May 17, 2010 Today's Adventure: It's snowing in my laundry room! Oh, no, wait. That's the 5 LBS of Tide Powder laundry detergent that my two year old sprinkled all over the hampers, clothes, floor, and every other surface in my laundry room. That's what I get for leaving the detergent box on the floor this morning.
May 20, 2010 Last night's adventure:
Discovered that my fabulous angels found the Gatorade stash in the food storage. They decided to have a "picnic" in the basement toy room...on the AIR HOCKEY TABLE. And guess what happened? Yep, you guessed it. The baby spilled his Gatorade all over the air hockey table. I cleaned it up after we found it two weeks ago. But went to play air hockey yesterday and had to do another scrub.
May 21, 2010 Today's Adventure: Our 7-year-old son looked out a 2nd story window today and realized the screen was off. So he decided to open the window and play on the roof. When I asked him WHY he went out there, he said, "I wanted to know what it was like out there." Yikes. He took his sweet time coming in, too. I was in a skirt and had no desire to climb out there in a skirt on a windy day.
May 24, 2010 Four pair of snow boots, three runny noses, two sets of pinkeye, one ear infection...and a partridge in a pear tree!
May 24, 2010 I need feedback: At what children's age can I replace my carpet and be confident that my children won't destroy it after one week? I want new carpet, but don't know when it will actually be worth it...
May 25, 2010 Large Lemonade=Happy Girl!
May 28, 2010 We're grieving the loss of a pet chicken. It's hard to hold an animal while its dying. I had a very precious moment with our 7-year old, who was with me when our beautiful Lacey passed. He grieved with me, and then shared his sweet testimony that the chicken's spirit was in heaven, even though her body is still here.... I am so grateful for my faith in our Savior who overcame death.
May 31, 2010 Happy Memorial Day! We will be honoring our deceased family members at various cemeteries today. I love this family tradition! We'll clean headstones, weed around them, and add beautiful flowers. It's a very special day to remember Trent's dad and many other loved ones. Our kids learn to work, honor their family, and remember those who have sacrificed for our freedom. What a beautiful day.
Today's Adventure: Hunter fell out of Oma's cherry tree. Now we're at Instacare to see if anything's broken. He stopped crying, but still says it hurts. Happy Memorial Day to me.
Hunter's arm is broken. He broke the left radius near his wrist. He's got a good attitude, but I'm distraught because I know what it means to have a cast for the first half of summer! No swimming for us today. :(
June 4, 2010 HELP! My house has exploded. I need suggestions. We get one room picked up (which is quite a feat with my kids) and other toys, clothes, and clutter have magically migrated to other rooms, the garage, and even to the backyard. How do you keep your house picked up during the summer? I finish each day with a cluttered house, and no energy left to work on it. We're having fun, but I wake up dreading my house.
June 11, 2010 Today I'm grateful for awesome friends and neighbors who save me from crazy days with my children; and now a cloudy morning, no school, and kids who ran themselves so tired yesterday that I got to sleep in this morning until 7am. That is a thing of beauty, folks. Love it.
June 12, 2010 Trent is home from 6 days at WoodBadge. There's balance again in my universe. I love my husband and am SO much a better mom when he's around. Yay for great hubbies!
June 14, 2010 Tonight was a beautiful evening for baseball practice. I love this town!
June 29, 2010 Today's Adventure: My 2-year-old boy decided it would be fun to sprinkle sugar all over my kitchen floor. And then, since that wasn't enough adventure for one morning, he covered the 2nd step on my CARPETED staircase with a big pile of sugar, too. Heaven forbid Mommy take a shower in the morning! Thank heavens for vacuums.
Today's Adventure Part 2: My daughter discovered my nail polish stash and opened up 2bottles. One for her, one for her 2-year-old brother. So nice to share...my bathroom floor is covered in pink nail polish, and now my linoleum is permanently stained with a faint tinge of pink. Amazingly, my baby boy is almost completely clean, just some paint on his toes where he tried to paint his toenails. Gotta love my kids.
July 4, 2010 Neighbhorhood Parade at Nana and Papa's House
July 13, 2010 Webelos Day Camp was SO fun!
July 14, 2010 5-Year-Old daughter's birthday party today. We're playing in the water in the backyard. Never realized how bossy 5 little girls can be. Makes me grateful for just one. :)
July 15, 2010 I survived my 5 yr old daughter's birthday party yesterday and now the guests are arriving for my 10 yr old son's party. Yipes. Good times at my house. Wish me luck! Video game party with a bunch of 10 year old boys. Should be quiet.
