If Jon can do it, then so can I!

For those of you that frequent Ziggy Thoughts, no, I'm not referring to peeing in the shower! That's just gross!!! What I am referring to is a rant, a good old-fashioned rant! And for my friend at Mommy Stories, I apologize now because I know this is old news to you. But there are just some things that a certain mommy must get off of her chest, and this, my friends is one of those things.

I absolutely hate cleaning!!! I can't stand the daily chores that stare me down...daily!!! Cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry (absolutely the least favorite thing on the list, by the way!) and the general picking up that is required by any good wife, mother, or general person, are not on the top of the list of "Things I love to do!". Getting a pedicure, massage or just going shopping all by myself - those are the top 3 on that list, but cooking, cleaning, laundry and the other stuff aren't there!!! Of course, the list that I've created is apparently fictitious since I don't actually get to go do any of those things...ok, maybe the occassional pedicure, but that's only once every 3 or 4 months! But, I digress from the matter at hand, which is completing my rant...
So, it is with much pain that I have spent the better part of this day not only dealing with a sick 2 year old little girl, but attempting to conquer the 6 loads of laundry that lay around on my bedroom floor, as well as sweeping & mopping (then crawling around after lunch to get the crumbs) off of the breakfast & kitchen floor. If you could only see these floors, you'd understand my plight. You see, the floors in question are made up of small 5x5 stark white, shiny tiles - not the best choice of tile for a busy family of 5!!! But, since this is a rental house and the floor was already here, I'm forced to deal with it none-the-less. Ok, that said, once I take the hour or more to sweep, then mop the whole darned thing, it kills me to allow anyone to walk on it, much less seeing anyone drop even the tiniest of crumbs on it! So, this is what brings me to the rant in question...my youngest child Ian and my sick little daughter chose to eat the crumbiest things they could possibly think of today at lunch...crackers!!! Can I tell you how painful it was to allow either of them to touch the stupid things??? Of course, I could have just said no to the 2 year old, but after listening to her cry almost non-stop today, allowing her this one small pleasure was a survival tactic on my part. Granted, I don't think I could have stressed enough to her the importance of 'not dropping crumbs all over mommy's clean floors'. Of course, to a 2 year old, this means nothing. I even attempted to teach her (once again) that eating over our plate was the best thing she could possibly do for mommy today! But, again, this didn't seem to mean much to her. So, it was with a heavy heart that I simply walked away from the table and decided not to think about the mess that I would soon find under her chair!

This would explain why I just completed cleaning the floor again - on my hands & knees this time because I just couldn't bear to sweep & mop again!!! I think I've managed to pick up every last crumb, but I'm sure the next time I walk in there, I'll see another one since the stark-white, shiny thing shows every spot! It's only a matter of time before dinner time will be here, and I'll be forced to allow my family to sit at the table, which coincidentally sits on that floor I've been ranting about, to eat their dinner. Anyone have any ideas for a non-crumbly, spill-proof meal?

A House Full of Sicko's

Take the title for what it's worth, but what I mean is that almost everyone in my house is sick with one ailment or another! It seems that every year, around this time, we come down with allergies/colds that take weeks to get rid of. And, of course, when one person gets it, we all get it. But now that I've probably just jinxed myself (since my youngest Ian & I are the only ones that haven't come down with it) I guess I'll share some of the goings-on around my house as of the last 36 hours.

Two nights ago is when it first started, and you'd think that after all of the years of dealing with this same stupid thing, I would have clued into the fact that I needed to dose my oldest with his liquid steroid before sending him off to bed. But, do you think I did? Of course not! I decided to send him to bed with almost no voice and assume he'd be fine 'in the morning'. Boy, was I wrong! It was at exactly 3:30AM that I awoke to the sound of a barking seal in the doorway of my bedroom. Now, if I had been dreaming about the zoo, I probably would have ignored the sounds and drifted back off to sleep, but since I have no idea what I was dreaming, I immediately jumped out of bed and into my 'mommy take care of it' mode. My hubby jumped up too (surprisingly since you usually can't wake him without literrally pushing him off of the bed) so we were both 'dealing' with our little man, but only with about half of our senses since it wasn't a normal time of morning for us! Anyone that has experienced the 'barky cough' knows that the culprit can only be labeled as croup, and must be dealt with immediately to eliminate the chance of an early morning/late night trip the local ER. Anyway, Michael grabbed Alex and put him in bed with us while I went to the kitchen to grab his steroid - we always have plenty on hand since all 3 of my kiddos have had croup several times over. We're pro's!!! So, I managed to scare Alex into taking his steroid by informing him that if he didn't sit up and open his mouth, we were going to go straight to the hospital. Amazing how well that worked!!! So after dosing him, we all crawl back into bed and hope for the best. At around 4:10AM (and I know this because I couldn't stop looking at the clock) Michael & Alex were back to sleep, while I, on the other hand, couldn't stop wondering why I hadn't given Alex his medicine before bedtime. Nothing like kicking yourself about the 'why didn't you's' while being kicked in the ribs by one of your offspring! So, as any good mommy knows, I probably managed to grab about 30 more minutes of sleep over the next 3 1/2 hours!!!

