News Flash!!

Stop the Presses!

I have found my laundry room floor!! (Being stuck at home with a sick child for 4 days does have its advantages!)

On the other hand...I can't seem to find my bed!

(I'll never forget complaining to my MIL about my never-ending laundry pile. I said, "You had six children! How did you keep up with the laundry??" She replied calmly, "Well I just put the clothes in the washer and pushed "On." The washing machine did the rest." )

So today I'm thanking God for washing machines, dryers, and four healthy children who can all put away their own clothes!

This Bud's For You

This morning, M was shaving and I walked in the bathroom. He had a funny look on his face and asked, "Why is there a Budweiser on the bathtub?" I explained to him that after the ordeal with KitKat trying to take her medicine, I needed something to take the edge off, so I had a bubblebath with a Budweiser! (I know this makes my mom really proud...there was no wine, champagne, or even a BudLight. So I took what I could get!)

(FYI, there was a repeat performance of yesterday's post last night at 1 a.m. You know...medicine, gagging, suppositories, crying, pleading, yelling).

Have a great day!

Sick and Tired

God gave me KitKat to keep me humble, because I was well on my way to writing a book on "How to be the Perfect Parent." My first two children are naturally obedient and eager to please. Their number one goals in life are to please Jesus (well, at least that's AA's) and to please their mom and dad. No joke. So you can imagine how great I thought I was at parenting. I thought that they were this way because I had raised them to be this way. I looked down on parents whose children didn't listen, talked back, didn't eat healthy foods, or didn't take their medicine.

Then God gave me Kit Kat.

And the rest is history.

I have been on my knees ever since - every day, sometimes twice a day, and occasionally...all day!

I adore that child, but she is tough! Most days I feel like I'm in uncharted territory. Her will is strong, her personality is strong, her demeanor is demanding! And I am totally lost!

Today is a perfect example. She ran a 103 degree fever most of the day. Dog gone it! That meant I needed to give her medicine! No!! Help!! I paged M. He didn't call back. KitKat slept most of the afternoon. I paged M again. Thank goodness he called back. "Get home, please. KitKat needs medicine and it will be a two-man operation." He came home. He said, "KitKat, it's time to take your medicine." I laughed to myself because I knew what was coming. "NO! I'm not taking that medicine." He has met his match! But she has met hers! She gagged as she tasted the pink bubblegum flavored medicine. 30 seconds later her head was in the toilet. So M crushed up a grape tablet in the apple juice and handed it to KitKat. She refused to drink it. M lost his patience and said, "Get on the bed. You're getting a suppository." She looked at me with the fear in her eyes. M said, "Come on." KitKat screamed, and I hate to admit it, but I was on the verge of dying laughing! In a last ditch effort to get her to take her medicine orally, I pleaded with her, "Kat, drink this right now so you won't have to put your medicine in your bottom." "I'll drink it - I'll drink it!", she sobbed. So she sat on the edge of the tub. I sat next to her. And M got comfortable (see photo above). She wasn't going anywhere til she drank that medicine. So we sat. And she sipped. And sipped. And sipped. And sipped . Finally, she was towards the bottom of the cup, where the majority of the medicine was concentrated. Then she started gagging (of course)! Then she ran to the toilet and threw it all up. The drama! The hurling! The noise! The coughing!

M said to her while her head was in the toilet, "When you're finished, I'm giving you a suppository." She replied, "Can you bring me a chair in here? It's gonna take a long time."

Me? What was I doing? Trying not to laugh but not succeeding! (oh yeah, and I took a picture).

So we brought out the suppositories. 45 minutes later, we were done.

I'm beat! M left for a meeting. And KitKat is no longer running a fever to she's running around like a wild Indian. I think I liked it better when she had a fever (Did I really just write that!?!?)

(I had to take a break from typing this so that I could feed the kids. This is what I walk into: KitKat says,"Mom, they don't believe me that I had to take my medicine in my crack." AAA and L'il Man asked simultaneously, "Did she really?" I replied, "She really did." Then KitKat added, just for kicks, "Dad had to stick his finger in my bootie." Y'all I swear I try to keep this G-rated, but my kids won't let me!)

Now We're Talkin'!

It just doesn't get any better than this!

Warning - Adult Content (eventhough my kids said it!)

