Seriously, I Don't Get Paid Enough!!

The last 24 hours have been crazy!! Yesterday afternoon Josh came home from school. I sat down on the living room couch next to him to talk about his day. While he was telling me about his day I casually looked outside and saw Sarah outside running across the street to play with the neighbors outside toys. Sarah had let herself out of the garage door (without anyone even noticing) so she could do what she wanted outside. I had to stop Josh mid sentence so I could go outside to run after her to catch her. Once she saw me coming for her she ran away even faster. I finally caught her and brought her back home and had to chain the outside doors so she couldn't escape the house again. She was very upset about me chaining the doors and she screamed, cried and wailed for quite sometime afterward because she was so mad. What am I going to do with that child?!?! I know I only have 5 kids, but I think Sarah should count for 5 kids just herself because she is such a handful!

A few minutes after the Sarah escape episode Aaron came home from work. I was sitting on the living room couch talking to him about his day at work when I noticed Noah crawling around the living room floor. I asked the three boys who brought Noah up the stairs into the living room? No one fessed up so I took Noah back downstairs to let him play. Next thing I know I see his little head pop up from the top of the stairs. He has learned how to crawl all the way up the stairs. He had only made it up two stairs before, but now he knows how to to the whole set of stairs--not good! I am excited at his progress in motor skills, but now I will have to baby proof the living room and kitchen since he can get into things up there now. He also had his first casualty today, too. He crawled up and got all the way to the top stair only to slip and roll all the way back down them. In the fall he hit his chin which caused his bottom teeth to cut into the roof of his mouth which bled and (I am sure) hurt pretty bad. That hasn't stopped him, though. He likes practicing his new found stair skills. Early this morning I was rudely awakened by a bright light at 2 am. I figured it was Sarah up messing around so I jumped out of bed to see what she was up too. It wasn't her, but Matthew who had turned on all the lights. He must have needed all the lights on to help him go potty in the middle of the night--even though it didn't help his aim much if you know what I mean. Anyway, I got up and shooed him back to bed after he had finished going to the bathroom, but the whole process had made me quite awake and I couldn't go back to sleep. I ended up watching some TV until about 4:30 when I was finally tired enough to go back to sleep. I was reawakened at 7 am with the kids eating their breakfast. I sleepily came downstairs and as soon as I entered the kitchen the pantry door swung closed with someone inside and the light on. Seeing as I was still bleary eyed and half asleep I didn't pay too much attention to that. I was helping the kids get breakfast when Josh came walking out of the pantry with a mysterious white powder all over his face and clothes. I asked Josh why his face and clothes were all dirty and he shrugged his shoulders feigning ignorance. Oh please!! I asked him again and he sheepishly pointed to a cookie mix package he had opened and tried to devour with the pantry door closed. Upon closer inspection he not only had spilled the mix all over his face and clothes, but all over the inside of the pantry and on the floor, too. What a huge mess!! I sent Josh to change his clothes and I will worry about cleaning up the pantry later.

Lately Josh has been on a home lunch kick. He has eaten school lunch for the last two years, but he has finally decided he only wants a home lunch now. Since I was trying to deal with this morning's chaos I sent Josh to get started in making his own home lunch. By the time I got finished with the breakfast chaos Josh had finished making his own lunch. I wanted to look at what he had done and I am glad I did. He had made a soy butter and jam sandwich--well let me rephrase--that he had made a jam sandwich with a small smidgen of soy butter on it. He is not a fan of soy butter sandwiches, but it is the only stuff that can be safe at room temperature for a few hours so that is what he has to eat. He had thrown his sandwich, a handful of chips, a handful of carrots, and handful of suckers and a Capri sun all into a grocery bag. His whole lunch was sitting all open together in a Smith's grocery bag. Yuck. I ended up repackaging his lunch to put everything into a separate bag so it wouldn't be a huge mess by the time he got to school. I did end up taking out all the suckers and told him he had already gotten his dessert with all the cookie mix he ate this morning--the little stinker!! He does get an "A" for effort, though.

Later on this morning while everyone was getting ready we went through the same ritual as any other morning--finding the missing shoes and jackets. I have told the kids to put their things away, but of course, they don't do it. That means every morning we race the clock while we look around for the lost items before it is time for them to go or before the bus comes. This morning we finally found Matthew's shoes under his bed in his room--again that is NOT where they go. And Josh's jacket was out in the car in the very back seat. We never did find Josh's lost bike helmet in time for school this morning. He had to borrow one from the neighbors so he would still be safe riding his bike and wouldn't be late for school. I found the helmet later--after he had left. It was stashed in the bottom of the coat closet with a ton of coats piled on the top of it. This is one aspect of the morning chaos I won't miss when summer starts--the hectic mornings!! While all this was going on Daniel let himself out into the backyard to play. Sarah didn't follow him, but instead kept locking him out. Daniel was not happy and kept pounding on the door for someone to let him back inside. As soon as someone let him back inside, he'd go back outside to play and Sarah would run back over and lock the door again. What a crazy morning!! It also doesn't help that I am extremely sleep deprived with a head cold. Can I go back to bed yet? I guess not because someone has to be around to clean up the huge cookie mix mess in the pantry, give Noah loves after he rolls down the stairs again and to let Daniel back inside after Sarah locks him out of the house AGAIN. I seriously don't get paid enough!!!!