He Doesn't Tape and I Don't Roll

Sometimes I am in awe of the Lord's goodness in giving me the Coach for a husband.
We balance each other in so many ways.
Those of you who are married know what I mean.

The Coach isn't, by nature, much of a detail person.
I am obsessive compulsive in many ways.

Turns out, being OC makes for a lot of overwhelming discouragement.
The Coach's laid back nature is much easier to live with.
Particularly in a house full of children.

So I'm learning to let things go and he's learning to pay more attention to the details.

He's also extremely humble. Anyone who knows him, knows he's always kind and never judges.
I tend to think I'm always right. (Why is this working out to make me look bad?) We had a joke in our house when I was growing up. We'd practice saying, "I don't know." It didn't come naturally. For anyone in my family.

The Coach is also extremely frugal. Remember the milk?
I'm. . . well. . . NOT.

But I'm learning!

Being the baby (and only girl) of three children, with a very generous father did not make me a penny pincher by nature. However, necessity is the mother of invention. And after 13 years of being a teacher's wife and mother to many, I've developed quite a system for saving money.

For the most part, I just don't spend it.

But on the other hand, the Coach is learning one of my family's strongest traits: If you are going to do something, do it well. It's not a great partner to frugality, this quality, but it's possible for them to live happily together.

Just like the Coach and I.

So this weekend we painted the girl's room. Actually, Saturday afternoon.

Is there a sport called "Speed Painting"? Or, "Paint as fast as you can before the rest of the house falls down around you?"

We hadn't planned on doing that this weekend. In fact, when the Coach and I walked Saturday morning we talked about how we might not get to it for a few weeks. I've gotten so laid back that I was OK with that (are you laughing?).

But then after our company left on Saturday afternoon, he said, "I think I could at least get that ceiling painted today."

I should have known.

At one point, he asked me if I was "OK" with the paint we already had. I realized, in a moment, that it was now or never. The paint I had already purchased, or no paint at all. So I took the leap of faith, and said, "Go for it."

By 10:00 PM it was a done deal. And it's beautiful. I'm so happy with it. And it's done.

Well, except for rehanging the pictures and replacing the outlets and light switches, and a new window treatment. (Oh those details!)

Maybe not "done". But certainly PAINTED.

The Coach and I, we've painted a lot of walls. Whole houses full. And we have a great system.
I don't care for rolling paint - it scares me. I would get it all over myself and everything within 20 feet.
He, on the other hand, doesn't care for the tediousness (is that a word?) of taping.
So I prepare the walls, he rolls them and we both cut in the edges.
All in all, it works well.

And it's a good picture of why God put us together. And why we need each other.

But I would have you know, that the head of every man in Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. I Cor. 11:3

Balance.

PS - Pictures to follow. . .

Thankful Thursday

A Belated Happy Thursday to you all!

Here goes:

1. That even though Daughter (#2) dropped and broke my camera tonight, God's grace was sufficient and I didn't get angry. Just sad.

2. That Daughter (#6) and Baby Boy survived their well-child visits and immunizations this morning. How fun to run into my friend from The Anderson Zoo at the Doctor's office!

3. That Baby Boy is up to a whopping *19* pounds! Woo hoo! Even if that is only the 5th percentile. He's growing!

4. For the warmer weather today and cooler weather tonight. Lovely!

5. That Son (#3) finished his "make your own paintbrush" project tonight - just in time for tomorrow!

6. That Daughter (#2) and Son (#3) both received the character award in Chapel yesterday for:

Discernment

The ability to understand the deeper reason as to why things happen

7. That tomorrow is Friday!

8. That even though Daughter (#2) has something weird going on after losing a tooth, the dentist said, yesterday, that it's just fine and will heal on it's own.

9. For my BFF Crazy Daisy who has taken on the huge burden of keeping me accountable for taking better care of myself: eating right, taking my vitamins, exercising, drinking water, etc. She's such a blessing to me!

10. For all of YOU who read Mrs. Troop and encourage me every day by your interest, thoughfulness and just by taking the time to care about my chaotic little life! Thanks!

Leave me a comment and tell me what YOU are thankful for this week! I love hearing it!

