On the Mend

Thanks be to God and Zofran, we are on the mend.

I have a shower curtain and a bath mat left to disinfect. Yes, this was one messy bout.

The Land of Ick has morphed into The Land of Make-up Work. From the next room, I hear Kolbe call, "Good! I've finished another test." Progress, progress, progress.

God bless the homeschoolers of the world. I share their love for the art of teaching. I understand the desire to pass a love of learning on to your children. I can't fathom how anyone gets a lick of school work done with toddlers in the house.

I leave the dining room for a scant second and return expecting to see a studious third grader and a diligent seventh grader, noses to their respective grindstones. They have vanished without a trace.

Instead I find a one-year-old basking in her new-found ability to climb, climb, climb! You know, there's no good day for a toddler to learn to climb on the dining room table, but truly some days are worse than others. Ditto for her ability to climb the ladder-back chairs.

I have visions of stitches dancing in my head.

Did I just refer to my baby as a toddler? Say it isn't so.

Becusting and Wame

Between mopping floors, dosing kids with phenergan, and transferring laundry, I've enjoyed a few choice Johnisms:

On seeing Ainsey lose it: She frowed up. It's becusting.

On the latest video selection: I don't wike Tom and Jerry. It's wame.

Laughter is welcome here in The Land Ick because it is indeed becusting.

Happy Anniversary!

Dave and I celebrated fourteen years of marriage yesterday. We spent the evening dosing kids with Tylenol and mopping up vomit.

Warning to my neighbors: I don't have a skull and crossbones to post on the front porch, but consider yourselves forewarned. Free range germs in the house! John was burning up with fever while Ainsley and Kolbe tossed their cookies in stereo. Tim got into the action this morning.

All of this is further complicated by the fact that my half and half - dated 10/31 - has curdled so I am facing four sick kids and a mountain of n-a-s-t-y laundry caffeine-free. This simply will not do. I plan a quick trip through the McDonald's drive through.

I'm angling to write a bright, uplifting piece about the joy and fruit that has come from these years of married love, but Ainsley is at the door wailing, "Mamamamamama!" and John has just informed me that his pull-up is poopy.

On a lighter note, I just found a Netflix DVD that has been missing for a month. In fact just yesterday I called Netflix to find out what I owed them. I think Season 1 of Monk will bring some much needed levity to this dreary day.

The Rainforest Cafe

Warding off gorillas and monsoons.

Excitement Behind Every Door

Burger King off of I-95.

I walk John into the bathroom stall and shut the door. His face lights up with excitement, and he does this maneuver with his shoulders that shows he's anticipating big time fun.

"Are we hiding," he asks, barely containing his enthusiasm.

Sorry to disappoint, my precious bundle of joy. We're just going potty.

Another Sous-chef in Training

Seven Quick Takes - The Vacation Edition

Jen hosts Seven Quick Takes. Here are a few blurbs about life around here...

1. Tuesday night we returned from a potluck dinner and found two gift bags sitting on the dining room table - one for Tim, one for Kolbe. Inside were guides to Disney World. We leave this morning, er, um, sometime today.

2. It appears that Winnie the Pooh has made other plans for breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea, midnight snacks, etc.. Please pray that if we can't eat with John's favorite bear, we can at least have a nice chat and photo-op. If we miss Pooh, mother and tot may require therapy upon our return.

3. We've been planning this trip for a l-o-n-g time, but kept it under wraps until a few days ago. This made for lots of excitement for the older boys. With John, however, I now know that we should have told him as the tram was pulling into the Magic Kingdom. Every time we get into the car, he thinks we're en route to Disney. He flipped when I drove him to school the other morning. He loves 'cool, but it doesn't hold a candle to Disney World.

4. Packing up is always interesting as my "quick and dirty" style meets Dave's "slow and methodical" one. All I can say is our marriage has come a long way from those early trips.

5. One of my frustrations with packing up is that if we tarry long enough, we eventually seem to move in reverse. Messes get made, people get hungry, perhaps someone narrowly misses the potty. I found Ainsley rummaging in my purse. Among other things, she managed to find the ziplock bag holding the cache of pacifiers.

6. We nearly had a breakout when one of the boys left the back door open. Ainsley would have escaped but she made the fatal mistake of considering provisions. I found her standing in the doorway throwing the two extra pacies out before she scooted. Plans foiled again!

7. I think I am more excited than the kids.