The other day AAA started telling me a story, "Mom, today I hit Scott in the balls on the playground..." and she continues. When she finally finishes her story, I said, "I can't believe you just told me that story." "What??" she asks innocently. I replied, "Now tell me the story again." She continued, "Today on the playground I hit Scott with the balls..." "Oooh," I say. "What?", she asked. Then she gets it, "Mooommmm. .. I know what you think I said. You're so gross!" We laugh and that's the end of it...at least for an hour. Later we were in the car. AAA was in the very back row and she yells to me in the front, "Mom, does Will know?" I reply, "Does he know what?" She says again, "You know. " Then she whispers as loud as she can (!), "That he has balls." Will perks up and replies, nonchalantly, "Of course I know I have balls!" AAA then asks, innocently, "What are they for anyway?" Will replies, "For collecting your pee!"

It's a laugh a minute around here!

Oops!

The other day I said a "bad word" in the car in front of my four children. A college student (I am sure!) pulled out in front of me and I slammed on breaks to keep from wrecking the new Mini-Van. It was a four letter word. As soon as I said it, I said to the children, "Mommy just said a very bad word and I'm very sorry. I shouldn't have said it and I never want you to say it." L'il Man replied, "I know one bad word, the "F" word." Gulp. Hoping that it was the "F" word that means the same as "toot", but bracing myself to hear something much worse, I asked, "What is the "F" word?" He replied, "Stupid." Oh Thank God. You see, L'il Man also has a hard time saying his "s" sounds, so apparently he had said, "I know one bad word, the "S" word." Unfortunately, I think I may have taught him a new "S" word.

Thankin' God today for sweet innocence!

You're gonna have fun whether you like it or not!

The reason that Sunshine is asleep in the middle of the floor at the hotel is because she passed out from sheer stress and exhaustion after having spent an hour in the same room as Cinderella's stepmother!

When M and I decided a few months ago that I would take the youngest two girls to Walt Disney World while he stayed home with the older two, Sunshine seemed to be genuinely upset at the idea of going to Disney World. We finally realized that it was because she was terrified that she might either see pirates or Cinderella's stepmother. I convinced her that we would not have any contact with pirates and assured her that we would not see Cinderella's stepmother. Then I made dinner reservations for us to eat with Cinderella and Prince Charming one night. We were just about to be seated when the host told us that he had a special guest for us that night...Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters!! Sunshine ran as fast as she could out of there! I chased her to the lobby of the hotel while at the same time looking back at the host and yelling, "We'll be O.kay. I'll be right back." Sunshine was crying and begging me not to take her into the restaurant. I assured her that it would be O.Kay and the stepmother would NOT come to our table. We went back inside the restaurant. Sunshine basically sat in my lap the whole time. I asked our server to please tell the stepmother and stepsisters to please skip our table, but apparently they didn't get the memo. Each of them made their way to our table and tried to get the girls to have their pictures taken with them. Sunshine didn't speak because she was so scared. Of course KitKat looked straight at the evil stepmother and said, "I'm not gonna have my picture taken with you 'cause you don't look cute!" Even I was was scared of the evil stepmother after that! Finally, we finished our dinner and left the restaurant. Within minutes, Sunshine was passed out! Bless her little heart. What kind of mommy am I ? I ought to be ashamed for making her eat dinner with the mean ole step-monster!

Sleep Tight.

This is what my bedroom looks like when M's on call and sleeps at the hospital! Arms and legs all over the place and no room for me (but I don't mind...I tiptoed upstairs and slept all by myself!).

Mom My Ride

I bought a new van yesterday. It's just a matter to time before it starts to look like my old van. This morning as I was driving through Star Bucks, I was on the phone with Mimi. The children asked for a doughnut. I said, "No, we aren't eating in Mommy's car." Mimi said, "What? How long do you think that's gonna last?" I replied, "At least the first 24 hours!" I remembered this video that someone sent me plast year and thought it would be appropriate for today.

Double Dare

My youngest sister dared me to post this.

I feel like I've already "exposed" myself to the blogosphere, so why not one more time?

