Club G.R.O.M.G.A.T.

Anyone want to join Jackson's new club? It's called G.R.O.M.G.A.T.* and it stands for Get Rid Of Mean Girls And Toddlers. Apparently, anyone is welcome except for girls and toddlers. Although, I did overhear Jackson make a few exceptions: "Except for Mom and Penelope, and ---- (names have been removed to protect the innocent) and ----, once I talk to her about bossing me." I'm pretty sure membership is free, you just have to know the password. (Which I had to encourage him to shorten, it was originally one huge run-on sentence.) Sorry about the fuzziness of the photo, don't let it lead you to believe this is not for real.

*This club is not to be confused with Calvin and Hobbes club- G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS).

Painting with tears

Every once in a while, I'm able to capture exactly what goes on around here.

Prison Food

So, today was one of those days. People say that all the time. What exactly does that mean? Well, for me it means I'M GLAD IT'S OVER. One of my duties as a home maker is to prepare and serve dinner for my family. This is not put upon me by my husband. I could make every night "Whopper night" and he would sing my praises. (All the way to his heart attack and early grave.) We often go to Chick-Fil-A on Tuesdays (kids eat free) but we just ate out there this past Friday night, so alleviating my duties and taking everyone to kid's night wasn't an option in my mind. I boiled some white beans all day, thinking I could create something edible to make by dinner time. Well, at 4 o'clock I realized I needed to go to the post office and get something in the mail by five. Jimmy had a meeting after school and wasn't coming home until late, so I piled all the kids in the van and ran my errand.

This meant that I didn't get dinner started early, or my usual afternoon chores done, and I left the house messy, to say the least. I came home to some disgusting looking beans, a lot of clutter, and hungry children. I began to think of casseroles I have eaten or made in the past. I've had casseroles with beans. I had some leftover chicken. I've had casseroles with chicken. I made some rice. I've had casseroles with rice. Then I remembered, "Oh yeah, if you put cheese on it, it magically makes it yummy, right?" So I shredded two ends of two different kinds of cheese. Throw in some spices, chicken broth, more spices, CHEESE...and I've done my job. But it's pretty sad when you look at it and don't even want to taste it to see if it's good enough to pass for dinner. (The whole time I was cooking I was thinking about how tasty Chick-Fil-A nuggets are.)

Also while I was cooking, my kids were doing whatever it is they do when, after a long day, I put on my angry eyes and declare, "Out of the kitchen!" My preschoolers were downstairs in the playroom playing the pre-recorded songs on our keyboard at full volume, jumping, singing, and dancing on the bed. Jackson is trying to write a letter, so I'm shredding cheese, trying to guess at how the spices might taste (because I'm too scared to taste it myself, as I said) and spelling words Jackson asks about two or three letters at a time. Penelope, my angel child, was in her jumper looking cute and making me wish I could just forget dinner and hold her. Jimmy comes in, looks at the pot of beans and says, with a look of disbelief, "Is this what we're eating?" I said, "No, I just put some of them in the casserole." So, it was a lie hidden with the truth. He trusted me (God bless him) and didn't suggest going out.

I opened a can of green beans, threw a bag of carrots on the table, put out my bread (I did bake bread, but because of my trip to the post office it fell) and we sat down to eat. I served the children. Everything is still loud and people are talking over each other and I haven't stopped in hours at this point. I just want to stuff everyone's face so I can clean up and wash my hands of this whole cooking experience. As I serve a large spoonful onto Jimmy's plate, it lands with a disgusting splatt and a little falls onto the table. For an instant I felt like I was watching a movie scene in a prison, you know, when they always exaggerate the wretchedness of the prisoner's situation by showing how inedible the food is? Well, I looked up at Jimmy and said, "Do you ever feel like you're in prison?" And we both started laughing. I laughed so hard I started crying, and lifted up my shirt to wipe my tears. (I had forgotten napkins, and I was NOT getting up.) Jackson said, "I saw your bra!" then made some comment about my stomach being fat and Jimmy said, "Let's pray."

Yes, let's.

Are the planets in alignment?

Warning: This Post by Jimmy! This Post by Jimmy! This Post by Jimmy!

