Choosing to SEE

If you are set to read one of my usual funny, crazy life blogs, you will be disappointed. Three weeks ago my friend lost her beautiful baby boy, and my daughter lost her daycare buddy. It has been such a surreal and horrible tragedy. There are no words for my daughter or my friend. Just last week the daycare placed a memorial picture collage on the wall and my daughter being just 2 herself said, "See mom, there is Strat Strat. He's not dead." I just kissed her and sent her on in while I took myself on out to the van for a good cry. But then I started to think that she was really right. In all of her young innocence and misunderstanding, she is the only one who got it right. Strat Strat is not dead. He is alive and well with his loving King. He is feasting in the banquet halls of his great savior being held and loved by the King of Kings. I recently read the book Choose to See by Mary Beth Chapman. She lost her own child to a similar tragedy two years ago and she reiterates the same point. Choose to SEE that God is real and that the spring is coming. I continue to pray daily for this wonderful, sweet, precious family who is having to wait now to hold their son again and waiting to blow belly raspberries again. I am better understanding the mercies and grace of my King. I know my little rascals are wild and chaotic all of the time, but I can still pick them up and love on them in person during this long hard life. In this I give praise. I can move forward in the hope of Christ and in knowing that Ann had to leave us two years ago to go to her King and help him prepare the place for little Strat Strat. I know Ann loved my children and knew how to blow the best belly raspberries. I believe in the purpose of life and now have a tiny understanding in the purpose of death. I thank God that I know that she is there with little Stratton to hold his mother's place until she arrives. I don't know that I will fully understand the death of a child for a long time, but I am consoled by the fact that Ann and others were waiting at those beautiful gates with a grandmother's hug for a beautiful little blond haired boy that was my daughter's friend.

Playground rules have changed...

My girls had me laughing in shock today with their renditions of our old hand games from the recess yard. Maggie's went like this...(arms in a circle in front of her) Open the gate, (you are asked to pull open her hands), Who do you hate? (you are expected to answer with a name- I was shocked speechless, so I didn't answer) That's who you date! (Rolling laughter...) Then Ann Cherie, as if to one up, folded her hands in the old "Here's the church, here's the steeple" mode and said, "Open the diaper- What's inside?" and instead of people you got poop fingers. OMG, how the recess yard has changed over the years- and they go to the magnet school.

Blog peace or is it piece...

I have decided that I am beginning prayer now for a job that requires me to blog all day! I imagine that a nice, quiet little cell (thinking less prison, more cubicle) with my own computer without sticky keypad letters and screaming children attached would be quite lovely. I have visions of great writing that is not all about my rugrat children and their tirades through our chaotic life. I have dreams of peace and intelligent thought working cohesively to produce world changing and motivating words. Ok, people, I did say dreams and visions... don't chastise me...

The Joys of Garbage Pick-Up

In case you are a new reader (lol, I know, but I do love my three readers!!) , you may not know that I live on a farm in the middle of BFE (you can wiki that acronym). I moved here from the "Huge Metropolis", that it now seems, of Vicksburg, Ms. I giggle now when I think of how I use to think Vicksburg was a small town going nowhere. The really funny part is that I left that "little" town to move to RODESSA. Really, I swear, I did not do drugs in college. I did however fall in love. (Mush, I know.) So anyway, I was messaging with a friend today about how I really do love so many things about this old farm, like space, quiet, fishing in the catfish pond with friends, riding four wheelers anytime I want or don't want it seems (and which was a luxury for me growing up), and letting my kids run wild outside with only snakes to really fear. Anyway, I mentioned, though, that the two things I miss the most and really HATE about living on the farm are milk and movies. Now, don't go calling CPS on me thinking I don't provide milk to my babies, but seriously, we drive 15 mins. to buy milk. Now movies are an hour away. But mostly I miss how my friends use to call me last minute and I'd meet them at the movies. Oh, no. That does not EVER happen on the farm. You have to schedule two hours of driving time into every movie. There is no last minute grab a friend for a meal and a movie. Anyway, she sent me back a one-liner that was just so incredible. She said, "I like trash pick-up...." That sums up the city in one line, people. Farms must haul their trash to the dump, which is only open on certain days at certain times, which, mind you, are NEVER the times you are at home and available to "take off" the trash. Sucks, yeah. Stinks, more. So anyway, all my city dweller friends jealous of my open field "romance" of a life (obviously you have never read the rest of my blog), just remember me next time your trash bin is smelling pretty rotten and you have that glinting thought that it's not to worry because your trash runs tomorrow...Life on the farm is smelly, far-out business. Not to mention those rugrats, I swear...