So, Tuesday morning, we were all up around 7:30AM - getting Ian & Alex dressed for a trip to the doctor and Morgann dressed for preschool. When I left the house at 8:40AM, I never imagined that I'd still be in the car at 2:50! That's how my day went yesterday - doctor (1.5 hours), lunch (30 minutes), dropped Alex off at school, went to the bank, then to my doctor's office to pick something up (2 hours), then home for 15 whole minutes, then back in the car to go get Morgann from school (45 minutes). It's safe to say that I consumed way too much gas yesterday with all of that driving!!!

This morning started out better for us all, in that we all slept through the night! But, come 7:30, we were all back up & running! Alex & Ian were up first eating breakfast, followed shortly thereafter by Morgann, who is my patient for the day! She's gone to bed a bit congested for the last 2 nights, but yesterday seemed back to her normal healthy self. I guess that was the calm before the storm because today, she's a whinny, snotty-nosed, 2 year old! And since I have several items on my agenda that absolutely must get done (laundry so that we can all wear clean underwear & socks, and removing the sticky mess off of my kitchen & breakfast room floors), her expectation is that I should drop it all and 'hold me'. We've already exhausted our list of Dora the Explorers on TIVO, so we've moved on to Play With Me Sesame.

And then there is my poor hubby who left for a client today, feeling about as lousy as Morgann is acting! He thinks he caught IT from Alex who spent the night (2 nights ago) sleeping on his pillow, in his face. All I can do is pray that I can keep Ian & myself healthy, as I have way too much going on over the next few days & weekend to be sick!

A Mustard Seed's Story

Matt. 17:20 "Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

I think - no I believe - there is a purpose, and a season for everything we go through in our lives. This has been especially true for my family lately! You see, it has been a very bleak summer, with things in our lives only getting worse, instead of better. It's been very rough as of late, the true meaning of the words "testing ground".

This has absolutely nothing to do with marriage or children, it's strictly money - the root of all evil, and the very thing that we require to get along in life. To some degree, money is our life-line - it buys food, clothing & shelter. It is the reason so many of us get up in the morning (to go to work) and reason we are able to function on a day to day basis (because of the utilities that the money pays for). It's a requirement to get along in life, yet lately it's been very scarce around here!

And I believe that this has been a time in our lives - my life, really - that God has chosen to see where we (I) stand. What is it that we (I) believe? Why do we (I) believe it? Is it because we've (I've) been taught it all our (my) life, and therefore it is just part of who we are (I am)? Do we (I) really believe it? Do we (I) really, really believe it? How much faith do we (I) have in what we (I) have chosen to believe? I'm sad to say that many times I've gone back & forth about what I truly believe to be real; what I truly believe at all! I think that much of my summer I've been in school to learn or re-learn what I should already know. The fact that God is God, no matter what I think, say or do. That God will be God long after I'm gone, long after my children are gone. Long after this blog has been deleted and wiped off the face of the earth.

And so, it is at this moment when I find myself in a heap on the floor of the office, crying because I have finally realized that God truly is God. That it's not my comfort that He is interested in. That it's not my agenda that he cares much about. That His agenda is the only one that matters and that no matter what I say or do, He will prove Himself to me, and that He really does know best! He has brought me to the absolute bitter end of myself just to prove that He will take care of a very desperate need in the life of my family through someone that is so dear & precious, words can't begin to express the gratitude that I have overflowing through my tears. It is at this exact moment that I have decided that I will give my full heart, trust, and, yes, my agenda to Him and allow Him to do whatever He wants to. It is at this moment that the mustard seed I planted at the beginning of the summer finally has it's first bloom!

No More Nap!

Do any of you remember that line from "Honey, I Blew-up the Kid!"? The 80 foot tall baby toddling through Las Vegas yelling "No More Nap!" to his daddy, who looked only inches tall in comparison. This seems to be the rallying cry of the day at my house. Not only has my 2 year old decided that she no longer needs to take a nap, but my 11 month old son is following suit today! This is not turning out to be a very good day!!!

