pancakes. Good girl. She helped Hannah and I pick up trash that some critter had scattered. We managed to get it all out to the street before pick-up. I really needed a bath after that. It was icky.

There were sequins in my bathtub. Four of them. One purple. Two blue. One white. They were slightly chewed. I have no idea where they came from or how they found their way into my tub or why they were chewed. I'm not sure I want to know. Just a random event. Random events tend to happen with children. Like finding a half-eaten box of cookies under the bed or legos in your shoe. I rather enjoy them.

Day Two

I hate the first week of daylight savings time. Maybe even the first two weeks. That's about how long it takes me to adjust. I don't mind the illusion of more daylight. I just don't like making the transition. I didn't get out of the house until 7:30 this morning. Everything but my clock seemed to move in slow motion. It was nearly lunchtime when I got back home.

Our guest hadn't seen High School Musical whatever number it was. Honestly, I can't tell the difference. Maybe I'm past the age of HSM discernment. Hannah decided to put the movie on instead of getting chores done this morning. Daniel was the only one actually working and he was not doing that with much grace. He spent a good portion of the day grumping at everyone that was not performing to his standard.

The boys did manage to finish their chores. While they didn't do a perfect job, it was enough that they got to spend the night at the Martin's tonight. The girls were a different story. Chores were not done so well. We ran out of dishwasher detergent and apparently the dish liquid irritates their delicate skin. I really didn't have the time or inclination to fight them too much on this today. I was already dealing with sick kids and sick husband.

Oh, did I mention that Kermit was having some intestinal distress today? Could he have timed it worse? Not that he really has any control, but we have a visitor. No one is supposed to be sick this week. Elizabeth and Jacob seem to have colds. I'm really, really hoping that E doesn't get sick. I'm really, really hoping that whatever Kermit has is not contagious. We just can't get sick right now. There never is a good time to get sick, but this week is just farther into the realm of 'not good'.

P.S. Kaysie and the baby were released from the hospital. They are staying at Dad's house for now. Still waiting on Jamie.

Day One

Yesterday, my sister Kaysie had a baby. Her name is Kaydin. She weighed a little over 6 pounds and measured 18 inches long. My dad sent me a couple of pictures. She is lovely. Nice chubby cheeks. Babies should have chubby cheeks. I did really want to be there. It is at moments like this that I wish the families lived closer. Now we are waiting on Jamie's baby.

My friend's daughter is spending the week with us. She'll be with us for the week. So far, so good. But any child can be good for one day. I'm sure it will be a bit of a culture shock for her. She is an only child. Now she is in a house with many children. She is sharing. Sharing chores. Sharing space. Sharing time. It's not anything I've thought about too much. We have kids and it just is what it is. My friend must have thought about it. She told me to include her daughter in the chores.