Moma drama...

I am a moma. That being said, I am not the maid, the psychologist, the marriage counselor, the gourmet chef, the perfect whatever...you continue to fill in the blanks! My kids have managed to destroy my house in the last half an hour!!! I need a personal nanny for each one of them, which I should have prefaced by saying that I need to move to Panama to afford my life. I am so needing Dr. Whateverhisnameis to come into my home and show me how to be this idealist perfect mom that I am definitely not. As of 8:30 this morning, I have already made three different breakfasts (because Ann Cherie doesn't want cereal and Maggie could not be made to eat oatmeal if the Lord himself came down from the sky right now and asked to eat with her), swept the entire house (because Laura was given chips to eat by her big sisters and chose to consume them while walking in a trail all over the house), mopped the house (because Maggie tumped her cereal bowl over and sugary milk leaves a mark on tables and floors), unloaded the dishwasher (as the two big girls whined and complained about being asked to help all the while it definitely not being something they had on their "Want to do" list for the day), reloaded the dishes (from all the different breakfast meals), and folded clothes (while the kids STOMP their feet trudging through the house as they are "FORCED" to put up their own clothes). So as of today, my home is being declared a nudist colony and a survivor episode. I am refusing to cook (to everyone's distinct pleasure- fend for yourself or eat the bugs that you attract with your trail of chips), refusing to wash clothes (when you run out of clean ones- GO NAKED for all I care), and refusing to wash dishes (maybe when you have to carve a branch into a bowl because all of ours have grown mold you will appreciate me). TLC, filming may begin as soon as you wish- my check, however, can be forwarded to the bahamas, where I will be permanently residing for the remainder of my life. I wish... These rugrats, I swear...

Kids and Diet Pills

I am convinced that diet pills would be unnecessary if thyroid hormone levels in children were tested and adult levels were maintained at the child level percentage. My children did not go to sleep until 11p.m. last night. I put them in bed at 9p.m. and still heard them in there talking until 11. Now, that didn't bother me too terribly because I knew we hadn't gotten to go swimming yesterday due to the rain, so the energy level was a little high. And I was counting on getting to SLEEP IN this morning. HA! Laura was up at 6:30a.m.!!!! She has already spilled her juice, peed on the chair in the dining room (which are thankfully all wood and easily wiped down now), trailed fruit loops down the whole side of my house, drug out four different babies and blankets and strollers, and successfully woken up her sisters. Bottle that for me, PLEASE!! I need to lose some weight. If I could have HALF of that energy I would be a skinny momma! That little rugrat, I swear.....

Personal venting...Read at your own risk...

