Traveling Man

How you know your man travels too much.

In the beginning you asked for detailed itineraries including flight numbers, hotel information, and nightly activities.
After awhile you simply marked trips on the calendar by writing the destination city and a thick arrow through the week.
Now you find yourself asking questions such as "Oh, you are leaving tomorrow?" and instant messaging your spouse "Are you in Toledo? - No, I am in Toronto, Canada - Oh, I knew it started with T."

In the beginning the kids gave long goodbyes and well wishes. They asked to call Daddy at least once a night.
After awhile a short hug became a sufficient farewell and phone calls were reserved for nights mommy said, "Do I need to call your father about this?"
Now the kids wander the house spouting phrases such as "Wow, you are home still? Cool."

In the beginning you continued to cook fabulous meals from scratch and ended up with way too many leftovers because you forgot you only needed to make dinner for yourself and the small army of children who don't appreciate lemon pepper chicken with asparagus.
After awhile you got the hang of preparing smaller more kid based meals (such as mac n cheese, spaghetti and hamburger surprise). You only ran out of the vegetable a few times on nights he was in town.
Now you get asked, "What are we having for dinner tonight? - Oh, the kids and I already ate cold cereal and hot dogs, you have to fend for yourself."

And finally
In the beginning you slept many nights downstairs on the couch because you couldn't bare to be all alone in your king sized bed.
After awhile you began to appreciate the extra stretching space.
Now you whine "Move OVER!" anytime he is occupying more than a quarter of the bed.

-Sara

Quick Update

Turns out I had strep throat. Ryan made me a doctor appointment yesterday after I woke up with pain in my left ear. He said enough is enough and go in to see someone. I did, and now I am on meds. Both babies are on meds as well. They had swollen glands and since I tested positive for strep, they didn't bother testing the babies.

It was adorable. They checked the baby's ears and nose and eyes and throat and sufficiently ticked him off. Then when they went to check me over, he started yelling and swatting at the doctor! He was trying to protect me. So sweet! I love that little guy.

Ryan left for Germany today. I start training for my job on Monday.

It is going to get busy around here! Hope everyone has a great weekend. I have to get back to chores.

We are playing the laundry roll playing game. I am MaryLou from Louisiana, and my babies are BettySue and HenryLee. The older two are Jenna and John. We are getting ready for a week long treasure hunt so we HAVE to get all the laundry done before we can pack. It is hilarious to hear them attempt southern accents.

-Sara

No School Today, Yay . . .

These sentences literally came out of my mouth today, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, while eight kids roamed my house.

"Get that block of cheese out of your mouth! We slice it first!" - spoken to the 16 month old

"Who taught the baby how to open the fridge???"

"We have 47 weebles, are you really going to freak out because you can't find the yellow knight?" - spoken to the first and second graders

Through a door - "You will have to wait. I can't get the mp3 player away from the baby until I am done in the potty."

"In this house we don't draw initials into our peanut buttered toast. Sorry, it is just one of my rules."

"Absolutely no moon sand while babies are awake!"

"Nap time . . . . alright alright alright . . . bust out the moon sand"

"Yeah, you are right, not enough moon sand for four people, go grab the play doh too" - they were in heaven

"What do you mean your underwear got sucked down the toilet" - my poor niece had a meltdown, I promised her we would get her new ones (she was changing clothes in the bathroom).

- Sara

Newly Amended House Rules

For those of you with young children under the age of three, here are some rules you can look forward to possibly implementing!

1. The previous rule "If someone says 'please stop,' the person has to stop" is now amended to the following - If it involves your body, ex: hitting, tickling, poking your nose, splashing you, etc., you may tell them in a nice voice to please stop and they have to stop. If someone's words or singing or other goofiness is bothering you, you are allowed to ASK them to please stop. If they don't, please ignore them or move to another room. It is unacceptable to yell, "please stop, Please Stop, PLEASE STOP!" or "please stop telling me to please stop."

2. The previous rule "Respond to the parents with either yes sir or yes ma'am" is now amended to the following - You must respond with yes ma'am/sir when given a direction. This phrase needs to be spoken clearly and at a level audible to human beings. This phrase will be followed by actually completing the direction and coming back to confirm the task was completed. It is unacceptable to yell, "I SAAAID yes MA'AM!!!" or, "Yes ma'am, BUT . . ."

3. If you don't flush the toilet, you owe mommy a quarter.

4. If you leave the front door open, you own daddy a quarter.

5. The previous rule "Change your underwear every morning" is now amended to - Change into CLEAN underwear every morning and after showers.

6. The previous rule "Put your seat belt on when you first get into the car" is now amended to - Get in the car, shut the door, sit with your buns against the back of the seat, buckle your seat belt, leave the shoulder belt on your shoulder, stay facing forward with your back against the seat, do not play with the headrest in front of you.

And most importantly -

7. All booger picking and playing with your privates must be done in your bedroom. No one wants to see it!!!!

- Sara