Slow down, life!

There is never a lack of entertainment under our roof, but the majority of the time it's just the normal day stuff. You know, someone dances around in their underwear, the baby cuts a tooth, someone makes a really cool drawing, there's hitting, fighting, hugging, and kissing all in the space of five minutes. The normal craziness of four kids.

But last week for some reason everything abnormal that could happen at once, did. And it made for an exhausting week which culminated in a two hour nap for me today that finally gave me enough fuel to write a blog about all the unusual things that have been going on around here.

First of all, Jimmy's mom (or as everyone around here calls her, Granny) came to stay with us for a week. We were all looking forward to this and I decided to take advantage of her unending willingness to help me out by painting and redecorating our bathroom while she was here. I figured with two other adults besides myself, I could actually get some project stuff done in the mornings and afternoons instead of just at bedtime.

I painted the bathroom for two days and wasn't done, but almost. On the way to church last Sunday, our van, which we knew had transmission problems, acts up so badly I turn around and drive the car to church instead. Then, Sunday night Libby gets a fever and I am up multiple times in the night with her for multiple nights. Jackson catches it, along with a pink eye. We take the van in to get fixed. It needs a new transmission. Honda vans in a span of three years have a transmission glitch and there are thousands of people on the internet up in arms about it. So our van is broken and it isn't our fault and they offer to pay half but they still want $2000 to fix it. This stresses out my husband. As it should. I'm on the phone multiple times trying to figure out how to get them to pay for it.


My parents hit Tallahassee on their way home from Alaska, and stayed with us for a little over 24 hours. Dad shows up with a full beard and all the hair he can grow in 8 weeks, and after they were here about two hours, Libby quietly said to me, "Mom, I'm tired of looking at Pop-Pop's beard." And even though I know Dad wanted to have a beard when he saw his dog for the first time again, he shaved it minutes later so Libby would not be freaked out any longer.












All the while Libby and Jackson still have a pretty high fever and are lying around the house using all their sapped energy to say pitiful things like, "Mom! Water!". By the time Thursday rolls around, I'm pretty stressed with that and all that's going on and I make an appointment with the doctor Friday morning. Jimmy's mom leaves to go home after I get home from the doctor, finding out that it's possible Libby has a bladder infection but not likely since Jackson caught it. We decide to continue to wait it out with no antibiotics. (As I write this, they are totally better. Finally.) Friday afternoon, with no luck from Honda people, we squeeze all six of us into Jimmy's five seater car (breaking multiple child car seat laws--ask me if I cared) and I go in person to talk to this guy at the dealership who I'm hoping will have mercy on me. While he seemed to feel pretty sorry for me, the guy would not fix our van for any less so I take Penelope from Jimmy and send him home with the remaining kids while I wait to retrieve our van because we decided NOT to pay the money, but to wait through the weekend and call Honda directly again and see if anyone will have mercy on us.

While I'm waiting for the van, I discover Penelope is dirty (the reason why she was screaming in the car) and OF COURSE I have no wipes. I did have a diaper so I took her into the bathroom at Honda and stuck her poopy booty directly in their sink and cleaned her up. Take that, Proctor!

Yesterday I helped give my friend Carey a baby shower for her twins and wished it had not come at the end of such a crazy busy weird week. But it was fun regardless and I forgot my camera but grabbed hers and took some pictures. The blueberry muffins I worked so hard to make for the shower didn't really come out that great and though they tasted okay, they looked pretty much exactly how I felt. Tired. I had planned on doing some practice baking the days before, but due to the above it didn't happen. Can I get a do-over please?

Meanwhile, across the globe, the OLYMPICS are happening! As all this activity was going on, all I really wanted to be doing was sitting on my non-athletic booty and watching the Olympics, all the while living vicariously through these ultra-disciplined, mucho-buff, world class athletes. I did get to watch quite a bit of it, even if it did involve staying up late a few nights.

So I'm sure a few other things happened, but that's all I can remember right now and I'm ready to eat my snack and sit on my rear and become an Olympian for a night. Tomorrow I will rise, renewed and ready to fight a battle with Honda, go to the dentist, take Penelope for a well check, and tackle approximately 3.5 loads of laundry. If only they had an Olympic event for changing a baby's diaper in a car dealership. I think I'd be a contender.