Well, mom left to go home today. I have done nothing but cry since then. She was so funny telling me her whirlwind story of her trip to get here. She was packing Wed. morning to head this direction when Kaylee, my 16 year old sister, ran down the stairs telling mom that it was 10:01a.m. and she was suppose to be somewhere at ten and worse yet, she was supposed to have taken Claire as well. She begged mom to run take Claire so that she wouldn't miss this whole thing while Kaylee went up to hurriedly dress. So mom made the unexpected outing to drop Claire off, and she decided to go ahead and fill up her car with gas for the trip. She gets to the gas station and inadvertently trips her car alarm system and couldn't figure out how to turn the horn off. She is standing there so embarrassed as people offer suggestions as how to make the noise go away as she frantically pushes every button on her keys and finally puts them in the car lock for the magic turn that silences the lambs! By now it is approximately the time she was suppose to arrive at my house and she is still needing to get home to finish packing. Needless to say, she arrived around 2 o'clock to my house, but arrived safe and sound, nonetheless! Frankie is working the oil spill mess so I am basically a single mom this half of the summer, which would be a job with one child, but I have three. Plus, I can't lift much because of the bladder lift/hysterectomy, so mom has to be here to help me out. She made my favorite, chicken spaghetti, for me that was sooo good! The kids are such a handful and my furniture arrived, so it was a hectic couple of days around here. Pictures are all off the walls, shelves had to be rearranged, etc. We got all of it situated, but it kept us so busy. We stayed up until 2 in the morning talking because that was the only quiet time that my children didn't monopolize. They are like garbage disposals- always hungry, always making messes, and always processing. Then mom had to go home today. She always seems happier on the day she is leaving, which depresses me because I know we (meaning the kids and myself) were tough for her to handle. (I know she needed to get home. It is just that feeling right after your mom leaves that is just empty.) And, speaking of processing, Laura was in the mood today and peed on the old couch not 5 minutes after mom left. Then proceeded to abandon the potty altogether as some sort of defiance at the loss of her Nonnie, I am assuming. She has since peed on the floor in her room, the floor in the kitchen, in MY bed, and most recently the computer chair- with double occupancy mind you, (Yes, ALL OVER ME!)and after I had just sat her on the potty. Just picture the little old woman who lived in a shoe... So I was already bummed that my mom had to go home and Frankie calls me and decides he is finally ready to have "the talk". (No, we're not divorcing, people! and the hysterectomy took care of the other talk!) "The talk" is the "Joy wants new employment in civilization and I can't leave my Daddy" talk. He starts telling me about how hard a move will be and how he is happy in his job and happy on the farm with his family and how I just need to figure out what makes me happy here...blah, blah, blah... Really??? Tonight?? My mother just left for crying out loud. I am a nervous wreck with the kids... Anyway. The talk began and so did the tears. Now they won't stop. For starters, I need a new job. Out of education, people. I mean as far away from children as possible, because when you have your own, it is too hard to come home to them after having a classroomful all day. Now, according to my husband, I have no clue as to where I fit. Yeah, well, let me think. Let me fill him in. New job fits. Living by my mom fits. There are lots of new and innovative changes that I could see fitting. I swear. I was not supported when I wanted to go to law school 5 years ago, because supposedly I was using it as a "ticket off the farm". Now, I KNOW that would have been detrimental to society if I had moved off the farm and all, but not Armageddon... Well, that lack of support will not stop me this time as I find my new "fit". I know I am loved. That is different. And I know I have great friends (Thanks, ya'll, for the encouragement!). That is different. I want to make a difference in life. I want to be helpful and appreciated. I want to put my strengths (I have a master's for goodness sakes!) to a good cause. But I am exhausted. The anxiety of returning to my current job with the same woes of this past year is exhausting me. The kids are exhausting me. The husband working odd, crazy hours- now working those seven hours away from me-exhausts me. The laundry, the dishes, the trapped feeling on this farm... I am feeling the mask coming off in this post. Well, not to worry. I'm determined. I'll find what fits. It is time. I am lowering the mask (of which the meaning of removal I probably should have forewarned Frankie) and preparing for the hurricane that befalls the removal. It is always interesting to see the real me when it is off. I am looking for a life facial. I have given this farm 10 years. It is time to harvest, people, and plant something different! I don't know about you, but I am sick of corn...
P.S. Sara, are they hiring in Istanbul? I have a Master's...
P.P.S. The "people pleaser" mask requires me to add that I am sorry for venting... lol... and Frankie requires me to add that my hormones are on an extreme shift since the hysterectomy which should even out soon... hopefully... cause toilet paper is expensive...sniff...sniff...

Out of the mouths of kids after church...

