"Mommy, it STINKS in here!"

4YO on third base at her very first scrimmage this season

Don't you just love how honest kids can be?

We had a rough weekend in our house. Well, mostly 7YO had a rough weekend! I had to take 14YO to a school function Saturday morning and David opted to stay home with the younger two. Our weeks have been so busy that it just seemed wrong to drag them out of bed even one more day. When 14YO and I left that morning, both girls had crawled into bed with David and were happily watching cartoons. (Okay, so he was probably enjoying it too!)

I honestly wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if they were still in bed when we got home early that afternoon. When we drove up, David and 4YO were doing yard work and 7YO was nowhere to be seen. It turns out that she was still back in my bed, lying on my side and watching cartoons. She'd been there ALL DAY!

She felt a bit warm, but she was still wearing flannel pajamas and covered in all the blankets on my bed. 4YO was outside in a little skirted bodysuit because it was so warm that day. I checked on 7YO a few minutes later and she was sleeping. AGAIN. After she dozed awhile, she got out from under the covers and migrated to the living room. She had a fever and her body ached and her stomach hurt. Actually, she'd been having intermittent stomach aches for the past month or so but the never seemed to be that uncomfortable and there was seemingly no rhyme or reason for them. After one dose of ibuprofen, some saltine crackers and a good night's rest, she was better. The fever never came back, but some other wonderful 'tummy issues' made their appearance. She started out fine, but spent the better half of late Sunday in the bathroom.

I kept her home yesterday and decided to take both 7YO and 4YO to the doctor. 4YO almost always has a cough and I wanted to have it checked out. It turns out that she has allergies and that's why her cough wasn't going away. Plus, she had a sinus infection! DOH! She is so excited that she *gets* to take medicine now! (My kids are strange, I know!)

7YO definitely had a stomach bug of some sort and was almost completely better. No fever since Saturday night and no 'stomach issues' since early Monday morning meant her little tush was back in school today! It turns out that she also has acid reflux, which totally explains the intermittent stomach pains. UGH! We have to eat dinner earlier now and 7YO has a serious 'Sunny D habit' that she has to kick as well. I bought her two different flavors of Tums and she was repulsed by both of them. The doctor recommended Prevacid but wants us to start out with Tums....which she HATES.

Let the good times begin!

After leaving the doctor's office, we made a stop at a local health food store. I wanted to get some dairy-free, junk-free snacks to ease her tummy until we knew she was completely over the virus.

"Mommy, it STINKS in here!" The girls didn't beat around the bush the moment we entered the store.

I've always thought that, too. I can't stand going into Trader Joe's or any other place like that because it smells more like a feed store. It smells like the kind of food that we feed to food! I used to work in a string of pet stores and it smells more like bird or small animal food to me! We picked up a few snacks that 7YO can eat. Meals won't be so hard to adjust but 7YO loves to snack and graze most of the day. I bought some soy milk to eat with her cereal and stocked up on her favorite flavor of instant oatmeal. (She ate three bowls of oatmeal this morning!)

Even though I was buying SNACKS that they might otherwise love, they kept saying, "Can we go now? It smells really bad in here." SPEAKING. AT. FULL. VOLUME.

We'll work on etiquitte another day.

For now, 4YO is trying her darndest to dance to Hannah Montana songs while Aly insists on chewing on her new toy smack dab in the middle of the room that 4YO is trying to dance in.

I can't wait to see who wins this one!

Like anyone could make this stuff up!

I cannot begin to express how crazy things have been around here lately. Really, I can't.

To sum it up a bit: We bought a travel trailer, went camping once, softball season started for 4YO and 13YO, 13YO became 14YO, my computer got some sort of virus and was rendered nothing more than a giant paperweight for about a week, school is still happening in full-force, and...I really can't think of anything else!

Wow...that doesn't really sound like a lot! I mean, it certianly FEELS like a lot, but maybe that's just because it's on top of our already chaotic thing we have going on around here.

Let me just tell you about Tuesday.

Tuesday, both 14YO and 4YO had softball games at the same time and place. 7YO had guitar lessons, which are given by a friend of ours who comes to our house. I seriously needed a shower, but it would have to wait until after I picked up 14YO and our neighbor from the bus stop. (It's over a mile away) I'm getting ready to get 4YO and 7YO in the car to go pick up the others when my friend shows up for the guitar lesson a little early. That totally worked, since it then meant I had one less child to wrangle into the car for my quick trip to the bus stop. The girls get excited that our friend is here and, in all that excitement, they let Aly out. Aly is the boxer version of Forrest Gump once she gets out of the confines of the house and yard. She knows not her name, nor any other commands for that matter! She only knows to run. And FAST.

After realizing that she is not going to stop running and that I need to leave soon, I get the car running and 4YO in her seat. My friend, 7YO and I are all standing outside and I decided to grab Aly's leash and attempt to lure her into the car on my way to pick up the other two. Aly is surprisingly good in the car and loves a good road trip. (But who doesn't, right?) As I'm about to get into the car myself (and after 4YO has gotten in and out of the car about 12 times and I'm on the verge of threatening her little life to get her to stay there!) a giant geyser appears where 7YO was standing. Evidently, she had been standing on a water spigot and it snapped. Now, wasting water like that is never a good thing. Blah blah blah, carbon footprint, yadda yadda yadda. I get it. It's a big deal. It's even more of a big deal when the water is coming from one's WELL. (Everyone who has ever lived in the sticks is nodding their heads in agreement as they read this.)

