I am a...

I am a poop-cleaning machine.  Apparently. 

I came home from a quick run to the feed mill to find Luke greeting me at the door--naked as usual.  "I got poop all over me!" he announced proudly.  All over him, the toilet...Big brother had discovered it, but was too grossed out to handle it.  Can't blame him!

Our 11 month old puppy Molly sleeps with us now.  She is a decent bed-mate.  Much better than Killian, who ate up as much of the bed as Bill and I put together.  Molly is just a warm spot usually located somewhere around my knees.

Last night she went up to bed before us.  And when I went in the girls' room to make sure everyone was covered up, there was Molly looking at me from the foot of their bed.  She looked kind of guilty, and rolled submissively to her back.  Hmm.  She didn't follow me to bed, so I shut her in the girls' room.  That way she doesn't get into any middle-of-the-night trouble. 

Trouble...I stepped in her "trouble" when I walked into my dark room in my bare feet, no contacts in!  No wonder she looked so guilty and submissive!  No wonder she didn't want to sleep in my bed!  The foul creature!!  

Luke, just minutes ago, comes to me for toilet help.  He was already poopy, but needed to do more.  Not too big of a mess, and he was helpful in the cleaning process.  Then he tells me he did the rest of the deed up in the girls' room! I will be leaving the computer shortly to clean up that mess. 

Where were his panties, you ask?  He is very into freeing himself often to do his "nakey dance."  I leave him fully dressed, return minutes later to find him in his birthday suit.  I think he's my youngest stripper. 

Thank the Lord I know from previous experience that this is phase, and I will live through it!  And maybe Luke and Molly will, too!

Getting away

I highly recommend taking a little vacation at least every fourteen years...just you and your spouse...no kids.   We had such a wonderful time in New Orleans.  Once I got past worrying about the kids, and then worrying about my 78 year old mother who was watching them, I had a great time!  It really took two days for me to accept that I could do nothing about anything happening back home, so I might as well just enjoy myself. 

Tuesday night, we were sitting in a little crepes restaurant (Crepe Nicole, maybe?).  Bill kept laughing at the goofy smile on my face.  I told him, "This is me totally relaxed, no stress, no responsibilities, totally happy."  Then we got caught in a downpour on the way back to the streetcar stop, where we had to wait, and wait, and wait for the streetcar.  Then we stood at the bus stop and waited, and waited, and waited soaking wet, in a nice cool breeze.  Ah, good times!

I kept crying Wednesday when it was time to head home.  I had forgotten how it felt to only be a wife, and was kind of dreading being a Mommy again.  Please, don't take me wrong...I LOVE my kids.  They are my life.  This is what I wanted from the time I was a little girl.    But...you forget how it is to be a woman, a wife...

Oh, and of course we come home to Luke still kind of crusty with blood from falling on the sweeper and splitting his forehead open--while we were in the air.  Found out on William's Facebook when we landed. Can you say "heart attack!!"  No stitches, and it's healing well now. 

Hopefully our next getaway is sooner than 14 years away.  Our 20th anniversary is in just 8 months away... :-)

What was I thinking?

Last week we visited with a couple little girls who had the chicken pox.  (I would like my kids to get them naturally. William had them last Christmas, but didn't share a single pox with the other 5!)  After the girls left, I looked at the calendar--three more weeks of soccer, a romantic trip to New Orleans with no kids, and a 90th birthday celebration for Great-grandma coming up.  Okay, not the best time for chicken pox.  I decided the kids would not get them from those girls after all.  I mean, they played outside, and I don't think they even touched each other. 

So...what are those two itchy, blistery bumps on Bekah?  You know, Bekah who hasn't been feeling well for a couple days...