Amazing...

My children are sitting on the floor together playing with Legos. Fairly quietly. Moments like this are few.. Usually a fight breaks out right from the start...I dare not even grab the camera.. Why ruin a good thing?

What seemed like a good idea...

Sunday after the Multiples club Easter party we went and met the in laws for a quick dinner. We headed home and took a detour up Wise ave and Michael thought the kids might like to feed the ducks at Price Park some of the leftover PBJ's we had. So we stop. No one else was there b/c they were smart enough to realize IT WAS FREEZING! I bundle the kids up and divvy out sammies. Andrew enjoys throwing entire sandwiches at a duck then CHASING it and screaming DUCK at the tops of his lungs. We were not sure who to be concerned for a) The duck that might get smooshed by him OR b) Andrew who might be bitten by a ticked off duck. So we yelled at him to STOP harassing the poor ducks. But he stayed near enough the parking lot so he was fine. Ben was feeding and chasing but not quite as obnoxious as Andrew. Madeline was doing a good job of feeding and entertaining but started to wander. So after having to focus on Andrew and his duck chasing we notice Maddie has ventured TOO close to the pond. She was standing right next to it. Not ON the wall but next to it. For most 4 year olds this might not be too much of an issue BUT Madeline is special. She often times cannot stand on her own two feet on flat ground without losing her balance and tripping over the air in front of her..SO we yell at her to step back a few jumps. She yells back "I'm fine" we yell again to MOVE BACK. she finally does. At the exact moment that she has moved back into a safer spot Ben comes running out of nowhere towards her pretending to chase a duck. As he gets closer to the pond he makes a turn to keep running back towards the parking lot..... BUT......He hits a muddy puddle.. that was not so much a MUD puddle but a POOP puddle.. Yep.. duck poo... total body slide. The kind that would win him accolades and great rewards in the baseball diamond but NOT so much in this situation. He gets up and is covered. Michael and I look at each other and all I can say is " guess he IS getting a bath tonight." I open the van and grab my pack of diaper wipes and antibacterial wipes. 1. I make him wipe his hands about 10 times. After each wipe he tosses that into the trash and gets another wipe. 2. I carefully remove the poop coat and offer more wipes. 3. I have him remove his shoes which I lay IN the poop coat. 4. I lift him into the van and make him remove his pants( his only worn twice khakis). We go home- obviously we are not dressed to go anywhere else at this time...So we get home and I make everyone strip in the laundry room. I dumped my LAST scoop of Oxyclean,2 scoops of Borax and a LOT of super hot water into a large pot I use for soaking stuff like this. I put in Maddies tights and both boys khakis into the bucket and use a hanger to push it all in to be soaked. The rest of the night was full body scrubs and bedtime routines... I left the laundry to soak. So the goal of today was to wash poopy coat, poopy clothing, my own jacket( just in case) and the party clothing which all managed to have Easter colored paint on it. Michelle- I question the washable -ness of the pink paint.. I think you were lied too!

Exhaustion...week in review

Michael was traveling this past week. I never sleep great when he is gone. For one I stay up too late because that is the ONLY time I have peace and quiet. Then I end up sleeping like crap because I actually have the entire bed to myself and the room is quiet. SO I guess you can say I have grown accustomed to listening to snoring and farting and fighting for my leg room...LOL



So he left on Monday afternoon and drove to Columbus and returned Thursday night. He was coming in at dinner time so I was able to plan and prepare a nice dinner. I don't waste my time putting a lot of effort into meals when he is gone- no one appreciates it! I actually use weeks he is gone to play Mother Hubbard and use whatever we have in the freezer, fridge and pantry all up. Saves money and keeps me creative! LOL

So Monday night after a quick dinner we had to head to the mall. If you read the previous post you already know Ben ruined his shoes with duck poo.. They were already starting to fall a part I found out so it was time to replace anyway. So we hit SEARS and grabbed a new pair of Sketchers then we went upstairs to use the potty (duh) and then I actually found a few deals on the clearance rack. ( It is about time they started to actually use clearance prices and not just a few dollars off). Grabbed a few dresses for next winter for Maddie- although now I question if they will be long enough then for Miss. Leggs ( bought a 5 and a 6!). Andrew has a handful of jackets from Ben but they all seem small on him. I grabbed a beautiful fleece lines jacket for him for 3.99! Bought it in a 5 so it will fit all fall on my *little* man! Ben's sizes were slim picking but I managed to grab a long sleeved shirt for next year and a pair of pants for next year also. I also grabbed a hat/glove/scarf set for 2.99. I really should go back and buy a few more. Or maybe I should go to the school and find all the matches to the ones I have singles of here...

Pretty much the rest of the week was uneventful. Worked around the house, Library time, homework and playing outside after school. Evenings are the pain in the neck with nice weather. Dragging the kids in to make dinner, eat that, give baths, pick up the bedrooms/living room/kitchen and get everyone into bed before it is totally dark outside.. For this reason alone I cannot wait until summer.

The kids were so excited that Daddy was coming home on Thursday. I had Sweet potatoes baking in the oven, chicken thawed to grill, bread rising to be baked. Michael got home and pulled into the driveway. I yelled at the kids( who were scattered all over the neighborhood) to come home daddy was home. Ignored. I think he was home almost 20m before I managed to drag everyone and their bikes home...Welcome home daddy...LOL

So now it is Saturday. I need to finish his work clothing laundry and get that dried and ready to repack b/c he leaves again on Monday. This time I have EVERYONE all day, all week due to spring break. I am already planning my days to keep everyone busy and off each others nerves....