Valium

Day One... July 23, 2008

It started out unusually peaceful. In fact, it was so peaceful that I took a whole valium in anticipation of the unexpected excitement that would be in the day's plans. For the first time in months, I woke up, felt rested, and was ready to go. We had a big breakfast. I had the kitchen cleaned up before we ate, which never happens. Everyone was using their nice table manners and ate all of their breakfast. Next, it was on to morning chores. I was sitting on our bedroom floor folding the four loads of laundry that I had been avoiding all week. When Eric has to start wearing colored underwear, you know it's time to attack the mountain of material. The twins came in, and for some reason, wanted to be placed in the crib. So, I put them in there and they jumped around for a little while. Ethan wanted out, so out he went. Andrew wanted to stay. Back to the laundry I went. Then, that eerie silence filled the room. The "something bad is happening right now" sound. So, I checked on Andrew and sure enough he had removed his bottoms and diaper. Little pellets lay all around the bed. And if it weren't for that cute smile and the fact that I was feeling really good, well, I don't know what would have happened.

Next, we were off to the water park. I questioned even trying this, but we were having a good day and it's only $9 for all five of us, so why not. And, my brave, sweet friend Cheri offered to help. Andrew was the first through the gate and as soon as he saw the water he grabbed his shirt and pulled it up over his big belly. It was like holding down a hungery tiger when Ethan saw it. Anyways, we managed to get everyone undressed and lathered in sunscreen. Within seconds they had all taken over the kiddie area. The first 45 minutes were heavenly!!! All the kids were having a blast and staying where they were suppose to. I noticed Caleb was hanging out around some big kids, so I went over just to make sure all was well. Then, I noticed some little green "crumblies" floating in his general area. The only other kids around were much older, so I pulled him aside and checked the swim diaper. Positive. So, I took him out of the pool and changed him. He was near a filtering area, so I was hoping the little green things would just wash right in and never be seen. As soon as his diaper was changed, all of the life guards started blowing their whistles and yelling, "GET OUT OF THE POOL NOW!!" Next thing I see is moms grabbing their kids and running as if Jaws had just been spotted. Can't say that I blame them. The lifeguards used a scoop to get out as much as they could. Then, they had to decontaminate with a bucket of chlorine. After waiting for 30 minutes and having to listen to Ethan's chilling screams we decided to depart from the park. The stories I will tell his wife someday...The day Bubbie decided to shut down the water park....

The kids were pretty tired when we got home, so we quickly ate and put them down for naps. The babies slept for 3 1/2 hours, Kathryn worked on her "projects", and Bubbie fell asleep watching a movie. I even napped for about 2 hours. Amazing!!

When everyone woke up, we had dinner and then went outside to burn off any additional energy. We were all gathered in the garage and I pushed the button to raise the door. I bent down to fix something on my shoe. When I came back up, I noticed Ethan hanging, about two feet off the ground, on the last section of the garage door as it was raising. He was having a blast going for a little ride. Yes, I did run and get him off.

We played outside until 7:30. Then, it was bath time. We got everyone washed up in about twenty minutes. I put the babies down and finished with the big kids. I realized that I had never gotten the swim bag out of the car. It was really stinky because it had wet towels in it and they had been in the hot garage all day. So, I pulled them out and threw them in the wash. Next, I started to empty the rest of the bag. When I pulled out the sunscreen there was the green crumblies again! AAgghhh!! I decided to just throw the whole bag in the wash. I didn't even care what was in it.

It was time for the big kids to go to bed, so I walked them up to their rooms. As we reached the top of the stairs, I smelled "that" smell. I checked Bubbie's diaper. Negative. It must be coming from the babies room. Do I go in and risk waking them or deal with a red hiney in the morning? Like a good mom, I went in. I'm not sure if I'm glad I did or not. My friend, Andrew, had again removed his bottoms and diaper. He was scrunched up in the corner of his bed examining his talley-whacker. All over his bed, bumper, blankets, pillow, and babies were...you guessed it...my favorite thing in the world! So, we cleaned him up, stripped the sheets, and got him back to bed.

All I can say is Thank the Lord for valium!!!!