Finally, brethren,

whatsoever things are true,

whatsoever things are honest,

whatsoever things are just,

whatsoever things are pure,

whatsoever things are lovely,

whatsoever things are of good report,

if there be any virtue,

and if there be any praise,

think on these things.

Phil. 4:8

Paper Towels Work for Me

Sometime in February, we were on the third (or fourth, or hundredth) round of illness here at the Troops. Ugh.

I remembered my sister-in-law's mother (who is a nurse) used to have paper towel holders in the guest bath. Hmmmmm.

Then I realized that we probably spread a LOT of germs on our hand towels. 10 people, times countless hand washes each day. Combined with hands that have been sneezed into, pet the dog, played on the playground at school, etc.

I know the POINT of washing hands is to remove those germs. And I know that technically speaking, if your hands are clean when you dry them, then the towel should actually be germ free.

Who are we kidding here?

They are kids!

So I purchased $4 paper towel holders at Target and put them in the two kid's bathrooms.

Wonderful.

We use the generic paper towels, only one per hand washing. And it works great! We are using less than I would have expected and not spreading so many germs! Yeah!

I will probably not use them all year. But you can bet I'll put them out during flu season or the second someone gets the stomach virus.

Works for me!

Check our the other great tips at Rocks in My Dryer!

Happy Wednesday!

. . .and some Zyrtec

Baby Boy and I went to the store this morning.

(I'm giving you a minute to let that sink in.)

I guess back when Son (#1) was a baby I used to go to the store with one small child. But not any more. Usually I leave Baby Boy at home with the Coach and take any number of children with me. Which is always exciting.

We had a fun time.

If Wal-mart can be fun. Which it can. Because we are there so often. And if it weren't fun then a significant part of my life would be not fun.

It's a choice, right?

I'm still laughing, though. I'm used to the attention that we get at the store with eight kids. Looks. Second looks. Audible counting. But with one?

No less than four people told me what a cute baby I have. One even called him a girl. Which, in my opinion, he's pretty enough to be, but something about the striped polo and jeans should have given it away.

One nice lady stopped me in the parking lot to tell me, to "enjoy it, because they grow up so fast." She then told me she had a 7 year old boy and 5 year old boy twins. Wow. Twins. Can't imagine having twins.

Years ago I would have smiled and said thank you and walked away. But I enjoy the shock factor way too much, so I said, "Oh, he's our EIGHTH."

Truly the response is worth it every time.

She was very nice. Even told me I look "amazing" for having eight kids. Which I'm not sure is a compliment. I mean, what SHOULD I look like after eight kids? Do I look amazing if I only had two? Nope. Thought so.

But back to the store. I needed to pick up a few things for dinner. But my main reason for going was to get more Zrytec.

I ran out of my last prescription, and it's not a prescription, anymore. Which stinks. My insurance used to cover 50%, and now I have to pay for all of it!

But that got me to thinking. . .

How about sharing some of our favorite products? Not that Zyrtec is one of my favorite products, but I've been taking it for 7 years and the last five days without it, I've been miserable.

So here's one of my VERY FAVORITE:

A couple of years ago, Daughter (#2) started having trouble sleeping. Miserable for all. We tried Benadryl and eventually, since she was older, resorted to Simply Sleep. But I HATED giving her drugs. Hated it. She's not old enough to need a pill to go to sleep! My mom found this, and it really works! I'm so grateful. You can get Peaceful Night here. It's not cheap, but it's WAY better than drugs.

One of the other things we love here at the Troops is our Swivel Sweeper.

We have tried so many things to clean the floors after meals. After several bad experiences, we were back to the broom and dustpan. But it's HARD for kids to do that well. Then I found this. I'm sure I was watching an infomercial late at night while up with a baby. Can't remember, really. But I ordered it! And we love it! We have worn out three of them, but it's worth it to have the kids able to do a good job cleaning the floor. You can even use them on the carpet for a quick clean up before company! Love it.

SO. . .

Be thinking of things you love and we'll have a linky party here in a few days to share them all. It's so helpful to me, as a mom, to know what works for other families. Saves all the trial and error to figure it out myself!

P.S. THANK YOU for the paint color help! I'm going to get motivated to work on that project again, really soon. I think. And I'm so glad to know who to ask!

Monday News - In No Particular Order

Well, today is Monday.

