Week two - mostly curse words

What a week. Good riddance! See yourself on out the door and take April with you please.

On Monday morning, we started on a high note- Sam lost his very first tooth in the least traumatic tooth loss experience maybe ever. No sooner had I hustled the kids to the bus stop and it was time to rearrange the entire kitchen to make sure nothing is in Wild Bill's reach ever again.

You might recall that my kitchen (and entire house) is somewhat tiny, so moving something as large as an entire bread box to the counter causes issues. Mostly the issue being that bread is now constantly in my direct line of sight and I want to eat it all.

For what it's worth, toddlers holding English muffins litter the floor faster than a long-haired dog shedding its coat after a particularly harsh winter. Much like most children who only poop in a freshly changed diaper, Will waited until after I had vacuumed the entire house before sprinkling magical bread crumbs everywhere. Sam continued to have a great day (he was even wearing his lucky basketball shirt- I gotta get myself one of those) and we celebrated his tooth loss with some frozen pizza that night. Wild, y'all!

Tuesday brought some epic moodiness from Will. Lots of random whining and crying and just being ALL UP IN MY BUSINESS all day long. I think we went to Fargo on this day for groceries. Molly needed a new piggy bank from Dollar Tree and I tend to freak out when our banana count dips below 5. Car trips mean the nap schedule is royally effed, so Will was suuuuuper fun to hang out with for the rest of the day. He finished the day strong though with a poop straight up the back. Been earning his baths since December 2015.

Tuesday night, Will was up randomly screaming all night long. I tried everything I could think of- water, diaper, teething gel, ibuprofen, banana, pats on the back, sing songs, threats on his life, etc. He finally dozed off about the time Sam and Molly needed to get up for school. Yay. Drag winter gear back out because IT IS SNOWING.

It had sleeted mostly throughout the night (I witnessed most of it, remember?) and I was dreadingggg school being delayed or canceled. Sweet baby Jesus, please, I NEED THIS. Luckily nothing was sticking to the roads, so there was no delay and I might have shed a thankful tear or two or twenty.

Did the big kids leave? Did you think you might drink coffee or something by yourself? Ha ha. Fetch me a banana and let's forget last night ever happened.

I love this little boy more than anything. But damn if he hasn't made me want to drink since he's been born. (And coincidentally, drinking then is why I can't drink now!!!!?!?!?!??!?! GAHHHHH)

Did a little fridge inventory. Decided we need more bread and cake and chocolate.
He also decided the useless countdown chain needed to come down and proceeded to rip it down and then into one zillion pieces as I was vacuuming with my back to him. Useful lesson: never turn your back on toddlers.

And a non-cropped screenshot because #lazy.

Will and I went and hung out with my neighbor and her triplet girls. Will always enjoys the attention and chasing at first. But by the end of the visit you can tell he is OVER IT and needs some PERSONAL SPACE and you can also see him considering the priesthood at some point in his future because WOMEN ARE CRAZY.

It snowed all day long, and right up until we went to bed that night. Every time I looked out the window, it was definitely beautiful, but it was also so depressing because END OF APRIL WHYYYYYYYYY.......

Sam got a starburst at school for doing well on a test and sweetly said, "Look! It's the same color as your eyes." So now I'm left wondering if I have red rage eyes or red tired eyes. Probably some mix of both, if I had to guess.

Will started Thursday off right with some serious stink face and a banana. It kills me that he stares at me like this the entire time he's eating it. Like how dare I wake him up for this! Do you know what time it is? I am so angry and offended. How quickly we forget whose idea this was. ((insert all the eye rolling))

At least his mood improved. But then came Friday.

and another lazy screenshot

And maybe I relate a little too much to this one-

Friday was the day we were supposed to find out some news from HRC about Steve's orders. We were told 1pm Eastern time. I can personally attest that time actually went backwards at 10:34am and noon (central time) took about four hours to arrive after that. Groundbreaking and possibly some sort of atomic shift in the universe might have caused it, but I think everything righted itself because Will's naptime ended up zooming by at the warp speed that it always does, so y'all don't worry too much. We got the earth-shattering news that nothing has really changed. They still agree that he needs new orders (derp!), and they're gonna kick it on back down to his original branch manager to handle, but oh yeah, the system is down til Tuesday, so I guess just check back then.