Well, I just want to say that my long time favorite band since middle school has been Stryper. I have also been a fan of Boston since about the same time but recently got back into them when I found their greatest hits at Wal-Mart. Since starting to listen to them again I now like to watch them and Stryper on Youtube pretty regularly. Well Boston's lead singer Brad Delp died in March of last year. For a recent benefit concert Boston recruited Micheal Sweet lead singer of Stryper for split duty vocals/guitar with some of the songs and is actually on their current tour. How cool is that. So I post here a video combining two of my favorite bands. Who would of thought. For me personally this is as big as ...


The Chicago Bulls when they brought in Dennis Rodman.


Or the 92 Olympic Dream Team. Another great reunion of talent to dominate the world.


Or the U.S. joining the allied forces in the 2nd World War.



these guys getting together to save the mutants.

Anyways I digress. Here is the video.

In the last month...

A lot has happened in the last month. Lots of things that would probably be good fuel for my blog. It's too late now though, the inspiration has passed. However, I'll try to give the highlights.

In the last month...

I celebrated the 100th day of school with the kids. We counted lots of things, measured out 100 feet and inches, did things for 100 seconds, etc. (see my Cheerio post) I can't really think of a funny moment or highlight of this, and that's probably because I have been inhaling the smell of dry erase marker for the last hour. I just discovered Jackson left the lid off. Now that I'm high, I'll continue.

We traveled to Brandon to see Jimmy's family on Easter weekend. Jimmy's brother, Gary, and his wife Sharon were there. We went strawberry picking in a field they rarely open to the public and picked strawberries called "treasures" which Gary kept handing out and pointedly saying, "want one? it's a treasure." While picking, Cash just kept grabbing these treasures and throwing them across the field, leaving them for someone to step on. On Easter, Gary and Sharon gave us all an Easter present. It was an egg with candy, Easter grass, and an ultrasound picture inside. They are expecting a baby in October! I am very excited for them, and laid in bed thinking about it a lot that night.



Just two days later, my friend Carey called to tell me she found out she is expecting twins. I then lost approximately two nights of sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about this. I haven't yet figured out why, I guess I'm just living through her because I always said I wanted twins. But do I wish it was me? NO! :-)

My house stooped to a new level of dirty when I discovered dried up spaghetti noodles dangling from the rung of one of my dining room chairs. I tried to document this but it isn't as gross in a picture.


Spring Break arrived. We traveled to Vero Beach and stayed with the Walworths and other friends for two nights. The highlight here for me was definitely taking Jackson out into the deep water of the Atlantic ocean and jumping the waves with him. I miss the ocean I grew up swimming in!

After Vero, we drove to Indian Harbour Beach to stay with my sister. We were there for two days and visited my other sister in Merritt Island twice. Much of this is a blur, but we celebrated my brother in law's birthday, and my niece's birthday. My sister Susan made lasagna and her husband Willie introduced us to the Farting Preacher. Men of the cloth have gas too.

Wednesday of Spring Break we experienced what I'm calling "poor man's Disney World." We did all the free stuff you can do in Orlando, such as a boat ride off the Disney boardwalk (intended for those staying at the expensive hotels, but they let you look around for free) and Downtown Disney. (Instead of buying personalized mugs in "Lego Land", you can just take their picture.) The day, I'm sorry to say, was pretty miserable, between the heat and the tired children but hey, at least we didn't pay big bucks to get tired, cranky, and driven to the point of insanity.

We ended Spring Break by staying at my parent's house in Waldo. Jackson got to knee board. This has been a difficulty every year. He begs to go, and then backs out literally at the last minute. Like, right before grabbing the rope. I got myself down into the freezing cold water to help him and he tried to back out again but I wouldn't have it. I felt like I had truly recovered from childbirth when I got to slalom...on the same day, Penelope turned 5 months old.


Cash got to celebrate his 2nd Birthday with all his cousins and an elephant themed party and cake. I rescued my cake from the brink of disaster and was able to salvage the poor elephant without too much damage. It wasn't totally ghetto, but pretty much. On the parts you can't see in the photo, there's no icing.

