Here We Go Again

We have done it again, volunteered to watch the children of our friends while they are out of town for 9 days. So in addition to my own rowdy two we are adding 2 and1/2 year old twin boys. Yes that's right 4 boys; 3 toddlers and a preschooler! Sometimes I think I must be insane. But really we are glad to help a friend. So for the next week either I will be totally MIA having hidden in a cave to get away during any free time I may have, or you may read an amusing account here and there of the next week. One thing I have learned, having done this before is that mothers of more than 2 children are AMAZING! So I know we will get through it with lots prayer and humble reliance.
This is day 1 and the twins will be getting off the school bus in about 30 seconds so wish me luck.

Wildlife Rescuers

Today started out almost normal, apparently too normal. First I learned I was trying to be swindled by (big surprise) the service station of my car dealership. Last week I was in there for something really small and warranty related, they asked if I wanted to go ahead and get my state safety inspection done as it was due for renewal, I thought "how convenient, kill two birds with one stone." Well they came back and told me that my front brake pads would not pass inspection and it would cost $175.00 parts and labor to put on new brake pads. I knew I could do it for less locally so I declined and they put this big pink "REJECTION" sticker on my windshield where my inspection sticker would go. I know it was really not that big a deal, but it never feels good to get something like that. So Zach took the van down to a place down the street where we know the guys, and they told him the brake pads were fine and nowhere near in need of replacement, and so they passed me and took off the "REJECTION" sticker and put the regular one on. That was a relief.
Then we were all sitting downstairs after breakfast and we heard a loud thud from the fireplace, it was a bird. It was flapping and freaking out clawing and getting stuck on the mesh screen. There are now bird droppings on the inside of the fireplace door, good times. So the bird was struggling terribly and we realized we had 3 choices: 1) we could just wait it out and hope that it either flies out or kicks the bucket quickly (neither of which were likely)
2) we could try and catch it as quickly as possible (difficult and messy)
3) we could toss a lit fire log in there and see what happens (yuck, shouldn't have even thought about that one!)
So we chose the most humane, practical and messy solution, Zach bravely got almost entirely inside the fireplace and extracted the very frightened little bird, it was a good thing he was wearing big gloves, and let it go outside. I guess it could have been worse. I do not really wish to have "really uneventful" days anymore, because they start out that way, but always end up going entirely in the opposite direction!

Excuses, Excuses

Okay, I can admit, I am the worlds worst procrastinator. Maybe not the worst but at least in the top 10%. And I can also admit that it most likely coinsides with a small amount of laziness. But really why do today what you can put off to tomorrow. Why not play another game of sudoku, when what you could do doesn't really absolutely have to be done for another hour? That is just kinda the way I live my life. Take laundry, for instance, yes I could do a load every day and never get overwhelmed with it. But why not just wait until nobody in the house has any underwear and I can't see the laundry room floor (making sure to close the laundry room door of course because at any point one of those items could sprout legs and start taking over the living room!) Then you embark on a 12 load in 1 day marathon and get so burnt out on laundry that you never want to do it again, until nobody has any underwear and you can't see the laundry room floor. Now really what is the problem with that? You can probably tell by now, that this theory does not just apply to laundry but really everything, I have just kind of always been this way.

But I think I may have turned a corner, last week it was cold and rainy, (I absolutely hate having to take the kids out in that kind of weather, the jackets, the car seats, no fun) I woke up feeling like doing anything (even laundry) except going to the gym, but I did it anyways. I just sucked it up and went, and of course I was glad that I did, I always feel better when I do.

So maybe I have changed my ways...... But then again this was last week and I have been meaning to post it since it happened. Oh well at least the laundry is done!

Can We Put This In Writing?

I Think I need to teach Calvin how to sign his name, I also think I should keep contracts on hand to hold him to things that he says. He keeps telling me all these things that he is going to do when he grows up and I really think we should have some kind of contract so we can remember them when he is grown up.
One of the things he has done is plan out all the kinds of birthday parties he wants for the next 15 years. I just think it would be terribly funny if I made him have a Backyardigans birthday party when he is 19, or I threw him a monster truck themed party when he is 25.
The other night we were in the car and he said "when I grow up and you get the van dirty I will come over with a carpet cleaner and keep it clean for you." Well I think that is a fantastic idea, I asked him if he would remember that when he grows up, he said he would. I told him that it would be good for him to take care of mom and dad when we are old.
He also said that when he grows up he is going to be a house builder, and he would come and build us a new house. He said it would be one that is bigger than this and nicer than this one.
These are all fantastic notions, I just want to find a way to make it legally binding! Wouldn't that be nice if he really did all that with all the enthusiasm and joy that he talks about it with now?

So Attractive

So when I am sick this how I feel, when I am hacking coughing and blowing my nose, I feel entirely unattractive. This clip always pops into my head.

Can't win

So pretty much all of last week I was out with the FLU (read like Elrond saying Mt Doom), I finally started to feel better Saturday. Monday I got a sinus infection, it felt like somebody had taken cement and injected it into my face. Good times! Needless to say I have not gotten out much in the past 2 weeks, the most I have gotten to do is clean my van! Calvin had the flu as well and yada yada yada I had to rent a rug doctor to steam clean the car.

Anyways, about a month or so ago I read a review of a restaurant in the paper that I really wanted to try. The day I read it I told Zach we should try it, I told him on several other occcasions as well. Fast forward to Tuesday, I was talking to a friend and she was telling me how they have gone to said restaurant and enjoyed it. I mentioned it to Zach later and he said "yeah, that place is good I have been there." Okay, I will admit that I was bummed. Maybe a little more bummed than I should have been. But it always bothers me, his life seems so much more fun, as I picture it he is out at a fun restaurant, with felllow adults, while I am eating PB&J discussing the finer points of Sesame Street and monster trucks with a preschooler. Well, maybe a slight exageration, but I can't help but be slightly envious of him. I know that it isn't right, and that things will change as the kids get older, and I will probably miss these times. It just always seems like the grass is greener on his side.
It is quite apparent that I need to be more content, and most of the time I really enjoy where I am. It is just so easy to slip into that sort of mindset and let it really snowball. Contentment is not easy.