And not just any Monday, but the Monday after Spring Break. We've been "school-free" for 9 days. Minus the "About Me" poster I had to make for Daughter (#5) this weekend.

And not just the Monday after Spring Break, it's also Baby Boy's First Birthday!

But don't tell him.

Because we aren't going to celebrate it today.

For one thing, we're partied out.

We had a wonderful week and it included a lot of having other people over. And we need a break.

So last night I decided we'd celebrate his birthday on the day he came home from the hospital. April 3rd.

That gives us some time to recover.

But then Son (#4) has a birthday the 10th, so maybe we should just wait until then.

As you can see, I'm eager to have a party. And buys gifts. And make cake.

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On the other hand, we took the wallpaper off in the girl's room last week. Yeah! I've only been wanting to do that for 2 1/2 years. It looks great! We were going to paint, too. But after spending an entire morning looking for paint that I liked, buying some and bringing it home, painting it on the wall and not being totally happy with it, we're taking a break. There just wasn't time to go through the whole process again. What with all of the company we had.

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Turns out that this dog is really starting to get on my nerves. He's really into nipping right now. Anything bright colored, any pants that swish when you walk, the girl's dresses, etc. Saturday I lost it completely when he WOULD NOT STOP nipping me and actually got his teeth caught in my pajama pants. The Coach keeps reminding me that he's just a puppy and they are working on training him and it's just normal puppy behavior. I, on the other hand, am wondering how we are going to have time to train a puppy when we are far behind on training our CHILDREN. Which seems more important, but maybe that's just me.

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We had a wonderful Easter with family. Our biggest mistake was choosing early service at church. The service was wonderful, but getting our troops out the door, dressed in their Easter finery at 7:45 on the Sunday after Spring Break was trying, to say the least. We made it. The problem came when we got home at 9:20 and lunch at Grandmother's wasn't until 1:00. Whew.

Lunch was fun, though, especially with the addition of our sweet family from California here to share it. It was a little breezy and cool (COLD, really) for the egg hunt, but the kids charged right out, anyway. And to top it off, S-I-L brought cupcakes from SPRINKLES for dessert. Yum! I, while diligently fighting the guilt, took store bought cookies. To Easter. From the store. That I didn't make myself. But I'm not feeling bad about it.

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Big News of the weekend is that the Coach's big (read "older", not "larger") Sis and her family moved in down the street! We are so thrilled to have them closer to us and I know they are excited to be close to the Coach's parents, who also live in this addition. Story goes that my father-in-law (Big Sis' and the Coach's dad) was eager to be the first to tell the neighbors that they have 11 kids! But with one married, one living on her own and two at college most of the year, they have seven on most days. So they probably won't be nearly as annoying to their neighbors as we are!

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One more thing. I've had it with sippy cups. I mean, really. Baby Boy is one today and still drinking from a bottle. I've tried 3 or 4 different types of sippies. He enjoys playing with them all, but doesn't make much progress drinking from them. Truthfully, he's had eating issues from day one. But why do ALL of these non-cheap sippies LEAK? Like crazy. No matter what I do. How hard is it, People? I'd love any suggestions that you have. Although I'm not worried about Baby Boy. He's taken a little longer than our others to do things and I'm OK with that. He's still catching up! And NO, he's not even close to walking. He hardly has a chance to try around here!

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IF you are still with me after all of this rambling. . . I have two reasons for sharing my life with you:

FIRST: I talk to moms almost every day that are discouraged. So I keep it real, here are Mrs. Troop, to let you know that everyone has their struggles. Life's a lot of work. And you're not "failing" if it is.

SECOND: The work of life, and the trials and struggles, don't have to steal your joy.
My mom gave me a wonderful quote the other day (I'll have to ask her who it's from):

"Oh the JOY of a trial accepted."

The trials don't have to steal our joy, Friends. But our response to them can. And I'm speaking to myself here!

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man in renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. II Cor. 4:16-18

Have a blessed day!

Happy Easter

He is risen. . .

He is risen INDEED!

The Grit that keeps on Giving

Spring Break has been lovely!

The change of routine, the sleeping late (yes, really) - and oh sweet loveliness - having the COACH HOME all day.

It's true bliss.

Not to mention that I haven't packed a single lunch bag or signed a single school paper.

Heavenly.