When I was expecting baby #4, KitKat was only 6 months old. She was as demanding as a baby as she was a toddler and now a pre-schooler. AAA was 4 years old and my L'il Man was 3. In other words, I was worn OUT! So one afternoon, M and I were driving around and I was thinking about names for the baby. At that point, I didn't know if baby #4 was a girl or boy. M - his name is Mark - I just need to go ahead and tell you this because the story is not funny without you knowing this - likes "plain" names for boys, like Bob, David, Steve, Dan, Mike, John, etc. So I was thinking through his brothers' names - Philip, David, and John - and I said, "Hmm. I'm surprised you don't have a brother named Mark." He said, "It would be kind of redundant, don't you think?" And I thought to my tired, pregnant self, "Oh, does hehave a brother named Mark?", except I actually SAID IT OUT LOUD "Oh, do you have a brother named Mark?" He just looked at me. And all of a sudden I realized, my husband's name is Mark. True story.
The worst part of this story is that MARK DIDN'T LAUGH! I could have handled it if we had enjoyed a good laugh over this. But he did not laugh. It didn't stop me from laughing, but you can only gutt-laugh for so long until you start feeling embarrassed. Fortunately, we had a girl. And the one thing that I was sure of was my own name, so I didn't have to worry about naming her "Tiffany."

(If you don't understand the above post, it's not you. It's just that you are a man and you have never experienced the extreme exhaustion that settles into your bones when you are expecting a baby.)

P.S. Mimi thinks that I am "ruining my image" by posting this story, along with the previous post about the "17 second microwaved hotdog on white bread" that I ate while standing up and loading the dishwasher. I was just happy to hear that she thought I had an image to ruin! I'm just keeping it real!

So KitKat wet the bed the other night. In fact, it was Tuesday night. So Wednesday morning I put the fitted sheet and mattress cover in the washing machine. Then I cleaned the house because I had a PTA meeting at my house at noon. The meeting lasted until 2:00. After the meeting, I picked the kids up from school, came home, ate "lunch" (didn't have time because I was too busy cleaning and hosting), helped AAA with spelling and math, spent my 15 minutes a day trying to teach KitKat how to read, prepared dinner, cooked dinner, set the table, ate dinner, washed dishes, and bathed children. Then I remembered that KitKat's sheets were still in the washer. I'm not one of these moms who has several matching sets of sheets. I have one set of sheets per bed. When they are dirty, I wash them and put them right back on the bed (in theory!). So KitKat slept on the floor at the foot of my bed in her new sleeping bag.

Fast Forward. It's Thursday. I woke up, took the kids to school, went to the gym, hit all thrift stores in the Auburn/Opelika area trying to find 30 cheap vases for Teacher Appreciation Week, fixed lunch for KitKat and Sunshine (I ate a 17 second-microwaved hotdog on a piece of white bread while standing up and loading the dishwasher), spent my 15 minutes a day trying to teach KitKat to read, picked kids up from school, helped AAA with math and spelling, prepared dinner, cooked dinner, set the table, ate dinner, washed dishes, and bathed children. Then M asks, "Does KitKat have clean sheets on her bed?" I reply (nicely), "Oh. I was just about to ask if you could put them on her bed. They're clean and dry." He says, halfway serious, "Noooo." I looked at him like he had lost his mind and asked (not so nicely), "Why?? Because you've been at work all day and I've been watching Oprah and eating bon-bons?" He says - I mean he actually has the nerve to say -" I just thought that at some point in the last 48 hours you would have had a chance to wash her sheets and put them back on her bed." Oh no he ditt -in'! I won't tell you what I said next! And then what he said after that. And what I said after that. And guess who put the sheets on the bed (I'll give you a hint...it wasn't the lady who watched Oprah and ate bon-bons all day!).

So much to be thankful for...

Of course that is a posed picture...but still!

I'm pretty sure Lionel Richie didn't go to church...

"Easy like Sunday Morning"???? Well if that isn't an oxymoron...

What's easy about Sunday morning?! Like I said, I'm pretty sure Lionel Richie didn't go to church.

Let's take this morning, for example. AAA was easy, as always. But she's about the only one. (Although this morning, we locked the front door, started the car, and then looked around and realized that we had locked AAA in the house. ) Little Man can't stand his church shoes, but I insists that he wear them because they cost more than my shoes. So we start off, like we do every Sunday morning, arguing about his shoes. Guess who won? (Me). Sunshine is easy, except for the fact that she takes a fork and rakes them across her tights and creates a hole the size of my fist. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the hole until we were already church. Her daddy decided to TAPE the hole together. I'm not sure which was worse - the hole or the hole with tape on it. And KitKAt...well, where should I start? Should I just start with her suggesting that she couldn't carry her plate from the table to the sink because "it's too heavy." Or should I start with her complaining about her tights that itch her (along with her shirt and dress)?! Or when I suggested that we brush her hair and she insists that it has already been brushed. Or when we try to brush her teeth and she refuses to open her mouth because she's afraid that I'll brush her loose teeth? Or when she refuses to eat because she's afraid her loose teeth will fall out? Like I said... ain't nothin' easy about Sunday morning! I'm usually in a mood by the time we make it to the car. Everyone knows it. Typically they stay out of the way. But M had the nerve to say - on the way out of the door - "You sure do wait to the last minute." Is he crazy? Don't say that to mama on the way out of the door. Even the kids know better.