Mags was so funny today! She was talking to me after church telling me, "Mommy, I was soo good at church today! Can y0u believe I slept through all that yelling?" I could not stop laughing! Our babtist preacher gets a little loud when he gets fired up! Too funny! Then my friend Beth told me about her daughter telling her, "Mommy, I love Jesus, but I hate going to church!" (They have to go to "big church" now that they will be in Kindergarten!) So funny!

I be STROKIN'...

This is my first posting post-hysterectomy/bladder lift! I feel terrific as far as two weeks out goes!! I have the best of friends loving me, praying for me, and best of all COOKING for me! It has been so great! Thanks to everyone for all of these things 10 times over!! I love you all!

Today we went furniture shopping. It was nerve wracking! At the first store or two we hooked L into her stroller. She SCREAMED at the top of her lungs and threw her shoes and unbuckled her little belt like the best of little tantrum throwers because she wanted to "walk herself", so at the last store Frankie decided to let her walk and "hold his hand". HA! That lasted about as long as she could wink! She started by needing to go "potty". That is fun because I can't lift her, so M is lifting her to put her on the potty and she slips and L ends up with her hands in the water in the toilet! Then we finally manage to get her up on the potty, and she sits and I SWEAR- SUCKS HER THUMB! I thought I was going to throw up as I pulled her hand down as fast as I could breathe. Then I wipe her up and we go to wash her hands. Of course the girls have to hold her up again for this one. Ann Cherie puts enough soap on her hands to wash Kate+8's crew and then L decides she no longer wants to wash her hands. She starts kicking and screaming and M drops her. Nice! She is running around the bathroom with soap dripping everywhere and I am saying over and over again, "Laura, come back and finish washing your hands." The big girls are chasing her to help me catch her and she thinks it all grand fun! You can imagine the chaos! Anyway, we finally get washed up and out of the bathroom. The "money lady" as the girls refer to the sales lady is happily showing my husband the furniture in the front of the store, just out of hollering range for him. So as L decides to throw her fit on the floor because she doesn't like "having a shoe" (as she throws hers) and wants to "walk myself" without holding my hand, I send AC for Frankie. He meanders through the furniture to get to us- get this- LAUGHING at L! Oh, if not for surveillance and the whole husband abuse thing, he sooo deserved a slap! We spent the next half hour chasing L while trying to sit on a thousand or so more couches before we finally agreed on a set! Let's just say I am hoping I still have some painkillers or sleeping pills left over from the surgery! Well, the couches will be delivered in two weeks! I am so excited! Those rugrats! If I have a stroke one day you can look back through this blog and know why!

Things change...

My life is all about change right now. My kids are growing so fast! M starts KINDERGARTEN this year! L will be three, and AC got her first standardized test results. I am also preparing for a hysterectomy and bladder lift. I feel like the baby stage is officially come to an end on the farm! It is wonderful! But part of me feels like she is going to cut out my identity when she performs that surgery. I know that sounds crazy because all of these years I have fussed and complained about life with kids' woos, but really what else have I accomplished over the last ten years? I may not be the best at anything, and certainly not motherhood, either, but I have kept them alive for 8 years now. And most of the time they don't look or act like homeless hobos. All in all, though, I have been really good at being pregnant and eating too much. So after the surgery, that success level will be eliminated. That will not be a bad thing, just a definitive chapter in my life torn away with three little rugrats as evidence of it's previous existence. So on to my next chapter, right? Problem is, only God knows what that chapter is to hold, and if anyone knows me, you know that I am a control freak. Giving up the control (if I ever really had any) over where I am to go next in my life has proven terrifying. I litterally feel like I did in high school, wondering what I want to be when I grow up. I know that God is leading me away from my current teaching post, yet I cannot see past the laundry to know which new direction he is pointing. I used to pray in times like these and tell God where I wanted him to say it was OK for me to go, always to be shown a better way, but now I find myself praying for peace and surrender. I am so exhausted from dishes and laundry and piano and choir, that I cannot even breathe sometimes. I truly feel overwhelmed. I almost wish that it was still third grade and I could still dream of being an astronaut minus the math and the parachute jump. Anyway, times change, and God brings better things. God moves mountains, even ones made of laundry from three rugrats and a giant.