<insert approximately 4,752 explicit curse words in a variety of languages and a few tears>

Then I was lucky enough to talk to my mama on the phone. If ANYONE ELSE had tried to give me perspective, I seriously would have told them where to shove it. But my mama acknowledged that what was going on totally sucked (although she would never say "sucked") and wasn't fair, etc, and then she casually updated me on a few friends and family members that were going through some stuff and seriously, in comparison to what other people are dealing with, waiting on orders IS SMALL BEANS. And logically, I know this. I know that I am completely fixated on what will happen and what the timeline will be and how we will make it all happen before this baby arrives. All of my mental energy (what tiny bit there is up there) has been focused on this stupid stupid Army debacle. I am aware of that while I'm doing it! And yet! I can't seem to focus on anything else. Anyways, talking with her and realizing how (hate to say it) #blessed we are was exactly what I needed. We might be separated for the dumbest of reasons, but we are all safe, we have shelter, food, clothing, health, a happy marriage, and great kids. And judging by every movement I feel from the inside, a future disco dancer as well. I will probably continue to be somewhat consumed until Tuesday, but at least the pity party fog lifted.

Well. Lifted. Past tense. Til that night when Will was up at midnight, then from 4-5, and then Sam woke up at 6 and creaked the bedroom door open and shut no fewer than eight times and then was upstairs TALKING TO HIMSELF LOUDLY while the other two finally slept and I realized that maybe perspective is something for well-rested people to have. I cannot have perspective while also having no sleep and whilst losing my shit. It just doesn't add up. I finally got Sam out of his bedroom and downstairs and a few minutes later, Molly and Will followed. I told Steve, they must know that we have an entire weekend of absolutely nothing laying ahead of us, and want to get a jump-start on it EXTRA EARLY. Despite lacking any and all motivation, we headed down to Fargo area to see a Vikings-style ship that was handmade in a town nearby.

On the drive down, Sam and Molly asked no fewer than 8,000 questions. At some point I stopped responding, and they started answering each others' questions. Molly asked Sam when the Vikings were around. Sam replied, "Well, I guess it was a long time ago. Probably the 1980s." I piped in- "Ya know.... the 1980s were not that long ago.... Pretty sure the Vikings are much older." Sam- looks extremely skeptical.

Well. We go to this museum and watch the little documentary about the guy that built the boat. BUILT THE BOAT IN 1980 OMG.

This man HANDMADE the entire boat. As in, chopped down the trees, milled the wood, and constructed it all himself. He died of leukemia before he was able to sail it, but his four kids and some other people actually sailed this boat from Minnesota to Norway (where this guy's ancestors were from).

Sam: "But why?"

Me: ....

Sam: *patiently waiting*
Me: "Y'all wanna go outside??"
Them: "YES!!!"

Norwegian Stave Church

There was also a Sauna Festival taking place there that day, and initially I was hesitant to even take the kids to the museum because I was worried about the crowds. Well fear not, Jennay.

The museum was empty and I think a whopping 14 Nordic types showed up to use the traveling saunas. We observed from a distance before everyone declared their extreme and sudden HUNGER.

One last look at the church before loading everybody back into the car. I had packed a lunch so we could have a picnic, but I could already feel my shits slipping away and knew I might possibly need those PB&J's for dinner. Decided to be a cool mom and ask what they wanted for lunch. "Yes children, we are indeed in civilization so I am being so nice and taking you out to lunch today." They picked McDonalds and that was more than fine with me. We got our food to go and parked facing a busy road and the kids ate and car watched before we headed over to Target to replenish the banana and yogurt supply.

Any guesses as to how many fries I'll find shoved between the seat and center console?

I successfully transferred Will from car to crib when we got home and Sam and Molly decided they hadn't asked me a zillion questions in the last ten minutes so I spent a lot of time threatening them to leave the front door closed and stay outside and stop asking me questions IF YOU END THIS NAP EARLY SO HELP ME. Will woke up after the front door opened and closed for the 46th time and we loaded up and went out to Monica's house. There, I set my children loose and they (mostly) left me to sit on the grass and chat with Monica. Will just walks all over the place and is so ridiculously pleased with himself and his ability to get where he wants to go. Sam and Molly just go everywhere out there at a full sprint and all three of them arrived home completely filthy and worn out. Straight to the showers and then I tossed the aforementioned PB&J's at them for dinner while I showered. Everyone FINALLY went to bed and I think I was in bed by 8:25. My brain didn't turn off for a while longer, but WHO CARES. ALONE. SILENCE. BED. Ahhhhhhhh......

