Rugrats and Dirty Rugs

Dear Mom and Dad, This past Saturday morning, I tried calling you, but there was no answer. I do have to tell you, though, what happened while your phone was ringing. Settling down in a chair, I decided to nurse the baby and give you a call. (I am always doing two things at once.) After the first ring, I looked over at Happy. He had just used the bathroom and was sitting on the floor struggling to put on his underwear. On the second ring, I saw a mass still stuck between his little butt cheeks. I gasped in a choking breath and yelled, "Get off the carpet! You told me you wiped your butt! Go back to the bathroom and wipe your butt right now!" On the third ring, I yelled for Grumpy. "Grumpy! Get a wet washcloth and wipe the two dots of poopy off the carpet right now!" The poor kid runs for the washcloth and gets the poopy off the carpet by the fourth ring. By the time I got your voicemail, Mom and Dad, Happy was in the bathroom remedying his "mistake". It...

Sleepy announced to me one time that he is going to marry me someday. It kind of freaks out his father when he says that. It will certainly be hard for him to find a young woman who is the epitome of wisdom and beauty that I am. Another time, Sleepy came to me with a tiny, toy treasure chest. With a sweet smile, he opened it and took out a lego. He handed it to me and asked, "Will you marry me?" I smothered him with hugs and kisses holding tight to him. Memories of my Sleepy are so precious and time will go by so fast.

Having five boys is a big job, but when you have a pet, your work as a homemaker doubles or triples depending on how many pets you have. We have a German shepherd, a cat, and two birds that are part of this crazy household. I'll say right now that those of you who have no pets should count yourselves as blessed. I'm such an animal lover. Not that I don't cry at the thought of giving Leigh away and the cat stays no matter what. She has a purpose after all. Speaking of the cat, when "we" decided to get her, one of the things I worried about was the cat hair. It gets everywhere. Yesterday, I had to pick her up despite her protests and when I finally looked down at my shirt a couple hours later, there was cat hair all over me. Eeuuu. She also has her own chair. Here is where I finally come to the point and give you the tip of the day. A BOUNCE lint roller. Yep. I'm such a genius. Just roll that bad boy all over the chair and up comes that sticky cat hair that ...

My baby is teething. Both sides on the bottom are white and puffy. Poor thing must be miserable. He is actually taking the pacifier as well. I am always thanking him for this. It really is considerate of him. The thing is....he is not sleeping well. Therefore, I am not sleeping well. The night before Easter I was exhausted. Every night, he wakes me about two to three times before dawn. It caught up with me. I had put him down for the night and told his brothers to brush their teeth. None of them know how to be quiet unless it suits them, so they were just a little too noisy. The "one who never sleeps" was awakened and he was angry. Mommy was angry, too, and threatened her sons with all sorts of horrible things if they didn't get to bed right now and go to sleep. I put Sneezy's pacifier in his mouth and began to sing to him. Here's how it went: "You are my sunshine, hoo, hoo, hoo, my only sunshine, hoo, hoo, you make me happy, (gulping sobs), when s...

Well, the time has come to reveal the end result of my latest painting project. Last year, I had decided to paint my bedroom and the hallway a rich, dark green. That works out if you are going to live there forever, but since we are going to have to sell our house, the walls have to be a neutral color in order to sell it. So. Thus began the torture. For an entire week, I painted. By the end of the week, I still had paint in my hair. Every day, I had to scrub the paint off my hands, arms, and even my feet. I dreamed about painting. I breathed it till I was high as the clouds, and my arms felt like they were going to fall off when everything was finally done. I was exhausted......but there was still more left to do. If you've read my post from last year's painting experience, you know that we have a little imp. As much planning as I could do, I tend to get just a little bit distracted while painting. I was tired and trying to get the boys' bedroom done. The sun was going down...

It is only March and yet we've had three birthdays in our house since the beginning of the year. Happy is constantly asking, "Is my birthday over?" "Yes, Happy, your birthday is over now." He will proceed to go down the list and ask about everyone's birthday and if it's over. He asked about Sleepy's birthday and I said, "Sleepy's birthday is in June. He hasn't had his birthday yet." Sleepy has had to watch three of his brothers open their presents on their birthdays. His chin is usually propped up on his hands as he forlornly watches his brothers playing with their new toys. There is a long stretch between his brothers' birthdays and his own. He has since stated his own preferences and told us what he wants for his birthday, but today there was a new demand. Overhearing my conversation with Happy, he said, "I don't want to share my birthday cake. I want to eat it all myself."

The time has come to scour, organize, fix, paint, and straighten up our house to be sold. Yikes. Just give me a Xanax right now. "What's the big deal?" you might say, or "There shouldn't be a problem, right?" you could say. Well, there is a very big problem and it is a huge deal. Why? Because I have FIVE BOYS. Granted, one of them just poops, eats, and sleeps (the last one on occasion), but the others tend to destroy things on a regular basis. We've lived in this house three years this August and it was in the first year that most of the damages were done. My mind goes back to the day that I waited in the van while Bashful had to go back into the house to get something. He came back out and proceeded to shut the door, but for some reason it wouldn't close for him. So, thinking that slamming harder would make it shut, he slammed it over and over only to have the door stubbornly refuse to shut. I was sitting in the driver's seat with my mouth open ...