My Weekend As A Mother of 6

I have to say it has been better than I expected. Just the other day I was sitting on the floor playing with Teddy and listening to Lizzy practice her piano. The others were happily playing and their laughter was reverberating throughout the house. I actually said to myself- "Self, I think you could do this". Two days later, not so much. Nothing major, but WOW 6 kids can drain the life right out of you. I am exhausted. It probably doesn't help that I have two kids in diapers that need to be changed every other second. The girls are.. girls. They get along like I did with my sisters- playing nicely one second and fighting the next. Luckily everyone else is getting along with each other- that is everyone except Ted. I think both of the boys are anxious for him to leave. I must say- he does NOT play well with others. He will chase them and actually try to gnaw off their arms with those sharp little teeth. Will has had a look of horror in his face a couple of times.

Against my better judgment I agreed to cart said children to 9:00 am church! We successfully made it and everyone was appropriately dressed. Luckily the girls were available and willing to help. Their grandparents live here part of the year so they were available to help wrangle kids during sacrament. They were really good.

My favorite things:

• Lizzy teaching Lulu to play Mary Had a Little Lamb on the piano.
• Zoe reading stories to all of them before bedtime.
• John and Lulu making roads of dirt on the patio.
• Will giggling like crazy when I sing made up songs to him.
• Teddy chasing after the other kids in his crazy zombie like walking style.

My least favorite things:

• Changing another freaking diaper. What are these kids eating?
• Sister DRAMA. Can't we all just get along.
• Lulu peeing on the floor at Grandma and Grandpa's house. ARE YOU KIDDING?
• I can't go anywhere because who am I kidding? 4 kids under the age of 5 isn't conducive to anything. Therefore, I've been rationing my diet cokes. I'm getting a little low. Maybe this would be a good time to quit?
  

Five for Friday

1. I'm in California. We took the kids to Disneyland with my brother-in-law and sister. My other sister and her family flew in as well. We had a great time although the weather was RIDICULOUSLY HOT! (I realize that is funny coming from someone that lives in Texas.)

2. I have started the second portion of my trip. I'm babysitting my girlfriend's 4 children (I have an 11, 8, 4, 4, 2, 1 year old). Her husband surprised her with a trip to see the "fall colors" back east for 10 days. He has been planning this little extravaganza for almost a year and kept it quiet until Wednesday night. She had about 24 hours to pack and take care of anything he forgot, although he took care of everything. I'm here until Tuesday and then his mother flies in for the remaining 4 days.

3. Teddy is a walking machine. He has gotten progressively better this last week or so.

4. I miss Adam.

5. My girlfriend doesn't have a television, so I've been getting some reading done. I'm so embarrassed by the lack of books I've read on the 100 list, that I need to get cracking.

**sorry, no pictures. I don't have my computer.

Thank Heavens It's Monday

I got your attention didn't I?

We had a HIGHLY eventful weekend. We had little Jonah at our house over the weekend while his parents were out of town. He came over on Thursday morning and was scheduled to stay until Saturday night. We went to the park, and the local arboretum, and had a great time. It is a little strange to take care of a child at a different age than Lulu- especially since I have totally forgotten what each stage entails. Strange- no?

My girlfriend offered to watch both Lulu and Jonah for a couple of hours on Saturday. Adam and I returned a couple of things, had a nice little lunch, FINALLY bought my Valentine's gift at Crate and Barrel and enjoyed the time together. It has been a long time since we have spent an afternoon together. When I was working we went to lunch fairly regularly, but have fallen out of the habit.

We had Stake Conference this weekend so I offered to babysit for the adult session because I wasn't going to be able to go. Maren and Sam came to play and they had a great time. The kids tried to play with the train, but were unhappy when Jonah kept knocking over the VERY LONG bridge. I tried to explain to them that he was a little younger and didn't mean to knock it over and that because they were a little older they needed to be patient with him. Sam let me know that he would love to play with Jonah when he got a little older, they could play trains. It was really sweet.

We got a phone call from Jonah's mom and dad that their flight was cancelled and they would not be able to fly in until Sunday morning. A couple of hours later they called and said they were stuck and wouldn't make it until Sunday night. Great- no big deal. The only issue- we would have to take both kiddos to Stake Conference- YIKES.

We made it to Stake Conference and the kids did GREAT. I was so happy they were good. We got home for lunch and got a call that Jonah's mom and dad were stranded and would not be making it back until Monday morning. What a freaking nightmare. It was just a bad situation all around, but it all worked out and this morning they picked up the little guy. I think he was glad to go home and out of this nut house. Although it was a little longer than we planned, it actually was okay and I was glad that they didn't have to worry about the little guy.

I'll be busy planning our ward activity this week. We are having an ADULT ONLY ice cream social. Yeah- I got some serious flak (sp?) over that little one, but I really think it is important to have activities just for adults. I know it is a babysitting nightmare, but really- I gave everyone 3 weeks to make arrangements, so I don't feel that bad.

Would you be annoyed if there was an adult only activity?