One more thing. We purchased a trailer. Jimmy found out they are not renewing his position next year, so this is an investment property that will provide us with extra money since it is currently rented out. And some time after closing, I discovered that now I have everything I've ever wanted. An unemployed husband, four kids, government aid, rotting teeth, and a trailer. At least I'm not pregnant.

The life of a Cheerio™

Well, it starts with a seed. It grows into a plant, the grain is harvested, and eventually baked into the one and only Cheerio™. I'd like to tell you the story of some we had here in our household. About a month ago, I brought home a box from the grocery store. I'm sure the box was handled by most of my children, as Cash likes to place it on the conveyor belt, and Jackson likes to unload the groceries. Anyway, about three weeks ago, I began my school activities to celebrate the 100th day of school, which, for us, was on March 27th. One of the first things we did was make a necklace of one hundred Cheerios. I poured a bowl full of this crunchy cereal, got four strings ready, and sat down on the (dirty) floor with my students to make a necklace. As we worked, I put Cash's on his neck and enjoyed watching him eat them through the string. (I didn't really intend for us to eat them, but it was keeping him busy.) Jackson and I finished ours, but Libby did not and so I put the leftover cheerios and her unfinished necklace into a Ziploc™ (too bad I'm not getting paid for product placement) bag and thought I'd let her finish it later.

A few days later I brought the Ziploc bag somewhere so Libby would have something to keep her occupied. She didn't use it, and it ended up in my diaper bag. It lived there for a while and a few more days later again, I took the kids on a walk, and, when I returned, left the double stroller sitting in the living room (by request) so that the kids could play on it. Someone must have gone through my bag because the Cheerio necklace bag ended up in the bottom storage basket of the stroller. The stroller was folded and put away in the front closet later. A few more days later we walked again and this time the Cheerio necklace bag was retrieved from the bottom of the stroller, played with on the walk and when we returned, got left on the floor.

I cleaned up (I do this every once in a while) and placed the necklace bag in Libby and Penelope's "room basket". (I have a basket for each bedroom so when I clean up the living area I can deal with everything without having to go to the back of the house and risk waking up sleeping angels.) We then left, spontaneously, four days earlier than planned on our Spring Break trip. The lonely necklace and Cheerios lay in a quiet house for nine days.

Today, over three weeks after starting the necklace, I finally threw it away. This, however, was something the ring, I mean Cheerios, did NOT intend. Some straggling Cheerios had fallen out of the bag and still remained in the bottom of the basket. Libby and Cash played with the basket of random items today and the Cheerios ended up on the floor of my hall, right in front of the bathroom doorway. I kept meaning to get the broom and sweep them up, but never had the moment to stop what I was doing. Some time after Jimmy got home, I was holding Penelope and couldn't bend down, but so no one would step on them, I brushed them against the wall with my sneaker.

Tonight I put Libby to bed, and sat down to nurse Penelope out in the living room. Jimmy was outside* and I figured he'd be in any minute to take care of the boys. Cash was wandering around and began to go to Libby's room. I hollered at him to leave her alone. He obeyed (thank goodness) and, as he came through the hall, noticed the lonely Cheerios on the ground. He stopped, bent down, and with sheer joy and the grin of a greedy toddler, ate every last one of them. Since they were assuredly stale, and probably 75% dust, 24% germs, and 1% goodness of Whole Grain, I may have tried to stop him did I not have a drowsy baby at my breast. But, then again, I probably wouldn't have. These Cheerios only thought they were unsinkable. Not in my house.

*A few minutes later, Jimmy couldn't sit still any longer, and I heard the creak of my computer desk chair, down here in the "no toddler zone". He had been here all along. He heard me tell the kids he was outside, let me deal with all of them at bedtime on my own, that sneaky punk. When I heard him and called him on it, we had a good laugh. I can't blame him. I come down here all the time to hide and as soon as my chair makes noise, Cash is sticking his head over the gate and around the corner, asking for my attention. I'm going to have to get a quieter chair.

I'm not her...

This is what the door to Jackson's bedroom currently looks like. It took me awhile to realize he meant "here" not "her". That tells you how off the wall he is. I totally thought he meant "her" and that he would have a perfectly good explanation of it. There is a second sign on the bathroom door. It's just the "I'm not here" one. I guess he wants to hide in his room or that bathroom. This amazes me, because, if Jackson could actually stay quiet long enough for me to wonder where he was, believe me, I probably wouldn't go looking.