Hallelujah for J.T.'s vocals

OMG, my friend from high school just posted himself singing the fabulous song Hallelujah on You Tube. You have got to hear it if you haven't already. It is incredible! I wish the whole world could hear his voice. He has such a tremendous gift. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndbeNfUqSpA

Life is short...and fun!

The past four weeks have been both sad and fun all rolled into one. I blogged last about Grandpa falling and breaking his pelvis. Two weeks later he was dead. He could be such a grumpy feller that at first I didn't really know how I felt, but in the end I loved him and he loved me. That's really all that matters in life. It was weird going into their house the first time and not hearing him hollering, "Polly...Polly". I can't imagine how she feels right now. I can't imagine being married for 64 years. What a great legacy of love. The weekend of his memorial was a blast with all of the cousins. That sounds awful, I guess, to say, but we see so little of some of the cousins as they live in Nashville, Houston, Ruston, etc. Having EVERYONE here was great. We all sat around the table as the kids ran around playing. Shawn broke out his guitar and we sang hymns for a couple of hours. So fun to laugh and love each other! That is what life is about. That is what Grandpa started. So I suppose I should look at my kids when they drive me crazy and make them promise... to learn to play the guitar!

The other fun we have had in the last week proved elemental in my survival as a sane woman. Frankie hosted the Louisiana Wildlife Agents Association Convention in Shreveport this year. My mom (God love and keep her) kept the kids for me! We had around 200 folks up here having a great time! Busy and fun! Lauraleigh took me to buy some "Booty Bling" jeans from Buckle on one of our outing days! If you do not own a pair of "Booty Bling" jeans from Buckle, then get yourself on down to the mall. It will take 10, 20, 30 years off of your booty. Of course you have to have the "Booty Bling" belt to go with it. It really was a blast. We got our nails done, bought new shoes, and danced all night. I actually felt like a real, live woman again. Who knew a pair of jeans and a night with no kids could prove me capable of living again! It was the best weekend I have had in a long while. Even though Mom has now cancelled the week she was suppose to keep the kids this summer, it was still worth having my weekend! (The best part was seeing how ragamuffin my children looked when I picked them up from her! They were first to admit they had not been made to brush their teeth but maybe twice and certainly did not pick up a brush! Awesome! I am not such a terrible mother after all, huh, Mom!) Those rugrats finally were not responsible for a blog! I am so proud of them and mom for living through the experience!

Picture Proof...

Ok, my picture proof has come back to bite me. This week has been crazy as all have seemed lately. L was mo' sick with a sinus infection and an ear infection and WHINY, let me tell you WHINY! Then Granpa fell and broke his pelvis and hip. They took him to Texarkana because ALL of the hospitals in Shreveport were full. He was finally cleared for surgery last night. So anyway, with a crazy week I was exhausted today and decided to lay down for a while and read this cloudy afternoon away, all the while praising God for the peace for a minute to read! Well, I hadn't been in my bed for about 15 mins when Maggie came around the corner and took a picture of me. I asked her what she was doing playing with my camera, to her reply,"I needed to be able to prove to my daddy that you laid around her reading a book in your bed all day and won't play with me." Seriously. She's five. Geez. My little rugrat. (And Melody, that is not funny!)

Louisiana Snow Day...

It is snowing like crazy over here! Which, of course, is an exceptionality in rural Northern Louisiana. I really loved seeing my students go crazy in the snow! We worked hard today as we listened to Melody's sultry voice singing, "Oh, the weather outside is frightful..." while we did our snow dance this morning at school! My own kids are so crazy happy that there is no school tomorrow! They made me go look out the window to see 100 things when we got home tonight. "Mom, there is SNOW on the trampoline...swing...dog...etc." as if the snow was going to just pass over those things and land only on the ground. Maggie even asked me where the grass went when the snow was on it. So funny! So anyway, all that said to say, DO NOT CALL ME IN THE MORNING. I am sleeping in!! We are out for SNOW DAY or is it Valentines, or Chinese New Year, or Mardi Gras, or President's Day...Who cares!!! YEa!!! lol Here are some pics from our "Snow Day" holiday! Funny little rugrats...