July 24, 2010 Back from an INCREDIBLE 4-day pioneer Trek with the youth. Airing out our tent, sleeping bags, and everything else. I am grateful for running water, dry bedding, and shade! Ah, the simple things in life. I LOVE the youth in our area. They are reverent, kind, and such fun. I feel so blessed.
July 28, 2010 If you ever want to feel REALLY popular, take care of young children and try to go to the bathroom or take a shower...
July 29, 2010 Overstatment of the day: "I NEVER get to play with my friends!" -Spoken by my 5-year-old daughter today (after playing outside for 2 hours with neighborhood kids, having three different friends over for almost 4 hours, and playing at a friend's house). She landed herself in her room. I feel much better. :)
August 5, 2010 AAARRGH! My three year old is following me around, dismantling everything I put away or work on. That's what I get for trying to do canning today. He's like a little shadow of chaos.
August 9, 2010 Today's Adventure: Mysterious powder sprinkled all over the floor in the basement. My husband is guessing its Gold Bond, I think it's some type of food (flour or something), or it could be makeup. Not sure the origin, but it's clear that the culprit is our almost-3-year-old son, aka "The Sprinkler."
August 11, 2010 Yesterday's Adventure: My 3-yr-old son was quietly singing "Make a mess, make a mess, make a mess, make a mess, MAKE A MESS!" (to the tune of "I'm the Map" from Dora) ALL DAY. And guess what?! Yep. He made a mess everywhere he went. Sprinkling sugar, lemonade, and other delighfully sticky elements in my kitchen.
Yesterday's Adventure II: Our 3yr old quietly crept into the kitchen during dinner prep (when Mom is most distracted), and swiped my new food processor blade off of the table (I was getting ready to use it). He runs upstairs and begins weilding it like a sword, slicing himself and his 7-year-old brother in the process.... Bloody mess. No stitches or severe cuts, but very annoying (and potentially dangerous).
Yesterday's Adventure III: Our same little guy ran out on the front porch and found my bottle of weed killer (I was getting ready to spray my yard), grabbed the "gun" attachment, pointed it at me, and began to spray weed killer all over me, including in my face. There was definitely screaming at the Muhlestein house last night...first shock, then pain (mine), then anger, then my child's fear.
August 11, 2010 Today's Adventure: I moved my van outside so my oldest could get his bike for Scouts. He left, and my 7-year-old decided to do an impromptu car wash on my van while I was trying to wash my kitchen floor. I went outside to find my kids using bathroom scrubbing brushes and almost straight car soap on my now very warm van doors. Do you know how long it takes to wash dried soap off of a car? I do.
August 12, 2010 After a few days of what I'd now refer to as "The Trail of Tears," I decided it was time to do something for myself, so I went and experienced my first good can-whooping at Zumba last night. So much fun! And I SO appreciate those endorphins that are flowing through my body now as I embark on a brand new day full of adventure with my 3-yr-old.
Today's Adventure: Attack of "The Sprinkler" continues...little guy poured an entire cup of flour all over the floor (no surprise there). But here's the great part: I began to clean it up, and he said, "No, Mom! Ice skating!" and then pushed his feet along the floor as he "skated" around the kitchen.
August 17, 2010 Yesterday I enjoyed an intense game of kickball with the neighborhood kids. My baby boy enjoyed kicking and running the bases (the big kids let him play without getting him out). The kids were all worn out and hot when we were done. It was awesome.
Today's Adventure: Broken bedroom window. My oldest child decided it would be a good idea to throw a rubber suction-cup ball at his window. I think he threw it a bit harder than necessary. Then the "town crier" (my daughter) came running down the stairs informing me of the mishap. Now I have a spider-cracked interior window on the front of my house. Good times.
My 3-year-old helping me make scrambled eggs today. Note his cute apron. He loves to help. If I could just keep his energy focused like this all the time, we'd be in a good place.
Yesterday's Adventure: Red Sharpie on my back door window while I was teaching the older boys to mow the lawn (an adventure in itself).
Yesterday's Entertainment: Two easily distracted boys working together (sort of) to mow the lawn. They're each too light to do it alone, so they have to push together to make the lawnmower move. It was the most beautiful zig zag pattern I'd ever seen. Shouts of "Look! Long grass!!" were followed by a sharply turnin...g lawnmower. They worked their little hearts out, and I have one wicked crazy pattern in my lawn. But I'm so proud of them.