CSI: My Mommy

So, for those of you who don't know, I can call myself a "photographer" I guess, for going on 14 years now. I was talking about it recently with Jimmy, and I was telling him how I feel like becoming a mother has totally changed my photography. I used to be totally artsy but now I've become predictable and I feel, boring. I feel like a crime scene investigator half the time, snapping photos of the destruction of my home. The other half I feel as if I have to document the way my children look, because I'm afraid I won't be able to remember them otherwise. Thus, I'm always trying to get them to look into the camera, give a smile or at least "normal" face, and I can check it off my mental list--to get a historical representation of so-and-so at such-and-such age.

So, since I've been feeling rather frustrated about this, (and since I borrowed my friend Sandra's ultra nice camera) I tried to get some nice candid shots of the kids today. Artsy fartsy, if you will. But it's really hard when your six year old hides his face, your three year old just wants to see the pictures you've just taken, and your toddler hits himself in the face every time he hears the shutter open and close. No complaints about the baby yet, just that it's impossible to get a picture of her without siblings in it too.

Anyway, just to prove the dichotomy of my life as a mother/photographer, I've included a few moments I tried to capture today and also some crime scenes from the last few months. Enjoy. (And yes, this is a separate powder incident from the one mentioned in a previous blog. Lucky me, it happened again. I got another chance at documenting it for posterity.)

My life is a comic strip

Okay, well, I really have some things to note but I will probably get interrupted. Here goes anyway. This is about going crazy. I have to keep it at bay. Yesterday I sat down on the couch, put my elbows on my knees, plugged my ears, and began rocking back and forth while humming a drone to block out all noise. I started praying. For what, I can't even remember but I'm sure it had something to do with keeping craziness at bay. I sat in this position for approximately 30 to 45 seconds, thinking everything was going on as normal, but when I released my ears and stopped the drone, I looked up only to have three small children staring at me about 6 inches from my face. And Cash was rocking and droning with a big smile on his face. He thought it was a game. My prayers had been quickly answered. I was rescued from near craziness by laughter. It was a close one.

Jackson has been reading Calvin and Hobbes comic books. I ask him to read it out loud to me sometimes to see if he can. His expression and inflection is practically perfect. Obviously he doesn't get all of the humor but he is practicing reading, but hopefully not learning behavior from Calvin.


There is another famous strip where Calvin's mom tells him to go get into the bathtub. He goes into the bathroom and sits in the tub with his clothes on, waiting for his mom to discover his "obedience." She screams from the other side of the house, "I DON'T HEAR ANY WATER RUNNING!" The other day I sent Libby to the back of the house to do or get something. I don't remember what it was, but she got distracted and Jackson looked at me, smiled, and said, "I don't hear any water running!!" And then started laughing.

Jackson seems to be speaking in capital letters with exclamation points at the end these days. Yesterday I was nursing in the living room and Jackson was in time out on his bed. Cash and Libby went in there and a few moments later I hear Jackson, with no breath in between, shouting, "DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! DOUBLE DANGER! DOUBLE DANGER!" (slight pause) "DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!" I finally got a word in and asked what they were doing. "Dumping powder!" So I said, "Then take it from them!" He walked it into the kitchen to put it up high where Cash couldn't reach, saying nothing but giving me an eye roll as if to say, "Here I go again, saving the day." and then went back to his bed.

Another punch line to my comic strip life was the other day when I was made half crazy by some mini-crisis and Jackson told me, "At least you didn't pull all your hair out, Mom."

So I guess that's about it. But just for your information, later that day, after the powder incident, my friend Carey, and her kids, Ellie and Clark came came over to play. She was changing Clark's diaper in Cash's room, and I was changing Penelope in her room. We came out to the living/dining area only to find the entire pathway from the front door to the back door and into the hall COVERED in powder, with Cash holding the container, and three other kids playing in it. What happened to "DANGER DANGER DOUBLE DANGER?" Oh well. I guess you can't rely on a six year old to save the day every time.