Sick Days...

My kids have been so sick. We finally got AC over mono like two weeks ago just to have Mags and L come down with it this week. They are so whiny, and I had to take off three days to keep them. It was Frankie's week to go to Baton Rouge so he couldn't adjust his schedule (and didn't need to considering he had just rearranged his two weeks ago for AC). Anyway, then I got in trouble at school over a miscommunication. Totally terrible. I always work so hard to be my very best (ya'll know how I am) just to have it all crash in this week. Well, to top it all off, Frankie is at the emergency room with Mags hoping she didn't break two of her fingers when she and her big sister were fighting and slamming the door in each other's faces- hence slamming fingers in the process. FUN! FUN!! Where are my nerve pills again? Good news is that we finished AC's room. That was a huge undertaking that I am glad is over. In the pics we had not finished her closet doors, but they are done now. I will have to post a done pic soon. She is really loving having her own place that is clutter free and quiet so she can read and do homework. Now, if the middle rugrat wouldn't go in there to drive her crazy we wouldn't have broken fingers. Now it just wouldn't be right not to mention the pasta and spilt kool-aid supper, would it! Pic is attached- don't worry, all disasters are being documented, remember?!! At least we are clothed! These rugrats are wearing me down.

Still Alive...

OMDLJ....First day of Jillian's 30 day shred. Still alive. Mighty red faced, but still alive. Pray for me. (Yes, I do workout in jewelry when I forget to take it off, and Jillian sure doesn't give you a break for that kinda thing...lol)

Bonnie and Jena...old times...

I suppose with aging comes that part of dementia where you only remember the good ole days! I felt like it was the good old days when Bonnie dropped by to visit during Christmas break! My sister is a busy nurse supervisor and Bonnie books for the Ellen show out in California, but when you drop two Mississippi girls back home for the holidays the good times are definitely here again! Loved seeing you, Bonnie, and my sister for that matter! It seems like Jena is out in CA sometimes even though she is only in Brandon, MS! Girls, you are gorgeous! Love my family and my friends!

29...with a year's experience

Yes, I am 30. Geez, that was hard to say! My fabulous friends ensured that EVERYONE knew it was my birthday as well! Amanda decorated my door at school and initiated help from Frankie to decorate my van. Which ended up being somewhat of a school field trip! On my actual birthday weekend, my friends had a party for me at Restorante Guiseppe (spelled something like that) followed by an 80's band at the Celebrity Lounge. It was so fun! I have unfortunately had ample opportunity to use the nerve pills and depends that were gifted to me that day! Thanks ya'll, for a fabulous decade and an even better birthday! Love you all!

I love GIRLS DAY OUT! Mel, Amanda, Beth, and I veged out with mani/pedi's and a great "salad" lunch at Superior last week! Kim and Anna met us for lunch. I love getting to visit without kids climbing on me and interrupting, and I love eating without having to wear my kids food! Thanks girls for a fun and RELAXING morning in town!

The Prophet- Temae

Ok, my Temae has been emailing me a daily scripture and it is almost a little scary, but totally awesome, how they have coordinated in my life. The first one was listed in my blog a few nights ago from Galations- remember the "Don't faint" verse... Today's verse totally synced with yesterday's triple trouble. It is 1 Peter 1:7
Let God have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and
watching everything that concerns you.
Well, God, here they are, all listed out for you in my previous blog. They are yours. Happily given away. And I love you all the more for it.

So I suppose this means that I don't have to give my rugrats away to the lowest bidder. My sanity restored, maybe I can go on to greater things!

Shout out to my students who rocked the Dibels test today! Great job, ya'll!