Today Sam woke up and complained that his stomach hurt. Damn McDonalds. Why did I let my kids eat that poison? Mom guilt. I told him he probably needed some vegetables. Their diets have been heavily cheese-based as of late. He sucked down a squeezy. He sat next to me on the couch and we went over the consistency and frequency of his latest bowel movements. I'm not sure what else I can do to assist in tummy trouble at this point. He then suddenly gets up from lying on me and bolts into the kitchen and sticks his head in the sink. I'm right behind him because he is not quite tall enough to make this shot so I'm holding him halfway up but also trying not to squeeze his stomach and make everything worse and Will is grabbing at my pants and pulling them down and screaming and Molly is like, what is happening in here? Just another peaceful Sunday. #soblessed

We get the BBB (Big Barf Bowl) and head to the couch and I surrender to letting them watch youtube videos about Auburn sports. An hour later, Sam exclaims that he feels 100% healed and proceeds to run 11 laps around the outside of our house, no doubt high off hype videos. As soon as Will wakes from his nap we are headed right back out to the country to run off the rest of the afternoon energy and hopefully everyone sleeps through the night. (Please Baby Jesus make it so)

We survived another week (I know, just barely, right? and not at all gracefully) and we might just find out where we're headed on Tuesday. Jesus take the wheel for Week 3.

The first tooth

Sam has had a loose tooth since before Steve left. I am historically grossed out by body parts that aren't firmly attached to their intended areas. I was so hoping it would fall out before Steve left (so he could deal with it), but no such luck.

One morning before school, Sam was standing next to me talking about how wiggly his tooth was. I looked briefly, just to get a handle on the timeline of this situation and saw his adult tooth popping through behind. Completely nauseous from the sight, I texted Steve. He told me that it would come out when it was ready. I began to text back that if I had to assist I was going to barf all over both of us, but before I could even hit send, I heard a plink on the floor.

I turned to Sam and asked what he dropped. He bent down a picked up a piece of a Cheerio (the size of a tooth) and exclaimed, "Ahh! This is what was bothering my tooth so much!"

This might have been plausible had it not been for the fact that Sam hadn't eaten breakfast, and also he no longer had a tooth in his mouth! I said, "Sam! Your tooth! It's gone! Did it seriously just fall out?! OMG!! I was JUST telling your dad about this!! We gotta find it!"

So we were all on the floor with the flashlight under the couch, searching through the (seemingly dozens of) discarded Cheerios pieces to find the tooth. Finally found it and immediately facetimed Steve to show him.

Sam was SO PROUD. And could there be a more perfect way to lose a first tooth?! With Molly as his witness, this was the most calm, gentle tooth loss one could hope for. So hopefully the precedent is now set- wiggly teeth are nothing to worry about or be scared of. Just don't involve Mom in any way because she's a weenie.

I had a tooth pillow that I had gotten either right before Sam was born or right after, and cannot BELIEVE that it has somehow survived every purge and move, AND I was able to locate it when needed. Truly some divine intervention there. I looked around on Pinterest to see if I was missing any cute (and easy) tooth ideas and saw that there was really nothing I was interested in doing. Mostly because whatever I do now, I will have to do every time someone loses a tooth from here on out. That's 79 more teeth I gotta perform for. No thanks. BAR IS SET LOW. SUPAH LOW. So come Tooth #80 I am not cursing Jenn-excited-over-Tooth-#1.

I know some folks go all out and stuff like, actual green money under their kids' pillows for tooth loss, but I did the math and absolutely not. Multiply by 20, times four, carry the 1, and factor in the inevitable cost of braces we are bound to incur and there is no way this tooth I'm going to toss in the trash is worth more than a quarter. But the first one is worth a little more because I'm not a total monster.

terrible cursive equates to whimsical and fairy-like, yes?

Then I went to bed and left the tooth sitting on the table directly next to the note. Luckily I was recapping for Steve via text after I got in bed and realized my mistake. I have no intentions of keeping any baby teeth, but when it came time to throw it away, I just couldn't. I blame literally everything these days on my out-of-control hormones, but this tiny little piece of him grew inside of me and now he's big enough to start losing teeth?! That realization coupled with the fact that Steve was missing yet another first and I just stuck it in the top dresser drawer. "So Steve can see it." Steve can throw it away after he marvels over its tiny size and weird shape and hopefully by that time I will be well over the fact that my baby is growing up a bit. (Yeah right, but a girl can dream!)