This is Today

A lot of crazy things happened today. So, it was a normal day. I'm going to record it for historical purposes. When I am out and about since having a fourth child people say a lot, "Looks like you have your hands full." I just keep thinking about all the families in this world who have small children and their normal is crazy too. But if anyone who reads my blog wonders about my personal chaos, you can read the following. If not, just skip the text and enjoy the photos. I'm just hoping that I'll read this one day and it will help me remember why I can't remember anything.

6-7 a.m. Jimmy gets up
7-8 a.m. Jimmy leaves, Jackson and Libby read books, I get Cash up and make breakfast.
8-9 a.m. We eat, Penelope wakes and I feed her. Meanwhile, the kids are sliding down the stairs into the playroom on our six foot table that is propped up against them. No one breaks any bones, although there is injury and screaming. I get Penelope changed and dressed. I try to get a cute photo of Penelope.

9-10 a.m. I do random chores. I get myself and Libby and Cash dressed. Penelope goes down for nap. We make our way to the school room and try to start doing something educational. Cash dumps an entire container of colored pencils on the floor and I end up putting the pre-schoolers in front of the computer doing ABC's. Libby has to go pee so she makes her way up the table slide/ramp, doesn't make it all the way and pees at the top of the table, only to have her pee slide all the way down the table onto the floor.
10-11 a.m. I clean up pee and decide it's time for the table to become a table again. I send Cash and Libby to the playroom. They play, but pretty soon turn on Sesame Street. Jackson and I look up some things online we've been talking about, do some worksheets, and then he dictates a story to me. My only requirement was that it was fantasy. I got a story about the whole family flying around the house and eating Fruity Pebbles. He was pretty excited about it and after I read it back to him, he began to edit it relentlessly. I finally had to cut him off.
11-12 a.m. I change Cash's poop. We play toys, have snack, clean up, I change Cash again, I fix lunch, and the kids eat while I nurse Penelope.
12-1 p.m. I declare, "RECESS!" and make everyone go outside. I eat lunch and talk to my friend Carey on the phone. When I dialed her number everyone was quietly playing outside. 60 seconds into our conversation, Jackson is asking me for more food and Cash is ticked because Libby won't let him into the pop-up playhouse because he is "the bad guy." I referee. I change Penelope. Jackson follows me, asks to hold her, and keeps an eye on her while I read to Cash.


1-2 p.m. I take Cash to his room to lay him down for nap, Jackson interrupting twice to inform me that "Penelope yawned, Mom." I lay her down for nap. Jackson, Libby, and I do a little school stuff, I e mail Jimmy and then talk to him on the phone, and I give Jackson his afternoon work. We read books. I can't finish the last one because I am falling asleep.
2-3 p.m. I set the buzzer for 30 minutes and Libby and I pass out while Jackson does math. Jackson tries to wake us up when the buzzer beeps but I ask him for five more minutes. I check Jackson's work.
3-4 p.m. I start bread in the bread machine. Jackson, Libby and I make a Little People village in the playroom, but I have things to do. They say, "Mom! You said you would play with us!" and I try to pretend with them but they have much better imaginations and begin to leave me out of the role play. I nurse Penelope when she wakes up.
4-5 p.m. Jackson lifts Cash out of bed. He comes over and kisses Penelope, singing her the Strawberry Shortcake theme song. I have to get up and make the bread. I scrub potatoes too and Jimmy comes home with a rotisserie chicken and some other staples from Sam's. I go outside where everyone is playing and Penelope is swinging, and try to write in my journal. I end up with three people touching me and reading them a book.
5-6 p.m. Penelope lies down for a nap. We eat, have family Bible reading, (this is a recent addition to our day and Cash likes to scream "BIBLE!" at the top of his lungs while Jimmy is trying to read it) clean up, and Libby and Cash play toys in the playroom. Jimmy and I have a conversation, in between Jackson asking questions about how tall Abraham Lincoln was and lying down next to his extended tape measure to compare himself to our tallest president.
6-7 p.m. Jackson and I go for a walk, he on his bike. He asks me for the 10th time today, "Mom? Can I ask you a question?" He wipes out at the exact moment a truck drives by, frightening him and making him cry. We make it up the big hill taking turns walking his bike. Bath time. Jimmy and I take turns gushing over Penelope's cuteness while she plays in her crib. No one wants to get out of the bath so I have to cut them off eventually.
7-8 p.m. Jimmy decides to let Cash sit on the potty after drying him off. He pees a drop so Jackson rewards him with a marshmallow and Jimmy decides to put underwear on him. He grabs a pair of Jackson's underwear and we all have a good laugh watching Cash walk around in Jackson's underwear because they totally fit him. His little love handles were even bending over the waistband. I guess all the size 2 and 3 underwear I saved for him will be going in the garage sale. Meanwhile I'm trying a dress on Libby because she has to wear red, white, and blue to preschool tomorrow. Jimmy tries to get a picture of Cash and (of course) I discover that Cash has peed on the couch. I can't handle it and head for the shower. While in the shower I begin writing this blog in my head. I am so distracted by this that in trying to make the shower a little warmer, I practically scorch myself and end up leaning on the shower curtain for support. So, I fell down in the tub, screaming making Jimmy come and ask me if I was okay. I was, and felt glad that I never did something so stupid when I was pregnant. The kids are watching "Max and Ruby" a DVD from the library that has become a fave. We try to get Libby to go #2 with no success. Snack. Nurse the baby. Put in a load of laundry.

