I'm Back.....

Blogging has been the absolute last thing on my mind for the past year, but I'm going to try and pick it up again.  I treasure all the stories that I am able to recall from years past.  I need to do it.  If for no other reason than to have evidence to show my kids some day. 

 

Here's last week's summary...

Andrew and Ethan celebrated six years together outside of the womb.  We celebrated their birthday a week earlier and they couldn't wrap their heads around why no one was coming over to celebrate their birthday.  They got to pick out doughnuts for breakfast and all was well...

On the way home from baseball practice, Caleb said the sweetest thing.  He said, "My favorite parts are my head and my heart.  My head, because that's where I learn about Jesus.  My heart, because that's where Jesus talks to me."  God is at work in that little boy!

School started = Happy Kids, Happy Mom

Christmas was exciting this year! We had a new guest in our house all month. We had finished decorating the tree, and were watching the "Elf on the Shelf" movie. At the end of the movie, to our surprise :), the doorbell rang. On our doorstep was a package from the North Pole! The kids tore into to discover that we had been sent an Elf. The purpose of the Elf is to watch over our house and report anything good or bad to Santa. The kids were a little worried about this elf staying in our house. They wanted to send him back. I must admit, he is a little creepy looking.

"Elfie" ended up getting to stay. Every morning, we would find him in a new and interesting place. We found him playing with Matchbox cars, playing UNO with some other toys, and hanging from the ceiling fan. One morning we awoke to find that he had drawn moustaches on our faces in a family picture. Since there was some question about Elfie's authenticity, Dad set up a video camera and captured Elfie flying off a shelf during the night. This seemed to end any question about his true identity. Mom was glad when Elfie left on Christmas Eve. She was tired of waking up in the middle of the night, remembering that Elfie needed to be repositioned. :)

Stinky, Stinky, Stinky

About two weeks ago, the kids and I were headed to a friend's house for a photography session. I had felt a tad queasy all morning, but that's nothing too unusual. As we pulled up to a railroad crossing, a train starting coming our direction with it's steam blowing. Big E was in the middle row, so excited he was literally shaking the car. I knew it was coming and I just didn't know where to put it. I searched high and low for a plastic bag. There's usually a ton of them lying around - when I don't need them. Under the third row seat, I saw a paper sack, and with all the voice I could muster, asked the kids to hand me the left over Easter bag. It soon held the eggs I'd had for breakfast instead of the pretty kind.

Meanwhile, the train was still rumbling by and we were surrounded by other vehicles. I just kept chugging along, too. When the train had finally passed, I knew I had just moments to dispose of this bag before it completely disintegrated. I pulled over and hid it in the woods. My pants were drenched, and I figured my friend would prefer that I not show up in this state. So, back home we went. I cleaned up and changed. I had spent all morning ironing clothes, combing hair, and by golly we were going to get those pictures taken.

We were over at her house for about 30 minutes when my episode continued. Homeward bound . We did get the pictures (which I will post at a later date).

All this just so you could understand today's predicament. We got in the car this morning and it REEKED!!! Let me say that again. It R-E-E-K-E-D!!! The funny thing is that we had just spent 6 hours in it the day prior and no one noticed anything. Think curdled milk x 1,000. We were on the way to school with the windows down flying down the freeway. It still stunk. All I could imagine was that the previous experience must have some how reached it's ultimate st inkiness. I couldn't even drive it to pick up the kids. I preferred to cram us all in the truck instead.

I finally got a chance to clean it out tonight. I Febrezzed, steam cleaned, and Llysoled until my head started feeling funny from all those fumes. Something kept telling me to keep looking - just to be sure. I lifted each seat. When I lifted Big E's, I almost died. No, I think I did for a moment. Lying under his seat was the nastiest, most rottenest, horrible smelling tomato I had ever seen. I started thinking about when the last time I had bought a tomato at the grocery store and I knew it had been a few weeks. Where did this thing come from??

That's when Eric invited the kids to come out and see the object of odor. Pods said, "Hey, that's the tomato Memaw gave to Big E." I'm sure she was joking and said, "Hey, you want this tomato?" thinking it would gross him out. Big E was probably excited to get something. And I almost died as a result of this incident. Rotten tomato!