Just a bump in the road

And by bump I do mean, a 649 mile long traffic jam where at the end you just end up crossing the median illegally because the road is closed and you go back the way you came and wait for your GPS to reroute you a different way, except your GPS just shows you that suuuuuuuper annoying "thinking" circle and never actually does anything.

what is happening

When Steve was at MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Fargo, he hit a few bumps there. We sort of expected that since his case is so unusual. The people who normally cut orders refused to cut Steve orders and tried pushing the responsibility off on someone else. "Someone else" threw a fit and said they shouldn't have to do it. What should have been a two hour trip to MEPS ended up taking all day. The recruiters called and complained and demanded someone cut him orders RIGHT NOW because this delay was unacceptable. Someone finally stepped up and did it hastily. And when Steve got home and looked up his new unit code, he instantly realized that a mistake had been made.

aw, shit

To recap, Steve used to be a transportation captain. He is now a specialist in the infantry. Whoever quickly cut him orders only glanced at the transportation part apparently and sent him to a transportation unit at Ft Bragg. A unit that has absolutely no infantrymen. He called the unit anyway, thinking maybe they were some sort of reception unit. After speaking with A FRIGGIN BOAT CAPTAIN, he confirmed that yes, a mistake had been made. He contacted the recruiters to let them know what had happened.

this can't be good

The used car salesman, I mean, recruiter nonchalantly told Steve, no biggity man, they will fix it and find a spot for you at Bragg once you arrive. Aka, I don't plan on correcting this glaring mistake at all. LOVELY. See also, TYPICAL.

sounds about right

So Steve leaves for Bragg. Jacked up orders and all.

have fun in hell, man

He arrives and begins in-processing. The mistake is found. Steve explains that his recruiter told him they could fix it upon arrival. The reception unit, apparently "sick of Fargo MEPS' bullshit" (a direct quote, how fancy) tells Steve that no, they will not fix it. Stop in-processing. You will not be staying at Ft Bragg. HRC (Human Resources Command aka they cut orders aka they are THE LAZIEST, SLOWEST-MOVING PEOPLE ON PLANET EARTH NEXT TO TRICARE AND SLOTHS) will be involved to cut you new orders.

how rude

Ft Bragg wants to send him somewhere quickly. They say that they will speak with HRC and then cut Steve orders to Ft Benning or Ft Stewart (because it is within driving distance to Ft Bragg). Wow! This is great! My family is super close to Benning and we wanted to go there anyway! The next day- "looks like we won't be sending you anywhere because HRC wants to be in control." Steve speaks with his branch manager- "yeah it definitely won't be Benning." BACK TO SQUARE ONE.

so refreshing to start over

We literally have no clue where they will send us, what the timeline looks like, or when we'll hear anything. Idk if y'all know this or not, but I am in Minnesota, where it snowed yesterday, absolutely, 1,000%, completely sober with three kids in a miniature house filled with my raging pregnant hormones. And it is every bit as fun as it sounds.

we cray cray, y'all

This whole scenario actually feels about par for the course, as far as our Army experiences go. It is just extra frustrating to be "on hold" with HRC while they sit around and do nothing and our timeline shrinks and shrinks (much like the give in my maternity pants). We were told we would know something on Tuesday. HRC called on Tuesday and said they had a meeting of the minds (likely in the world's tiniest conference room). They came to the stunning conclusion that Steve needed new orders cut. YES WE ALL KNEW THAT PART. GAHD their mamas must be proud. I unleashed so many curse words that day that it might have rivaled the amount of Oreos I ate that night. (If I cannot drink my sorrows away, I will eat my feelings. They were delicious, in case you were wondering.) If the news from HRC had to be delivered to me instead of Steve, there might have been a renewed sense of purpose at HRC for the folks cutting orders and signing papers. Hell hath no fury like an 8 months pregnant lady who is sick of your shit. But dependas aren't consulted on these matters so HRC is still taking their time accomplishing the most basic of tasks, which is figuring out where to send an infantry E4 guy.

come on, it's not that hard, man

Meanwhile the kids are still taking turns tearing links off of our countdown chain each night and I don't have the heart to tell them it's completely meaningless at this point. Obviously I know this will be resolved at some point in the future, but all of the question marks just look like cartoon expletives to me.