8-9 p.m. BEDTIME!!! Libby gets to stay up and play for a bit because she napped. I eat ice cream while watching American Idol, then start this blog. Penelope cries and I have to get her up.
9-10 p.m. I put Libby to bed, end up nursing Penelope again, and get her back to bed around 10. I put the laundry in the dryer.
10 and beyond. I try to finish this blog even though it is eternally long and Jimmy tells me "it's who you are" I will now try to upload pics and make my guest bed...my parents are coming tomorrow. Maybe if they read this blog they will forgive me for not getting around to scrubbing the mildew out of my shower today.

We do it all again tomorrow. Having my hands full is difficult at times but it is anything but dull. I feel so blessed to have such a full life.

Airplane crash in Tallahassee!!!

Something new something old something crazy. Well, we were playing a game the other night (not a game the game Settlers of Catan) and about 9ish the lights flashed on and off a couple of times. We looked at each other and made brief mention of it and kept playing. Well about twenty minutes later the phone of one our guests rings and her sister tells her that a plane has crashed at the intersection of Tennessee and Ocala. This is about two miles from us. And the flight path goes right over our house to the airport. So were a little excited to say the least. Anyway, turns out it was a single engine prop plane and nobody was injured except the pilot. Just thought I would share the excitement with everyone. Here is a picture. Notice the Albertson's in the background. That is my Albertson's where I shop for the good deals.
I also want to say that this is big news in Tallahassee. Julie commented, and I agree-- I am glad I live in a town where this is the big news.

Penelope Jane at 3 months

Here is Penelope. She is three months old today. I am totally in love with her, she is so sweet and precious. Very quiet and calm. Probably the most quiet of all of us, come to think of it. Everyone around here just wants to kiss her all the time. She is full of the best part about babies--warmth and softness. She has her share of fat rolls but is my smallest baby, still able to wear 3 month clothes. I'm sure all my others were busting out of them by this time. Be healthy, Penelope, but don't grow too fast! We love you!

The CD gods and marriage

When I first met Jimmy Alley, he drove a Ford Ranger pick-up truck. Since we were pretty much inseparable from the time we met, it didn't take long for us to travel together in each other's vehicles. I was driving a four door Mazda 626. Music was important to both of us, but I was still listening to mixed tapes made from my CD's, or using my portable CD player with the tape adapter to make it come through my car's speakers. Imagine how impressed and excited I was to discover that Jimmy had installed a 10 disc CD changer in his truck, allowing him to choose from 10 CD's at just the push of a button. I was rather fascinated with it and enjoyed choosing songs and trying to remember which CD was in which numbered slot, so as to find it easier. Jimmy however, liked to put his player on "mix all" and let the "CD gods" as he would say, choose the next song for him. I didn't much like relinquishing control, but it was fun to let the player do it's thing and decide whether or not the CD gods had done a good job choosing a song that was appropriate for our mood or day or whatever we were doing or wherever we were driving.