Here I was, sitting at my computer finishing up a small business project, when I suddenly hear a door slam upstairs. "Hmmm, that better not be the baby!" I think to myself. But when I hear it again for a 2nd, then 3rd time, I figure it most certainly must be the 2 year old that for the passed 3 weeks has refused her afternoon nap. I usually hear her in her room playing or singing some silly song (that most of the time I cannot dicipher), but as long as she's in her room for a bit, I'm ok with that. However, over the last few days, she's decided that it would be fun to try to sneak out of her room and down the stairs - but only half-way - to see what mommy or daddy might be doing. Of course, in her 2 year old brain, the slamming door should in no-way be a clue that she's not in her room where she's supposed to be! So anyway, after another few minutes, I suddenly hear crying, and since I cannot differentiate between my daughter's crying & my son's crying, I am immediately taking the stairs 2 at a time to check on whomever it might be. Lucky for me, it's Morgann, the 2 year old! So, just as she had planned (and I know she did!) this caused me to relent on the nap idea since I was concerned her crying might wake up Ian. On our way down the stairs with pillow, blanket and bear in-hand, to my dismay, I hear Ian beginning to cry! Uuuugggghhhhh! It's a conspiracy.

So, here I sit with a distant memory of the nap I had planned to take this afternoon. I'm wondering if I might end up with any time to myself at all before bed? But at this stage, I'm doubting it!

The Quiet Times

I don't know about you, but it is always my goal to read a bedtime story to my kids. I love to read, and one of my desires for my children is that they inherit my love of reading! So, like I said, it's always my goal. But sometimes I miss that goal by just a few inches, other times by 100 feet, and every now & again, I manage to hit the goal dead center. I just never know what bedtime will be like around here. And, since this tends to be one of my favorite times of day (quiet time for mommy & daddy to talk uninterrupted, or to sit in front of the TV to catch up on Oprah), we try to adhere to strict bedtimes - if it's later than 8:30 and there is still a monkey out of his/her bed, there's a problem!!! I don't know how single mom's of more than 1 child do it because I don't think I could! Getting 3 kiddos to bed is a major undertaking that starts around 5PM and requires both parents! Seriously!!!

Since school is underway, along with soccer practice and gymnastics, it is my duty - no, my mission - to get an early dinner on the table so that we can get whomever to wherever on time. Right now, my son is the busy-body so it's his fault that we find ourselves running from point A to point B, then to point C. Wait, maybe saying it's his 'fault' isn't the right way to say that, but I think you get what I'm going for, don't you? Because he's such an active & social child, my husband & I feel compelled to have him involved in several different activities. So, I guess this would mean that it's my husband's fault and not that of my oldest child :) Anyway, it's because of his social calendar that we all must eat an early dinner before heading out the door. Then once we're home, it's total chaos!

My husband & I find ourselves arguing over who was the last one to change the baby's diaper and dress him for bed, or who it was that had to wash Alex & Morgann's hair and dress them the night before. Then to keep from arguing about it further, we resort to Rock, Paper, Scissors. Wait, that's what I'd like to do, but what usually ends up happening is that I get baby duty and my hubby takes toddler/oldest child duty. And, if I do say so myself, I think we're a pretty good team. You see, while I change the baby's diaper and dress him for bed, Michael washes the other 2 and gets them out of the tub - or tries to anyway - the 5 year old is pretty poky and would prefer to be told 5 or 6 times that he must exit the tub immediately or face sudden death! Anyway, after Michael finishes dressing our daughter, he passes her off to me so that I can brush her teeth and brush/blowdry her hair. Once we finish with the 2 youngest children, he takes 1 to bed and I take the other. That leaves the 5 year old that is usually still in the tub. Once we managed to get his pruny bottom out of the cold, soapy water, it takes him about 20 minutes (and I do not exaggerate this) to brush his teeth and to put on his underwear. He spends most of that time admiring his big, strong muscles in the mirror, or seeing how many funny faces he can make without totally cracking himself up.

It is at this juncture that I would dearly love to sit & read him a story before sending him off to the Land of Knod. But, since it's now after 8:30 - that precious hour of the night I would love to call MINE - any story time we might have had is gone. Then there is the ever so popular, "but mommy, I'm hungry!" whine that we hear on a nightly basis. Sometimes I relent and give him 1/2 an apple or some grapes, like the nights when we've had an early dinner and he's had an active evening. But other nights, he's reminded that he's either already had dessert, should have finished his dinner, or already had an evening snack. So, off to bed he goes with my hubby - he prefers that Michael put him to bed because he's more fun than mommy, and frankly, that's fine with me.

Ah! At last, my favorite time of day has arrived...bedtime :) Not mine, of course! But the quiet that floods the house is almost deafening. All the kids are in bed, and Michael & I finally have some time to ourselves. So, this is when I plop down on the couch for the first time all day to watch a movie with my sweet hubby, or see which one of my shows recorded today. And, when there's nothing to watch, I curl up with a good book or magazine before turning off my light and meeting my children in dreamland.

I love being a mommy :)