Mush Brain

I am wondering if in 10 years I will have a brain left to ponder life with 5 children at this stage.  I was solo at bedtime tonight because Scott had to help put up hay at the farm.  Within a 5 minute period, Nyla needed a diaper change, jammies on, bottle made, story read and put to bed, Marshall needed a bath and stories, Gemma wanted a cut on her finger boiled out with hydrogen peroxide (which had me worried because a farm cat scratched her pretty deep), Gracie was waiting for me to get her some Mucinex(she has me worried with a wet cough), and Luke comes into the room screaming at the top of his lungs that his eyes are burning and he can't see!  Seriously??? What could be in his eyes that could be burning so bad??  Oh but wait! He and Marshall just finished playing with two slimy tree frogs on the back deck!  As the burning became worse instead of better, I started to wonder if I should take him to the ER or first try to Google whether the slime on a tree frog would irritate your eyes. For a moment I thought my head would surely explode!  But in the end, Luke's eyes stopped stinging, Gemma's finger got rinsed, Gracie got her Mucinex, and Nyla and Marshall got to bed with no stories. I just don't remember how!

Do You Have a "Pot" in Your House?

Image via Wikipedia

This morning Luke was trying to get into the bathroom to wash his hands but just as he opened the door Gracie yelled ,"I'm in here!"  Seeing that Gracie wasn't actually "on" the toilet, Luke roared, "But you're not even ON THE POT".  I had to chuckle when it suddenly occurred to me that referring to the toilet as "the pot" was a reference which had been passed down through several generations and across many states. 
My mother grew up with no indoor plumbing so to avoid going to the outhouse in the middle of the night, they literally used a metal stock pot!  Then they would replace the lid and some unfortunate soul would have to haul it to the outhouse for emptying the next morning.  I actually remember using "the pot" while visiting the home of my great-grandmother in West Virginia during the 70's and 80's!

I guess it will forever be a reminder of my humble roots.  Do you have a "pot" in your house?

Found My Cell Phone!

I have finally reconnected with my cell phone! I apologize to those of you who have been trying to call or text me! If I ever go MIA like that again, please assume I've lost my mobile phone and try calling me on my land line!! Remember those? We still have one for the time being and based on how often I lose my phone, will probably have one for a long time to come! Betsy!! I was soooooo sad to miss your call! Please try again when you have some time to chat!

Catching Up

Wow, I haven't posted in a while. This Friday I hope to talk about why but for now I'll just try to catch up a little.

The girls and I are gearing up for a big weekend in Kansas City, MO. It's the US Pony Club Regional Games Rally. Our club is sending two teams. The girls are on a team with 2-3 other girls and will compete in over 12 different types of "games" on their horses. They both do really well at games but they are so small they have a hard time getting on and off their horses without assistance and no assistance is allowed during games. So we're going to lengthen one of their stirrups and this week they will practice the games using one or no stirrups. Times like this you wish you had a smaller horse!

Saturday was the first Concordia Bulldog home football game but Marshall and I spent the second half at home after he began vomitting at the game. I was so worried it was the flu but after 3 vomiting episodes throughout the evening, he fell asleep and woke up the next morning perfectly fine. So, it must have been something he ate!

Gracie, Gemma and Luke start back to piano lessons tomorrow and I think Luke is clearly the most excited. Gracie's 4th grade teacher doesn't believe in homework so she'll have plenty of time to practice piano this year!

Oh and remember our new Golden Retriever, Daisy? We bought her for the farm but were going to keep her here at our house just until after the 4th of July company left? Well, after much discussion and consideration, Daisy is going to be residing permanently here on Wildwood. We had the invisible fence from "De-Fence Your Pet" installed last week and she was trained on it in one day. It's awesome because now I can leave her outside when I run to get the kids or have to be gone for long stretches. I have said many times that I would NEVER have picked this breed of dog had I known she would be staying here (mostly because of the shedding hair) but she turned out to be one of those once-in-a-lifetime amazing dogs and the remarkable thing is that she doesn't seem to bother our allergies (Gracie and me) much at all. My theory is that we have become desensitized from being around the horses and the farm.

OK, so then there's Lilly, Gemma's kitten we rescued from the fairgrounds. (I think I posted about that on Facebook) We thought we had lost her when she disappeared for 5 days but then we found her out at the farm! She had hopped a ride out there with us in the van one night when we went to feed horses and didn't make it back home. We discovered her five days later in John and Arlene's garage. She lives in our garage but hopefully will soon become more of an outside cat. Gemma feeds her twice a day every day and even does a decent job of keeping her litter box clean! She has no choice because Gracie and I cannot even touch the cat! I'll get some photos of the critters posted soon.

Oh and I've lost my cell AGAIN, something that seems to happen every other week lately, so if you're wondering why I never answer your calls or texts......that's why.

......More this Friday.

Prayers For My Cousin

My cousin Jeff Race and his wife Mandy of Colorado Springs are expecting their first child, a baby girl, in January. She's had some serious complications and yesterday she had to be hospitalized. She is now on complete bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy! Please send up some prayers for them and their sweet baby girl.

Did You Know.....

Did you know that if you leave your laptop plugged in for long periods of time with your battery installed that your battery will fry out about 3 times faster than normal?!?! I have been using Dell computers for years and I had never heard that. Interestingly, last year, when I called Dell about my battery only holding a charge for 20 minutes, they sent out a new battery and power cord. The same problem occurred again, only this time they explained that it is my fault because I keep the computer at my desk and plugged in to the AC adapter most of the time. They recommend always removing the battery when you are plugged into AC (unless of course you're re-charging!). They claim a typical battery should last 2-3 years if you follow this recommendation. Mmmm.....with a replacement 9-cell battery costing $180.00.....I have to wonder about this. Any thoughts??

Ahhhhh.......

This was the view out of my laundry room window this morning! The land of the Good Life!