she can't stop cursing, y'all

Anyways, I don't normally blog about stuff like this until there's been a resolution, but I really have no clue when that will be, and in the meantime, I feel mentally constipated from all of this and can't even consider blogging about anything else until that is taken care of. So! If you are the praying type, I am begging that you pray for:

1. new orders to be cut quickly, swiftly, immediately, lickety-split, rapidly, pronto, STAT
2. my kids to accept a new timeline, should we need to present one to them
3. poor Steve, who cannot in-process but also cannot be in the barracks during the day because he is in-processing, but also cannot go anywhere because he's in the in-processing unit, and is stuck walking around post and staring at the clouds, counting down the seconds/minutes/hours/days/weeks until HRC decides to move with a purpose
4. my sober sanity
5. my poor, unfortunate friends who have to listen to me bitch about these problems all day long

Week one - done, son!

Now that it is Monday morning and both kids have safely made it on the bus and to their school, I can officially say that we have survived our first week without Steve.

We survived and even managed to do fun things! Or things that I posed as fun to the kids, and they (luckily) bought.

Headed to the community park at the edge of town to throw rocks in the stream one day after school and tried to pretend that spring was here, despite the complete lack of leaves on the trees. (Seriously, that is starting to get to me.)

I didn't keep an exact count, but I know I can safely say that my kids were bathed more nights than they were not. Mostly because they are constantly filthy and I am never not a germaphobe.

Safe to say I showered quite a bit too as I am the resident napkin/tissue/chew toy.

I finally got it together and washed Sam's new shirt that the Easter Bunny brought. Officially his favorite article of clothing.

Willie and I went down to Fargo on Wednesday to grocery shop and exchange Molly's jellies (Easter Bunny guessed wrong on her size!) and hit up that Target Easter clearance. We also went to the Dollar Tree and dropped an Alexander Hamilton (that would be $10 - high rollers) on random art kits for Molly. When she is home with me and the forecast calls for cold, wet weather, Mama gets desperate. Not so desperate as to buy anything involving glitter, but I knew I'd need help to get her through a week that only contained one day of school.

Picked up these puzzles for them and they LOVE them. It probably helps that I've packed up most everything else so the puzzles and a few coloring books are the extent of the indoor entertainment around here. They really enjoy looking at the different states and pointing out Minnesota.

Wednesday was a busy day and I was feeling it by the end of the day. Very meh about having to cook dinner and bathe everyone and clean the kitchen. And by meh I do mean I wanted to completely protest being the only adult in the house. Just then, Monica swung by and delivered some brisket and homemade horseradish to us! BLESS HER. I gave the kids a piece of brisket, a string cheese, some strawberries, and (searching the cabinets....) saltines. For some reason, my kids love saltines. I had some leftover from the last time someone was sick and thought, what the heck, we need to eat these before we leave. Sam surveyed his plate and said, "Are we having a fancy dinner tonight?! Because this is a fancy dinner!" Well! Sure makin' saltines feel good because I doubt they've ever been dubbed fancy food before. I was also quickly reminded why we don't eat crackers on the regular because that is officially PICNIC FOOD since it seems to disintegrate almost completely before it ever enters my kids' mouths and litters the floor with little invisible crumbs everywhere.

the first completed Dollar Tree art project - a masterpiece, if I do say so myself

Thursday was wet and rainy and Molly did at least three of the Dollar Tree crafts I had gotten her. We spent the afternoon playing at a neighbor's house and visiting before heading home to make dinner and do baths.

Friday was beyooooooootifull and we spent most of the day outside.

barefoot even!

On Saturday morning, we did a couple of chores around the house before packing a lunch and heading to Bemidji to see Paul Bunyan. (Or as Molly cutely calls him, Tall Bunyan.)

My internet sleuthing let me know that there was a playground, lake, picnic tables, and visitor center there, as well as a cute downtown, so I thought, alright, we are set. We got there, bladders full, and made a beeline for the visitor center. IT WAS CLOSED. Only open Monday through Friday (?!?!?!?!!) and I think I felt my bladder actually become more full as I read the sign. We walked around the entire building thinking surely there must be an outdoor access potty.... nope.