We do have a holding tank, which is basically a 2,800 gallon margin for error. But, putting unnecessary work on the pump could shorten its life make me unable to EVER get a new car...so it's an especially big deal to me! That being said, I know little to nothing about the valves that turn the water on and off. I quickly call David. NO ANSWER. I immediately dial again (and I hate it when people do that to me, but I figured this was an exception!) and he begins to call through at the same moment. He tells me how to turn off the main water valve until I can find the other valve that just turns off the water to the outside of the house. Apparently, that one is usually BURIED and he couldn't tell me exactly where it was off the top of his head over the phone.

So, within a matter of two minutes, I have a loose dog, a geyser in my front yard, a car running with 4YO inside, and then no water at all.

AND I STILL NEED TO PICK UP 14YO FROM THE BUS STOP AND TAKE A SHOWER!

Admittedly, the only thing that kept me calm was the recurring thought that this would make a great blog.

Hmmm....I can't decide whether that sounds healthy or not.

Just then, Aly came wandering back up the driveway, happy and tired...*&$#@& DOG!!!

Upon returning from the bus stop, I called David back and dug the other valve out from hiding. I was able to turn the water back on at the main valve and turn the water off for the entire outside. And then I got my shower. HOORAY!

That's just ONE DAY around here. Granted, it's a bit crazier than normal...but not by much! I'd like to say I hit the ground running, but it's more like I stumble down the hall toward my coffee pot and make three lunches before any actual running can occur.

Do you like my picture? I found this really cool setting my camera that does this. No editing required! I took this on our camping trip. It wasn't far from home and we only stayed for a night. It was more like test running the trailer, as well as the dog. We took Aly with us and, surprisingly, that crazy dog makes a really good camper! The next two months will tie up most of our weekends, but we plan to get away again as soon as possible. The kids are old enough now so that camping in a trailer doesn't feel like much work. I might even go so far as to say that it's a nice getaway.

Wow. I like to camp. Who knew?

Just keep swim-ming, just keep swim-ming...

Those of you with children or keen knowledge in Disney movies, you totally know who says this! I just have to keep swimming somedays to keep my head above water.

Yet, the water just keeps getting deeper.

13YO (who will be 14YO on Sunday....AAAACCK!) is starting softball. I'm sure you remember that last year 7YO and 13YO both played softball. Well, 7YO has absolutely no desire to play it this year, but it turns out that 4YO is old enough now!

I know, right?

She has had ONE practice and seems to love it. She's on a team with girls up to the age of 8, but most of them are 5-7 years of age. She is so funny with how focused and serious she was. Totally blew her coach away! She's been waiting for years to be 'BIG ENOUGH' and her day has finally come to do something that she couldn't do before but her sisters could. For her first practice, I told her she could just wear ANY shirt. She insisted that it wasn't softball unless she wore a 'softball shirt.' 7YO let her wear her uniform tee from last year. Luckily, we still had the matching hair bow so she totally felt 'Official.' As I helped her put on her sister's softball socks as well as the cleats that 7YO wore when she was 4 to play soccer, I got a little choked up. We appear to be fresh out of babies 'round these here parts.

*sniff*

Don't get me wrong, because I love that they are growing. The fact that 4YO can wipe her own bottom and sleep through the night and get herself dressed has made my life SO MUCH EASIER. I wouldn't trade that for anything. It just seems strange to think that she was just a baby, well...like YESTERDAY. Now, she thinks she's a teenager herself. (The music is never loud enough, she has mastered the art of sarcasm, etc.) 4YO has one more full year before she can start kindergarten, but she would go TODAY if I let her. She wants to be big so badly. Isn't that just the way it goes?

I've been sort of MIA when it comes to this blog. What can I say? Life happens! PLUS, I've been spending a lot of time on Sparkpeople.com trying to get my diet under control. I want to lose weight, but I don't want to have to lose it again later. The low carb thing was great to take off a bunch of weight quickly, but it comes back almost as quickly when you try to rejoin the human race and eat like a normal person again! I think I've finally gotten to the point where I want to learn to actually take better care of myself. I thought I ate fairly well, until I joined Sparkpeople. *smacks head* What was I thinking? No wonder the weight wasn't coming off!

Now, I know I am getting enough calories, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein for my body to function properly. And the weight is coming off so slowly, in fact, that it is sure to lose its way and never find me again. I can eat WHATEVER I WANT (within reason, of course!) and make it work for the rest of the day. It's actually a lot of food and it's food that we already have around the house! I just log everything I eat (which is hard at first, but gets so much easier when you get the hang of it!) and I know what I've really eaten. It tracks exercise and water and fruit and veggie intake too. Seeing it in print makes it more real for me. I want my goals to be met and the numbers to be where they should. It doesn't even really feel like a 'diet.' And these are some of the most supportive people you could ever meet!

Okay...I'm done with my plug. It's not as if they are paying me to say this! (But...if you wanted to, Sparkpeople, I would totally love some sort of payoff....maybe in the form of 'The Spark' book or some Sparkpoints!)

*giggle*

If you happen to be on Sparkpeople already OR if you are going to join, my name there is 'LEANNIAM.' (But of course!) I've been posting a blog there, too. Somehow, I end up talking about farting a lot...