I'm just glad we get to go to church on Sunday mornings to ask God to forgive us for all of the sins we've committed on Sunday morning. Poor M, he has to ask God AND me to forgive him!

P.S. KitKat has a REALLY cute dress on under that blue jean jacket!

Seriously?

I just read a friend's blog that prompted me to steal her blog subject and use it as my own. Her question that she put out there was,"So what's the hardest part to you, of being a woman?" If you are a man, you may want to quit reading now. If you are a woman, join me! Let's see...where should we start? With child birth? Or maybe pregnancy? Which part of pregnancy? The weight gain? Or the morning sickness (some man coined the phrase "Morning sickness"...we know it's 24/7)? Remembering everyones birth dates, birth weights, social security numbers, shoe sizes, and food preferences (NewsFlash: Burger King now has a Kraft mac and cheese kids meal...thank you,God)? The never-ending carpool lines (while you're sitting on empty and have been all day)?
Or is it the constant interruptions "Mom, come wipe me. Mom. I didn't get any apple juice. Mom, can you come pour me some milk? Mom, you forgot to tuck me in. Mom, can you put my hair in a pony tail? Mom, where are my soccer cleats? I can't find my tennis shoes. Mom, we didn't read for 30 minutes. Mom, you forgot to test me on my spelling words. Mom, don't forget you said you'd help with the ice cream party at school tomorrow. Mom, can we go buy me some new jeans - these are too tight."

Okay I'll calm down. I just got a little carried away.

Or is it the gutt-wrenching conversations you have to have with your 8 year old little girl about why so-and-so was mean today. And you tell them that the first thing we're going to do is forgive them. Then we're going to pray for them. Then we're going to do something nice for them. How can I expect my eight year old to do this when I can't do it myself? I can't tell her that what I really want to do is call her momma right now and tell her to beat her little girl for making mine cry!

Or is it the NEVER-Ending cycle of laundry, making beds, cleaning bathrooms, and cooking dinner?! And I mean NEVER ENDING!

Or is is that you ask your 4 year old for just one bite of her Reese's peanut butter cup and she puts the whole thing in her mouth and you think to yourself,"Well never mind that I've cooked you breakfast, lunch, and dinner, wiped your bottom twice today, brushed your teeth, made your bed, kissed your boo-boo, and washed your hair."? I just wanted a little bite of that chocolate and you get teary-eyed just thinking about how great that would have tasted.

Or is it that you have to hide in your closet to eat your OWN Reese's peanut butter cup so that you won't have to share?

Or is it just the task of remembering every little thing for every little body in your family?
AA asked me today when her next dentist appointment was. I just looked at her and said, "The day after they give me the reminder call." Same way for my hair cut appointment. And any other appointment. If I don't get a reminder call, I don't even feel guilty for being a "no-show". Which also reminds me, I can't get my hair cut at "Envision" because I was a "no-show" twice in a row, and as my friend told me, "Delana doesn't do no-shows." uh-oh!

Or is it simply not losing the mail on your way from the mailbox to the kitchen? I recently vowed to not check the mail anymore. Well let me clarify - I do check the mail. I get mine out and leave M's in the mailbox. You can't imagine the number of fights this has saved us. He could not understand how I could lose the mail on the way from the mailbox to the front door. He'd come home every day and ask,"Did you check the mail?" I honestly had no idea. "I don't know if I did or not", I'd reply. "Okay, well if you did (check it) where would it be?" , he 'd ask. "I have no idea. It might be in the car still... if I checked it while I was in the car.", I would reply. So my solution...he can check his own mail. It really works for us. I'm all about whatever it takes to make it work.

So I'm curious...what do you think is the hardest part of being a woman?