"3 times daily"

OMG, I am sooo crazy worn out! We have finally finished our back room! TTL! We got Ann Cherie moved into her private suite (for that is what it deserves to be called after all the money we ended up spending) in time for her to catch MONO! If you have ever had a child with MONO you understand! She is too tired to breathe, yet her sisters will not leave her alone. Plus, she can't go to school again until next week, (she has been off all this week). She can't do PE for a month and no contact sports for six months. She has blood drawn every few days to check her liver and spleen, etc. It is crazy. Top that off with Maggie's ear infection and L's rash (had her Derm. appt today) and you have Mommy in a straight jacket. Now if I can just keep all the meds and creams and soaps and drops, etc., straight for all of them... Plus, momma was coming over to help keep AC (so that we wouldn't have to take off the next few days) and her car kicked the bucket about two hours into her trip, so needless to say, she is dealing with getting that fixed and can't come here anymore. I know, terrible luck for her, eh. She was coming because Big Frank has had the stomach flu the last 72 hours, so we were trying to avoid needing him to watch AC to pass that virus on to add to our list. (Plus, how crappy would that be to have Mono and get the flu...) Well, Frankie had to read for "Reading with Heroes" today at my school, and since Mom was all the sudden out of commission Big Frank and AC got together after all and watched movies and napped all day. I'm sure it was hard on Big Daddy, but we'll just pray for him and that we all don't get the stomach bug. On the ride home from taking L to the Derm. appt today we drove through a hail and tornado storm. I will have to check my van in the morn. to tell whether there is damage or not. L's dermatologist I am sure has never had children and for sure never multiple children in one household. She gave us two creams (that are "3 times daily" creams- you know how hard it is to remember "3 times daily"), a special lotion, and a special cleanser. I am to bathe her alone each evening, apply the special lotion, allow that to dry and apply the first cream, allow that to dry and apply the second cream. The two creams I am to do "3 times daily" (did I already emphasize that). I do all that in hopes that the creams don't aggrevate her excema which will reek havok on the mulloscum and we have to start all over with different creams. Did I mention it took 2.5 hours to be handed this diagnosis. That does not count the 1.5 hours in Target following the appt. to try to get all of these "3 times daily" creams. GEEZ! "3 times daily" I just want to cry and scream and trade my profession for drug dealer/ drug quality control tester. I swear, I am not making all this up. This is just in the last two days of my life, most of it today. Did I mention the mound of laundry and dishes that never tend to fend for themselves. My rugrats have officially worn me down.

New verse applicable to life...

Ok, I am seeing that it has been MONTHS since I have blogged. So, Happy New Year 2010! Well, I wish life had been on pause at the Reger farm as my blog has been! I have found an applicable Bible verse to aptly explain my existance. It is Galations 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Most of the time I am simply trying not to faint! lol! Anyway! I have started a new trend! I am documenting my daughters' disasters better with the camera now! I am sharing some pics of the most recent Sunday morning. Why do all things tramatic and time consuming have to occur on SUNDAY MORNINGS!? I know it is the devil. And only the devil. I just haven't figured out whether the devil is attacking my family or if he permanently resides in my children. I am proud to say that Ann Cherie got saved a month or so ago, so I know he is attacking her from the outside, the other two??? Well, that is still debatable. Hope you enjoy the toothpaste interior decorating( still trying to figure out how to get toothpaste out from between the sliding doors. Where's Martha when you need her?), room remodeling, computer reorganization, and so forth that have most recently engaged my children. (And yes, L is allergic to clothes, I suppose, because she is out of them quicker than I can keep her dressed! Mom says it's payback!) I had some marker body art pics to share, but Frankie said it would not be appropriate to post. She used brown marker to color her entire body including in and around her back bottom. Looked like poop, until you saw her arms and legs, and face, etc. So hilarious! Probably the best pic, but in order to avoid having CPS enter the mix, I am not posting it. Let me know if you have any suggestions on the devil thing. PLEASE PRAY FOR MY LITTLE RUGRATS, and for me to not faint!