Today we headed back to the farm.
And for our 7 kids (and I'm sure Baby Boy would chime in if he could), it's all about FOUR WHEELERS.
And RANGER RIDES.

We used to say, "We JUST GOT BACK from taking a Ranger ride, wait a few minutes for another."

Now we just go.

Because it's fun.

And they are kids.

And life is short.

Even Champ the wonder dog got in on it. He seems to love to ride all over the farm on the seat of the Ranger with a kid's hand on his back.

Who would have thought?

And Baby Boy? Well, to tell you how much HE liked it, on Sunday he FELL ASLEEP. On the BUMPIEST ROAD EVER. With the blazing sun on his face and the wind blowing his wispy hair.

Fell asleep.
My kids were born for speed and dirt, apparently.

We had a great time, again, today.
But I can't get over how thoroughly everyone was COVERED in grit.
The bath water? Disgusting.
But they are all clean and fresh and tucked into their soft beds.

And the Coach is watching basketball.

Life is good.

Just in case you have no idea what a Ranger is:

Wanna Bet?

When I married the Coach, I knew that my knowledge of sports was extremely limited.

There were a few things he had to teach me.

OK. Lots of things.

One is that it's absolutely required that you fill out a bracket for March Madness.

Required.

So as a newlywed (of three months), I filled out my very first.

Even though I'm not sure I knew what the NCAA even was.

And I mostly picked teams because I liked the name of the school.

Or the color of their jerseys.

I've given it up now the we have children old enough to participate.

The Coach just needs someone to beat - it doesn't have to be me. Any kid will do.

So the Coach and the four oldest were busy filling out their brackets at the lunch table today. Daughter (#7) begged to fill one out, too.

Which made the Coach proud.

He read each game (two names) to her and let her pick one, then wrote it down on her bracket.

The winner (with the most correct games) gets whatever they want at Sonic.

Maybe, just maybe, the Coach will lose this year.

But don't bet on it!

Day at the Farm

My Sweet 5 Year Old Girl

It's a birthday!

We celebrated with lasagna, chocolate cupcakes (topped with M&M's), Grandmother and two Sweet Sitters.

There was a time when I didn't know if Daughter (#6) and I would survive 5 years. But what a blessing she has become!

She is my child that will work beside me after everyone else has wandered off. She cleans, cooks, helps with the baby. All cheerfully and with boundless energy.

We've had a lot of sleepless (her, anyway) nights together. Bonding, right?

She was my only baby that cried herself to sleep every bedtime until she was 2. Never took a pacifier or sucked her fingers (like two of ours have). She would cry all through the grocery store and there was just nothing to do about it.

Unlike our other children, she was completely bald until about 2 1/2. Just a little light blond fuzz! And she's the only one whose blond has lasted this long. I love her blond hair.

She's a tough cookie. Endures all kind of bumps and bruises without a peep. Has a love/hate relationship with most of her siblings. She and Daughter (#7) play together all day. As long as they don't boss each other! They are both "in charge"!

I tell her about 10 times a day that Mommy is the boss in this house. Most of the time she replies, "I thought Daddy was." She's forever getting into debates with me.

But OH how I love her. She still loves to sit with me, rock with me, and needs lots of hugs everyday.

Lord, please give me the grace I need to show her Your ways and Your love every day of her life.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

Thankful Thursday

Mornin' Friends!

Today is a full day and the to do list is long, so I'll be brief.

1. That I can see puppy Champ sleeping in the sun outside the kitchen window.

2. That Mr. Rooter was able to come right away this morning when the kitchen drain overflowed into the garage. Yuck!

3. That the drain is now cleaned out and I can run the dishwasher, do laundry and clean the boys bathroom, which should really have a hazardous waste warning on the door.

4. For Bunny Mix M& M's - chocolate in pretty pastel colors. They make me happy.

5. That Sweet Daughter (#6) is cheerful even though she's on day seven of 102-103 fever. And even though her birthday is tomorrow!

6. That the Coach and I are NOT sick anymore. Makes life easier, for sure.

7. For a hair cut coming up this afternoon. Hope I don't fall asleep in the chair!

8. For the Lord's unending, abunbdant and boundless GRACE, which gets me through each and every full, exhausting day. Thank you, Jesus!

Don't forget to leave me a comment and tell me what YOU are thankful for today!