Recently Libby stuck approximately 9¢ in our vans CD player and we had to replace it. Jimmy made sure it was equipped with a way to hook up his iPod, so now we bow to the "iPod gods" while driving around. I could go on about how many times we laugh or are amazed at what is chosen at what time, but the most recent one was the song "Trust" by Sixpence None the Richer. It was less than two weeks until our friends Brian and Andrea were getting married, and they had asked us to sing together at their wedding ceremony, and we had been unable to agree upon a song. One day Jimmy was on some errands with some kids and he came home suggesting this song as what we should sing. I said, "what made you think of that?" and he said with a grin, "it just came up on the iPod while we were out. Sometimes these things just happen, Julie." He's still trying to convert me.

Our kids were in their wedding (except Penelope). It was wardrobe overload for me (I barely ever dress myself up from head to toe, much less the whole family!) but I didn't forget anything huge and managed to get everyone ready in time too. (With the help of Jimmy's mom and various others at the church!) In the midst of all the zippers, buttons, shoes, etc. we were privileged to bless them with the song.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your path straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

P.S. This is Cash's latest sharpie endeavour.

the Breakdown

So, our Christmas tradition of traveling all over Florida has finally come to an end. It went something like this:
12/25 drive to Waldo
12/28 drive to Brandon
12/31 drive back to Waldo
1/2 a.m. Jackson and Libby drive to Brandon
1/2 p.m. Jimmy, Julie and Penelope drive to Tally
1/5 Jimmy, Julie and Penelope drive to Brandon
1/6 all drive home, picking up Cash at a Gainesville exit on the way

Why?? You may ask. Well, for a lot of reasons, but the dropping off of children to give Jimmy and I three days here with just a baby was much of the motivation. As my mom said as I left, it was to get a fresh start. And that is just what I needed. A fresh start, a new year, a clean toilet. I had not done much housework since Penelope was born. So I got my fresh start. I cleaned, reorganized, and put away as much foolishness and mayhem as possible in two days. At one point during our time off I said to Jimmy, "don't you feel like all the life has gone out of our van? It's like we've let the air out of a balloon." To which he responded, "NO. I'm having a great time!" Well, anyway...

What I would like to address is the Breakdown. It's happening. I had this fresh start. Not only were my surfaces clean, my attitude was rejuvenated. But I have realized that you can't stay rejuvenated forever. If you could, rejuvenation wouldn't exist. I tried in my mind to keep my attitude and laundry looking and feeling fresh, but then tonight it hit me that we're back to normal, and normal, around here, is not always clean and organized. Oh well. And it's not one big event, it's just the day to day. It's Libby peeing on the floor of my pristine bathroom less than 10 minutes after we arrived home. It's me opening the refrigerator only to have syrup start dripping on the floor, because it's been dripping down the condiments in your refrigerator door, just waiting for you to open it and discover it's sweetness. It's Cash, while you're wiping out the refrigerator, pulling out the bag of tortillas, eating through the plastic, and then taking a King Kong sized bite out of the entire stack of them. Heck, it began before we even got home. It's me, the matriarch of this troupe trying to take a nap in the car Sunday afternoon, hearing a Disney video coming from the back of the van and Jimmy's punk music coming from the front. (Do YOU think you could sleep with "It's a small world" and some Greenday song playing at the same time? I can, I did, and I am proud.)

So in the midst of all this, I am just thankful that I am not personally having a breakdown. It's not possible with these fun-loving kids. AND Penelope slept over 8 hrs the last two nights so that's huge for my sanity. She is a great baby and still quiet and easy. And to prove I'm always able to find something to laugh about: Tonight I told Jackson we were taking Penelope to the Dr. tomorrow for her 2 month checkup. I said that she was going to have to get some shots. He said, in an excited, drawn out voice, "And then she's going to get a special treeee-eat!" And I was thinking I was going to have to remind him that she can't have candy, when he pats me on the boob and says, "And it's going to come from right heeee-re!" Am I really living in the middle of this hilariousness? I think I am, and I think I love it. Bring on the breakdown. We'll laugh all the way to the nasty, dirty floors.

She's super baby!

Diaper buddies

Jackson got a bike!