The downtown was cute, but full of mom and pop shops, not the types to just let a random gaggle of kids and pregnant lady use their facilities. I spotted a Sears across the street and corralled everyone over there. We finally got there only to find out it was one of those automotive type Sears that only sells washing machines and lawn mowers. A nice man emerged from the back of the store as we walked in.
Man: "Oh! Hello! And how are ya doin' today?"
Me: "Fine, thank you. And you?"
Man: "Oh the sun's shining and I'm breathing so I guess I-"
Me: "That's amazing. We're actually from out of town and the visitor center across the street is closed and we REALLY HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. Is there any chance you have a restroom we could use?!"
Man: "Aw, we don't have one but the furniture place here does. Right this way."
Me: "Omg BLESS YOU."

Not only was it a bathroom, but it was one of those massive walk-in handicap bathrooms that fits an entire stroller and small family. We thanked the man again while walking out and pretending to look at washing machines ("We're in the market for one, I swear. Maybe we'll even come back here..... yeah no we won't. Sorry. Thanks for the bathroom!!")

Fully relieved and ready for lunch, we had a nice, extremely windy picnic by the lake.

The kids couldn't eat fast enough before running over to the playground. It was a really nice playground and they definitely would have stayed and played all day had I let them.

Unfortunately, now that Will is constantly walking (slash crawling and becoming as filthy as humanly possible), my peaceful playground days of sitting and watching Sam and Molly run about with my stroller baby are over. It is a full-on workout. Once my old pregnant body couldn't take anymore, we made our way over to the lake to throw some rocks.

I am still so shocked every time I see a lake with clear water in it.

I knew we were approaching naptime, so we hit up a drive-thru for drinks (helloooooo, civilization! I love you!) and drove home. Everyone konked out hard and I resisted the urge to pull over and take (another) picture of the tiny Mississippi River. (It just BLOWS MY MIND every time, y'all.)

We got home and unloaded the trash from the car, and then reloaded everyone to go out to Monica's house. They had gotten some new baby chicks from the Tractor Supply and we were having a picnic.

Molly just could not get enough of the sweet chicks and repeatedly asked if we could get some too. Judging by how badly Will wanted to hold them by their wings, I politely declined.

I feel like we tried extra hard to soak up the sunshine and warm temps on Saturday because that night they were predicting snow....

And sho' nuff....

Will woke up for a banana at 5 freaking AM and then wanted to go right back to sleep. (curse words) I ended up going back to bed too, but Sam and Molly were up not long after. The benefit to these bigger children is that they are learning to do things themselves! I came out of my room to see that Sam had gotten himself a bowl of cereal!

Might not sound monumental, but it sure helps me out!

The day took a sad turn when I realized we were suddenly out of this "topping" as Molly calls it. I have been putting it on an English muffin with whipped cream cheese (Molly calls them Korean muffins for some reason and it always cracks me up) and I was not mentally prepared for that to be my last bagel-tasting muffin. Anyways, we will be back in the land of TJ's soon enough, I'm sure.

animal - LEAVE ME ALONE FOR THREE MINUTES PLZ

Will's absolute favorite activity lately is pulling every single book out of the bookcase. I'm not sure what sick joy he gets out of this, but it drives me crazy to see so much STUFF scattered about and then to see them all stepping on the books (as this is really the only play area in the house). So I did what any normal person would do and just went ahead and packed them up.

Aw, I ruined his fun

I gave Sam and Molly another Dollar Tree craft- painting their own piggy banks.

Kept them busy and quiet for a solid 20 minutes. Wish I could say the same for this one.

He's happy enough to scatter and smash Cheerios all over the floor though.

Unfortunately, Will smashed Molly's piggy bank right before bed, so it looks like another trip to Dollar Tree is in our future...

We did an "experiment" where we mixed together the remaining vegetable oil I had in the pantry, some food coloring, and water. Clearly I need to do more "science" at home with them, as this left them fascinated and exclaiming how awesome the experiment was.

They then played restaurant with the bottles and colored pencils (obviously the food) and made up their own little games around the house until it got closer to dinnertime. I caved around 4:30 and let them watch tv. I just couldn't anymore. The day had lasted so long and they had been so good. Will made a mess of himself at dinner and earned a bath. Then he brushed his teeth for a solid hour.

Up again at 5 this morning for a %@*&?! banana and is now napping while the big kids are at school. I'm not sure whether to start laundry or pack up the remaining books scattered about the floor. Decisions, decisions!!
Happy Monday!