Thanking God today for giving me the hardest and the most amazing job in the world...mommy duty! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Room Mom 9 - 1- 1

I am so thankful that last week is over! Being the room mom kicks my you-know-what!
This is the thing...I didn't sign up to be room mom!! I knew better. I have suffered through it before and made a conscious decision to not sign up. I made the mistake of being room mom when AA was in kindergarten at AEEC. I hate to say it, but here it goes: it should have been a paid position! Or at least they could have warned me! I had no idea I'd have to hire a babysitter 20 hours a week for my younger 3 so that I could ride around Auburn each week looking for refrigerator boxes so that AA's class could build the Empire State Building (I'm not kidding) and a mock airplane to take them there. I had no idea that my husband would have to have a degree in engineering so that he could help build the Empire State Building and build several pumpkin shaped bean bag toss games. "Games" doesn't make the impact that I want it to. These were huge pieces of plywood that were cut out and painted to resemble huge Jack - o- Lanterns. So big that when we moved, we left them at our old house, along with the trampoline and swing set. You get the picture?

And when AA was in first grade, I was forced to sign up AGAIN. I didn't want to , but no one else did. So I signed my name on the bottom line. I didn't know I'd have to fix a Thanksgiving Feast for 20 students, plus parents and grandparents...by myself. You see, I am too unorganized to delegate. So I end up doing it all by myself at the last minute. Then everyone oohs and aahs and says, "You make it look so easy. How do you do it all?" If they only knew! Do it ALL? Are you kidding me? They haven't seen my house! Or my car! Or my kitchen! Or the pile of laundry!
HELP!

So this year, I checked to be sure that someone else had signed up ...they had! I did a victory dance right then and there! But about 2 weeks ago, AA's sweet teacher asked me what I had planned for the Halloween,oops, I mean "Fall" party. I know had that "deer in the headlights" look. "Um. Well. What do you mean," I sheepishly asked. "Well, Ms. Smith, one of the other parents, asked if we had plans for a fall party and I told her to check with the room mom. Has she called you yet?" NOOOOOO!
I think. But instead I say, "No ma'am. What would you like?" So she says, "Something sweet, something salty, something to drink, and a treat bag." I leave there completely deflated. I know what this means. This means I will be bringing - all by myself because I'm too unorganized to delegate- something sweet, something salty, something to drink, and 20 treat bags. How did this happen? Do I have "Room Mom" written across my forehead?!?! I think I do.

So last Monday rolls around and I think, "O.K. The party is Friday. I have plenty of time." Wednesday comes. I start baking cupcakes. Thursday comes. I run to Hobby Lobby to buy googly eyes and white paper bags to make ghost treat bags. Why can't I just buy some cupcakes from Kroger and be done with it?! Why can't I buy some tacky cellophane treat bags like everyone else?!? WHY do I have to make this so complicated?!?! The trip to Hobby Lobby was successful . I leave with white bags and googly eyes. I even managed to find candy eyeballs for the spider cupcakes that are too cute! Thursday afternoon. I can't find my glue gun to glue the googly eyes on to the white bags. I offer each child $5 if they can bring mommy her glue gun. No luck. You're kidding! I have 3 glue guns...where are they? (By the way, I now have 4). So ...it's okay. I'll deal with the glue gun later. I tackle the cupcakes. I have the cupcakes already baked, the icing, the eyeballs, the Twizzlers ready to be cut unto spider legs. I ice the cupcakes and put the eyeballs and legs on and I am so pleased. They are my little spider friends. But AA walks in and says, "Mom, I can't bring those to school. The eyeballs have peanut butter in them." What!?!? I forgot that she was in a peanut free classroom. "It's O.kay," I tell myself, "they are just cupcakes." Thursday night was Trick-or-Treating in our town so I had to stop what I was doing anyway and focus on the witch, the Georgia football player, the cheerleader, and of course, Gabriella. Fast forward to Friday morning. The kids have a parade at school. I forgot to mention that AA was supposed to be a First Lady from the 1700's in her school's Election Day parade. I forgot to mention the 2nd trip to HobbyLobby to pick up fabric to make her the First Lady costume. So now it's Friday. We make it to the parade. I sped from the parade to Hobby Lobby for the third time in 2 days. I purchase a new glue gun and some glue sticks. I make it home in time to glue the eyes on the bags. Oh good...life will go on. We make it to school with all the goodies. Along the way, several people stop to admire and comment on the goody bags and spider cupcakes. I just smile and pretend to have it all together. Then I get to AA's room and take all of the peanut butter filled eyeballs off the cupcakes. It was depressing. I tell M about it later. He says, "why didn't you just go to Kroger and buy some cupcakes from the bakery." He just doesn't get it.