Shine on Us

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. I Peter 5:10-11

Big Things vs. Little Things

If you have read very much of the posting here at Mrs. Troop, you know that this blog is mostly about the little things in life.

As a mom of young children, we really LIVE the little things. We are consumed and overwhelmed with them.

You know what I mean. The meals, laundry, the diapers and baths. The bad attitudes, the obedience, the fatigue. The loving and hugging and holding and rocking. The fevers and coughs, the dirty shoes on the living room carpet (I speak from experience). Even the flu and new puppies.

And although I believe with all of my heart that the LORD is in all of these little things, that He cares about each of them, sometimes the little things are so huge that we forget the big things.

The Coach and I attended two weddings on Saturday. As I was sitting there listening to those vows (twice) and the admonition to the bride and groom (twice), I thought about what they were saying.

The "love, honor, cherish". The "submit", the "laying down of one's life for the other". One wedding even mentioned "considering her feelings" and "submitting to his decisions." Good stuff.

But honestly.

Those of us who are married know that you stand there and promise things that you realize (if not then, then certainly after a few years) that you will sometimes fail to keep.

Yes, I know (and my heart desires) to submit to every decision the Coach makes. But when I said it over 13 years ago, I was thinking about the big things.

And turns out the little things can be just as hard.

When he promised to love me, he didn't know how grumpy I would be when I'm sick and pregnant. Or tired caring for a new baby. Or just overwhelmed. I hadn't been any of that when he made the promise. And now it's all there is.

We don't know what life will hold when we promise those things. We don't know about the babies coming 14 months apart. Or the week in the hospital with a five week old who has RSV. Or the broken bones, stitches or illnesses. Or the baby that will be in heaven with Jesus before we have a chance to hold it. Or the early arrival of a tiny baby to a sick mommy and the long recovery that followed. Or even the loss of hearing.

Those promises (even though we sometimes fail in them) are the hope of what is to come. Not that there won't be hard things - "richer or poorer, sickness or health" - but that the hard things won't change our committment to one another. In fact, I would say (and I know the Coach would, too) that the hard things have brought depth to our love for one another.


Last night my uncle died. He's with Jesus. He was ready to go, after battling MS for most of his adult life.

He left behind a grieving wife, children, five siblings (four older) and a mother (my grandmother) who, I'm sure, never expected to outlive two husbands and her next to the youngest child.

Big things.

Hard things.

"Lord, help me to see you in the BIG things, so that I can trust you in the little things, too. Your grace is sufficient for them all."

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2 Cor. 12:9-10

O Happy Day

We (all ten of us) are officially the proud owners of a 8 week old German Shepherd puppy named, "Champ".

This will forever go down as a wonderful day in the Troop's lives. I hope. The children, they thought the day would never come.

At dinner tonight, Son (#4) said, "Am I dreaming? Nope, we really have a dog!"

Almost as exciting for the kids as having a new baby brother or sister. And much easier for me.

Even though it's FREEZING cold here, we had to drag all of the children in for dinner, then again for bedtime.

I'm envisioning many quiet Spring and Summer days to come.

Yeah, I know. But I can dream!

Happy Friday!

Thankful Thursday

Here we are, again. Thursday, already! And I couldn't be more grateful today for a week almost done. Whew!

1. That all of my school kids are actually AT school today! Yeah!

2. That Baby Boy seems to be much improved from the ear infection. Yeah!

3. That we've had two nights of no one waking up before 5:45 AM. Yeah!

4. Everything is ready for "Champ" to arrive - the Coach is picking him up this afternoon.

5. That daughter (#7) woke up without a fever - for the first time in 5 days.

6. That Son (#1) is "totally fine, Mom" with me missing his speech performance at the Art's Festival today, because I can't get out when it's 30 degrees with sick kids at 8:00 in the morning. Downtown. For a five minute speech. He's such a great kid! I know he'll do well even without me there to watch.

7. Hot chocolate on a cold morning.

8. That the Coach took our deck railing down on Tuesday so I can SEE THE YARD! YEAH!

Before

During

After

When we moved here two years ago, there was a stockade fence directly behind this deck, and the entire 1 acre yard was overgrown and trashed. We really thought it would take 5 years or more to "reclaim" it and make it a good area for the kids. Truthfully, I greatly lacking vision for it's potential. The Coach could SEE it, I just saw a mess and a lot of work.

