Miss Mess Part 2

This morning we had oatmeal with all the toppings. Such a warm, fuzzy morning and Jac loves it. She dumped so much of it on her chair that I finally gave in and hauled it outside with the scrubber sponge and a cannister of cleanser. Cushion headed for the laundry, liner in the kitchen sink, this thing was coming clean today. I took one step off the bottom deck stairs and my favorite blue Crocks hit the wet grass on the hill and my ankle gave way. It was a loud pop. Not the thing you want to hear on a dewey morning out in the yard. I lay there crying in the grass for about 10 minutes until Andrew came out and said, "Why are you making that noise on the ground?" Good question.

I climbed up the stairs and back inside. The girls rallied. Alex got the ice bag and filled it up for me. Katie got the phones. Caroline helped with the little ones. They were terrific! What a team. Two hours later the pain took a dramatic drop from a 7 to a 4 - and I'm the one who takes no drugs after a c-section. this hurt so badly. Alex got the ice so quickly that it didn't swell until later too.

I'm supposed to drive a large contingent of investigator/missionaries/members to the mission fireside tonight in Livonia - 2 hours away. Time to get on the phone and rearrange that party. My first call was to my awesome friend/wife of my awesome chiropractor who insisted on x-rays. She came to get me and brought her daugther to stay with the children. Nothing broken, just a couple of lines in the film that could be a problem if I don't stay off of it...so he brings in the crutches. Oh joy. I am so happy.

I'm still working on the fireside problem, but I'm home with crutches and Scott will do his best to work from home for part of tomorrow. But since I change diapers on the floor, there's really nothing important I can't do! Such a great plan was in place this morning - wash the chair, do the dishes, clean the kitchen, upstairs for a day of laundry and ironing. Now we're all going to church looking like ragamuffins. Or ragamuffins on crutches.

This Must Be Said

Today I was creating a new playlist of music for this site and something along the way made me remember this song from my childhood - The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA by Donna Fargo. That song played on KCCC 930AM sometime early in my life and it has stuck with me my whole life until it actually IS my life. Somewhere between that song and my Beehive year of young women when I made that list on the index card of my future spouse's characteristics I became a woman on a mission. All I wanted was a home filled with children and the perfect man who came home at 6 o'clock sharp. I wanted to be Donna Reed on steroids. I wanted to be the happiest girl in the whole USA. Ladies and Gentlemen, with gratitude to my Father in Heaven who makes all things possible, I am the happiest girl in the whole USA. I am so blessed!

I woke up this morning next to the greatest man on earth and shortly thereafter was met by five incredible children, all of whom continue to teach me every day how to be a better person. He has a good job, we are all healthy, we have a good home, the kids have covered the house in play dough and even if those things were not the case, we would still be bound by our temple covenants.

So, as I tell my Mia Maids and Laurels, set your standards high and never loose focus. Never give up. NEVER, NEVER give up. The Lord can do great things with us and for us if we will continue faithfully in our goals. I love goals. I love my life, my husband and my children. I am the happiest girl in the whole USA.

Michigan Summer

Everyone says the same thing, "This isn't really what Summer is like in Michigan..." Yeah, you all said the same thing about Winter. You're still saying it. Scott found more people yesterday willing to add to his testimony that last Winter was the worst anyone has ever seen. You're all talk.

Here's what I love about Summer - watching the kids play in the yard. Here are a few memories.

100 swings and then we trade.

Jac is taking notes over there by the slide.

I can do this, just like he can.

(that's his new bubble gun in hand.)

See, I told you.

I loved twisting the swing when I was a girl and letting my hair drag the ground. Katie is some of me after all!

Beautiful Bride

My girls are so fun. They dress every day. They dress up just as often. Tiaras, dresses, high heels or ballet slippers, jewels, bracelets and necklaces - they love it all. Caroline is the one who came to breakfast in an earlier post with rollers in her hair. She is the sweetest, girliest girl ever.

One day in August I looked out the dining room window to the back yard and saw this...

Miss Mess

We rarely use her name. Just Miss Mess.
She has to be undressed to eat because we can't afford to buy any more clothes. Keep in mind that three other girls came before her. That's a lot of clothes.
Sometimes it's easier to feed her in the sink.