P.S. I am no longer the room mom. Several moms had e-mailed me during the week to ask if there was going to be a Halloween, I mean, FALL party. I kept thinking, "Why didn't YOU sign up to be room mom?!" Finally, at the party on Friday, I was able to pass the torch to a mom who had never been room mom before. Bless her heart!

Hellooo?!?

I realize I haven't posted a blog since Monday. Not a whole lot has been going on around here. Teacher/Parent conferences were this week. I had an ENT appointment because I've had an ear-ache (for 3 years - I finally made the appointment). Anyway...actually now that I'm thinking about it there is a lot going on this week that has kept me distracted, but it's not anything I can blog about. So...I started re-reading some of my older posts in hopes that they would inspire me to come up with something to blog about today. After reading my old posts, I realized that I owe ya'll two stories. The first is about the second greatest thing I've ever done (which I may have changed my mind about so I'm not going to share it today), and the second is a story about my darling little babysitter, Little Lauren. For a while I had two babysitters named Lauren. One was older and had "brownish skin" (as the kids would say), and the other was Little Lauren, younger and has "white skin like mine." When I would tell the kids that "Lauren" was going to babysit, they'd always ask, "Which one? Big or Little?" I loved that they didn't see color! We still see Big Lauren occasionally, but it's usually for lunch. She's an official grown-up now and has a real job. I miss her - she's the most fun person I've ever been around!

Anyway...about Little Lauren. I had hired her one summer to babysit the younger two while I took the older two kids to swim lessons. The first day of swim lessons was going to be a busy day because I had also made an unofficial appointment with my realtor friend who was going to come by the house and give us some pointers on listing the house (this was three years ago). So I had to clean! Well...the phone rang that morning around 7:30. It was the realtor calling to say that she would be unable to come over because she was throwing up. She sounded terrible - not like herself at all. I knew that she and her husband had been trying to have another baby, so I asked her if she was pregnant. She assured me that she wasn't. I told her I was sorry and that I hoped she felt better.

An hour later, I was waiting on Lauren to show up so that I could take the kids to their swimming lessons. Lauren never came. I called her cell and her home - no answer. Then I remembered that her mom was teaching summer school and probably left before she was able to wake Lauren up. I left lauren a message on her land line and on her cell to CALL ME BACK! By this time, we were already running late for swimming, which only last for 25 minutes anyway (so now we're down to 15 minutes). I drove by Lauren's house on my way to swim lessons and saw Lauren's car. I didn't have time to stop because we were already late. Now this was really out of character for Lauren. She had been babysitting for 3 and a half years and had never even been a minute late. On the way back from swimmimg, we stopped by her house. AA jumped out the car and knocked on her door ( I stayed in the car with the other 3, but I rolled down my window so that I could talk to her). She came to the door and just stood there. I asked her what had happened and she said that she didn't feel good. I yelled back, "Well I hope you feel better" , but I was really disappointed in her for not having called me earlier to tell me.
Her mom, who is a friend of mine, called later and said that Lauren was throwing up. I told her that there must be something going around because my realtor friend was also sick. Lauren's mom said, "She said you asked her if she was pregnant."

Poor Lauren. It was HER who had called me at 7:30 in the morning to tell me that she was sick! AND I ASKED MY 15 YEAR OLD BABYSITTER IF SHE WAS PREGNANT! And then I had the nerve to drive by her house and let my 5 year old tun up to the door to find out what was going on. I'm sure she felt like she was in the Twilight Zone!

I hung up with Lauren's mom and ran down to Lauren's house to apologize to her. She was great! She said that she heard my messages and started second - guessing herself about having called me. She told her mom, "See? Her name and number is on my list of placed calls. If I didn't talk to Miss Tiffany then I sure talked to someone that sounded just like her!" The funniest part of all was that I really thought to myself after I hung up with whom I thought was my realtor,"Man, she doesn't sound like herself!"

Hello?!?

Thanking God today for sweet Little Lauren (who isn't so little anymore! - she's still tiny, but she's 18 years old - almost 19!). Love you, Lauren!

Not My Finest Moment!