The last two Summers, the kids played in the front yard because there wasn't any "yard" in the back.

Last Fall we added an awesome basketball court, and now the dog pen for Champ, and they are out there ALL THE TIME.

9. For the Coach - who works VERY hard. He walks in the door every evening - after working hard all day - and jumps right into whatever chaos is at hand.

~ AND he took this railing down for me so I could SEE the kids playing in the back, on the court, see the dog in his pen, and enjoy all of the birds and squirrels in our yard. Thank you, Babe!

Be sure and leave me a comment and tell me what YOU are thankful for today!

Happy Thursday!

P.S. #10 - One of my "girls" called and said she'd like to come help today. She's going to play with the girls so that I can clean the house. Thank you, Lord!

Prayer List

It's backwards day over at Rocks in My Dryer.

That means we can ask a question of the Works For Me Wednesday crew, instead of posting a tip. And since I've realized that the more children we have, the less we know, I'm always up for asking questions!

Now that our baby is getting older (he'll turn one at the end of March), I'm ready to get back into a more organized prayer time. When the babies are tiny, I pray during the day, during feedings, during the night - whenever my mind isn't occupied with helping someone else! But I don't try to keep any kind of record of prayers requests or answers - there just isn't time!

But I realize that as we are praying, we need the see the Lord answering those requests - or not - so that we can see His hand working. It's an encouragement to look back and see how He's worked. And I don't want to miss that.

I've tried the prayer card box - which was way too much work! And I've just used a notebook - but the list gets unorganized so quickly! And for years I did a smaller three ring notebook with a section for each day of the week. And I loved that system! But I know there will be days I will miss and therefore miss those requests!

So I'd love to know what YOU do to keep track of needs and answers. The Lord is so faithful to bring to mind things that I know I need to ask Him for. But I want to have somewhere to record when I've told someone I WOULD PRAY, so that I can be faithful to do what I've promised. And then to see those answers.

Because -HELLO- I forget everything.

Literally.

What DID we name Baby Boy, again? Just kidding.

Thanks for the help!

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Eph 3:20-21)

And be sure to check back at Works For Me Wednesday to find more questions that need an answer!

It's pitiful, really. . .

I'm fairly certain that this can in no way be interpreted as "suffering".

I don't have time for CHANGE. . .

When I was 13, my dad campaigned for a State Senate seat. His motto was, "Time for a Change." He lost to a very liberal incumbent. And ever since, I haven't been a big fan. Of change, that is.

Especially with all of the presidential garbage being thrown about these days. Wears me out. If I didn't know that a Sovereign Lord was in blessed control of it all, I'd move. To another country.

Just kidding.

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On a lighter note. . .

I tried a different grocery store on Saturday.

People tell me all of the time how much they hate Wal-mart and how I would save so much if I went here or there.

Whatever.

After making my way through unfamiliar aisles, picking through horrible produce, not finding BIG sizes of things I like, only finding name brands and fighting some kind of weirdly large crowds, I'd had it.

I purposed to enjoy the service of having the groceries bagged and loaded in my car. Then realized that I really am crazy because I wanted to do it myself so it would be RIGHT.

At least now I can say I've done that and it DID NOT save me any money and I still had to go to Wal-mart, anyway, to buy my favorite White Cloud diapers and Parent's Choice formula - which is a great deal, by the way.

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We are catching up from last week.

Slowly.

I've had a huge amount of energy, which I can only credit to the fact that I slept more than I was awake last week. Saving it up, you know. Which is a good thing because the piles were so big that I needed a backhoe to dig out last night. Found school notes that were late, mail that was unopened.

Not to mention how COULD there have been any clothes in the DRAWERS with all of the laundry that I washed, folded and put away?

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The Coach and the boys built a dog house on Saturday.

O.K. More like a dog mansion.

In preparation for the arrival of "Champ" the German Shepherd later this week. Exciting times, I tell you.

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And just as I was thinking we were done with the flu - I have two boys (#3 and #4) home from school today, Daughter (#7) has been running a fever since Saturday afternoon and I made a trip to the doctor with Baby Boy this morning to discover an ear infection.

Fortunately, I'm rested up.