I love this girl!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Andrew's 3rd birthday was a big deal for a long time because Scott had the greatest idea ever. Andrew would rather play in the dirt than anything else in the world. His favorite spot is under our deck. It's beautiful with a nice wood wall and he can walk in under the stairs and it's wonderful...BECAUSE IT'S THE FOUNDATION THAT'S HOLDING UP OUR HOUSE!

Scott is a genius. He wanted to make a sandbox for Andrew. He bought the lumber and hardware and made plans. Andrew's birthday was on a Friday and we finally made some time on Tuesday night to build it. The girls watched from their window and it was as much fun to hear them guess what we were doing as it was to do it. We said nothing to any of them so it was 3 days of guessing the big surprise. Love that. There's an 8'x8' box in the back yard and it drives them crazy, in a really fun way.

On Monday I had begun the search for sand. What a joke. Every stone place in Michigan is now out of business. That 19% unemployment rate is NO joke. I found a guy on Craigslist dba "Dirt Cheap Delivery." He'll do it, but we're out of his delivery area so it's a pretty hefty price for the sand because of gas prices. I do some more research and even call Home Depot. For the amount of sand we need I can drive to HD and load the bags of sand into my own SuperBurban, make another trip to get the rest of it and unload it all myself OR I can call Dirt Cheap Delivery back and schedule the dump truck. Guess what happened next?

The box is built, but we still have to line it with the black sheets of weed block and it's Thursday night. And Scott has to work late. I get out there after I put the kids to bed and work until way after dark and way after the mosquitos eat me alive. Yes, I used repellant. My blood is 90% chocolate and 10% sugar. Who wouldn't want to eat me??? At about 10:30 PM it is too dark to work so Scott comes home and turns on the outside lights. We're too far from the house for that to help, but I keep going. He cuts the rest of the weed block while I nailed down the rest. And as he cut we discovered that the roll was about 6 feet short of finishing the whole box. At 11PM I drove to WalMart, praying all the way that they would have some. Finally I found it and did some more shopping. Way too much money later I check out and drive home, getting to bed at 2AM.

At 6 o'clock the next morning Scott goes to work and I go back out to the sandbox to finish the liner. Dirt Cheap Delivery is great, but we're a pretty small order. He couldn't give me a delivery time because any bigger order that came in would obviously take precedence. I had to finish before 8 AM no matter what. Well, Wonder Woman did it.

I don't remember the rest of the day (4 hours sleep???), but I do remember that we were coming back from somewhere when we passed our dump truck delivery guy on the drive back to the house. (The only time I've ever met another vehicle on that drive and it turns out to be a dump truck! Guess who pulled over into the alfalfa?)

Dirt Cheap Delivery gave us a deal on a little bit more sand than the box required and the guy was so good to work with. This is an endorsement. He's awesome. And this is our finished product.

Big enough that all five can play and not get in each others' way. Which is more than I can say for our entire house. Kudos to my Man of Wonder for his magical idea. Alex said, "I knew it was a sandbox!" Andrew is over the moon about it and is out there every day. He got a few extra sandbox toys for his birthday and when I am missing kitchen tools I walk out and find them there. We gotta do something about that.

Here are some other photos from his big day.

really cool matchbox city streets & cars from gramma & papa

he ordered a "puppy...cake," but after those 4 hrs of sleep I managed pawprint cupcakes

Buzz & Woody pajamas and lots of play outside toys - including a bubble gun. cool.

Andrew Speak

As the children grow up I so enjoy their stages of language. It's fun to hear them begin to form sentences and then start to use grown up words. When Alex misuses a verb tense I get all happy; she is learning so much. I miss all their early conversations like this one this morning with Andrew...

background note: the four big kids slept in sleeping bags in the basement last night.

Mom said, "Where are the girls, Andrew?"
"They're gone," Andrew replied.
"They're not gone. Are they still downstairs?"
"Yes," Andrew said. "They're under your rolling ball table."

I have always wondered what the "pool" reference meant in pool table. Now I know it doesn't matter anyway. It's a rolling ball table and that makes so much more sense. I love three year old boys named Andrew who live in my house.