My youngest child, Sunshine, was born in the early part of September (2005). About 6 weeks after she was born, fall like weather appeared. I still had an extra 15 pounds on me (and still do, by the way), so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on new clothes, but the previous years fall clothes were too small. So what did I do ? I headed to Ross (Dress for Less). I actually can't remember the day that I bought the clothes, because it's so overshadowed by the day that I returned the clothes. But I didn't try any of the clothes on that I bought. None of the clothes fit, so I headed back to Ross to return the clothes. I was just trying to run in and out very quickly. I had AAA, Will, and Sunshine with me. KitKAt was taking a nap, so M. was home with her. AAA and Will didn't haven't any shoes on. Like I said, I was just trying to get in and out. The line for returns at Ross (Dress for Less) was waaaaaay too long! AAA and Li'l man were misbehaving and running around. I pretended not to notice or care. My 6 week old baby started crying that newborn cry that just makes you sweat! I wanted out of Ross (Dress for Less- :) ). I mean, I'm in Ross (Dress for Less), with two of my children who don't have on shoes and one newborn baby who is screaming her 6 week old lungs out...not my proudest moment! Well, lo and behold, AAA falls and KNOCKS OUT her front tooth.! I just about fainted! I can't describe to you the irrational hysteria that set in! I fumbled around in my purse frantically searching for my cell phone. I couldn't find it. Honestly, I don't think I could even see! Finally, some random stranger hands me his phone. But I could not remember my phone number (to call M.) !! I handed the phone back to him. Then I remembered my phone number and asked for the phone back. I called M. and began crying as I told him what had happened. He asked if I had the tooth and I confirmed that "Yes, I have the tooth." Meanwhile, Sunshine is still screaming in the background." M says, "See if anyone has any milk and put the tooth in some milk." I put the phone by my side and yell out to all Ross customers, "Does anybody have any milk?!?!" Everyone just stares at me. So I yell again, "DOES ANYBODY have any milk?" I tell M. that apparently no one at Ross has any milk . (weird, huh?!) M. tells me to keep the tooth wet by putting it in some water. So I yell out in desperation, "Does anyone have any water?!" Everyone just stares at me. The manager comes forward and takes the tooth and tells me he'll take care of it. M. gives me the number to our dentist and tells me to call them. I call them and tell them that AAA has fallen and knocked her tooth out...what should I do? They ask if I have the tooth. I literally get ON ALL FOURS and start searching frantically for the tooth. Where's the tooth? Where's the tooth? I just had it. (This is a true story - I'm not making it up. I wish that I was!) Someone politely taps me on the shoulder and gently whispers, "Ma'am, you just gave it to the manager." Oh. So the manager returns with the tooth wrapped in a wet paper towel. At this point, I realize that not only is AAA not even crying, but she's no longer bleeding and it's just not that bad. But I'm humiliated. So I walk out of Ross (dress for Less) with my clothes and receipt still in hand. We make it back to the car and AAA says with a toothless grin, "Well...I guess the tooth fairy is comin' tonight!" I had to laugh. But deep down I was wondering how in the world Dr.Lee was going to stick that tooth back in there for me. I wondered to myself, "Would they do it right then? Would we have to come back tomorrow? Would she have to be put to sleep? " When I arrived at Dr. Lee's office, I had recovered (emotionally) from the drama that had unfolded at Ross! However, I still wanted that tooth back in that sweet little precious mouth. They never even attempted to put it back. Dr. Lee calmly and quietly said that when they're this age and a tooth falls out, they generally don't do anything about it. And we should feel lucky because it was a clean break. Lucky. Hmmm.
That night the tooth fairy visited AAA and left her some trinkets. But something woke me up in the middle of the night, as well. I shot up out of bed with the realization that the reason all those people at Ross were staring at me when I was screaming for milk is because I had a screaming newborn! I just know that they were thinking I was some sort of crazy, emotional, hormonal mother looking for some milk to give her screamin' baby! I want you to know that I never returned those clothes to Ross. I have never returned to Ross, at all. But about 6 months later, I was at the BP station (the one with Guthries) and the cashier says, "I know you. You borrowed my cell phone at Ross when your little girl's tooth fell out." He grinned from ear to ear. I've never returned to that BP, either!

Have mercy ... how will I act in a real crisis?!?! The thought scares me!

After today's and yesterday's post, I guess it's obvious that I'm still praying for peace and calmness during stressful situation!

Enjoy your day!