I’ve seen better days

Actually, I have even seen better weeks. This past week has been particularly grueling. Here are some of the high, er, low points.

Amish friendship bread
Do you remember that Amish friendship bread that gets passed around and usually gets back to you at least twice a year? Well, last week we were given a bag of it. I really like the stuff so E. and I have been taking care of mashing the bag every day and getting the added ingredients into it. Tomorrow was the big day for finishing it up and baking two wonderful loaves. Was the big day. Tyler got out of the shower today and called me upstairs from work. All three children were in nap time and the house was oddly silent. (It was nice.) I had the bag of Amish bread sitting on the ledge in our kitchen. Somehow (and I really don't know how it happened, though I would like to blame the dog because he was the only one around!) the ziploc bag of batter leaned over the edge of the ledge and opened up, letting the contents of the bag run down the wall and onto our living room rug. Lovely. I then spent the next hour with a bucket and rag trying to get it all cleaned up. Thankfully, Amish friendship bread batter is cream, and it doesn’t look like it is going to leave a nasty stain. On the downside, I couldn’t get the fermented batter smell out of the carpet fibers (you remember the strong stench of that batter, right?). Yes, I have seen better days.

Disappearing act
You may remember in a previous blog how S. had defeated her crib and was found sleeping on the floor beside E.’s bed. Well, the novelty of being in a big girl bed quickly wore off and she has been fighting nap time and bedtime like the plague. (As I type she is still getting out of her room every two minutes despite her door being locked and a baby gate across the doorway—my attempt to at least tire her out with some obstacles.) The other night I almost frantically called Tyler because I could not find S. anywhere. I had just finished some things up downstairs and came upstairs to check on the kids. S. hadn’t been out of her bed for an hour, so I was shocked when I didn’t see her in bed. I checked her “normal” sleeping spots on the floor, but she wasn’t there either. I then checked P.’s crib. Nope. My bed? Nada. The couch? Empty. Where is she?!? I ran back into her room really fast because one of E.’s blankets had fallen to the floor and I thought she might have been under it. She wasn’t. I then noticed how E.’s arm was wrapped around his stuffed animal. I pulled back the covers and it wasn’t his animal at all . . . it was S.! She had crawled up into his bed, was all the way under the covers, and had tucked herself under his arm. (See picture.) What a nutty kid . . . she almost gave me a heart attack! Yes, I have seen better days.

Later on in the week I found her sleeping almost entirely under the foot of E.’s bed. I didn’t get too worried that night; I just kept looking until I found her. She was bound to show up somewhere.

(Yes! She is finally starting to wear down for the night; she stopped climbing over the gate. Victory is at hand!)

More than just groceries
Our last trip to the grocery store was met with really heavy rainfall. The first grocery store flew by without an event. At the second, and last, store, I couldn’t get the automatic door to shut on our van. Doh! I put all of the kids back into the van so that they wouldn’t get soaked to the bone as I worked on the door. I finally got it to close and then I had all of the kids get out on the other side of the van. In my hurry to get us inside the store, I totally forgot to grab our grocery sacks so when we left the store I decided just to bag them outside. But then it just started raining harder. Ugh! Everything was soaked! But at least the kids were in the van. After the wet food fiasco, I climbed into the back to get S. buckled in. And then I felt it. Our whole van rocked. What was that? I looked up and a car had just rear-ended us. Sigh. Wait! Why is he pulling away?!? I turned to get out the side door and, grrr, child locks! I moved around and over the driver’s seat and jumped out the door. Thankfully, Mr. Hit-and-Run was picking someone up at the door of the store. I ran up to the car (even more soaked at this point), and knocked on the window. Then I was shocked—it was this really old, old man. I felt so bad; but he did just hit us so I confronted him anyway. He said he didn’t realize that he hit me, yadda, yadda, yadda. For the next 10 minutes I stood in the rain looking at the damage and getting his information. I was so wet that water was just streaming down my face. By the time we got home, our frozen food wasn’t nearly frozen and I looked like a drowned rat. The good news is that the damage was very, very minimal. The bad news is now we have to find time to get the claim filed and quotes from an auto body shop . . . only two of which are credentialed by the insurance company in the entire city. I just knew that this town had nothing but crooked mechanics! ;) Poor old man; I hope the claim doesn't make his insurance go sky high. Yes, I have seen better days.

(I think S. is finally asleep. Like actually asleep! Wow, it only took 1 hour of repeated, consistent discipline. I'll have to check to see if she is actually in her bed!)