Mon July 17 - Wed July 19

A busy start to the week has once again kept me from posting as much as I'd hoped to.  Sorry about that.

Monday was nothing special....stayed home most of the day.  Savannah went over to a friend's house to play mid-afternoon & ended up spending the night with her.  She liked that!  :)  Andrew was a little upset that he couldn't go & wondered why Savannah's friends are always calling her to do things.  I reminded him that he was only here for the last couple of months of school this past year & reassured him that he'd make lots of new friends this year when school starts...and that they could get together & do things, too!  He likes that plan.

Tuesday was spent at my sister's house, swimming & cooking hotdogs on the grill, eating a cake Savannah decorated special for the day...just hanging out.  That evening the boys had swim lessons.  They're having a lot of fun doing that.  I'm so glad they have a "boy thing" to go do!  Larry has been taking them & us girls stay home in the "de-boy'ed" house.

Wednesday...today....well, that's a different story.  I'll copy & paste the email I sent to a couple of girlfriends here to explain the day.  It was titled "I love Larry!".

Ya know, for all the things he fumbles & screws up, he really is still my sweetheart.  He really came through for me today.

 

This summer has been hard for me.  At the beginning of the summer, I planned out the entire summer on a big calendar with one event for each day.  Some days it's something little like playing w/ the sidewalk chalk or painting & other days it's something bigger like a trip to the park or a museum or meeting friends for lunch at McDonald's.  The kids get really excited reading off the planned events & knowing what is coming up.  I do, too!!  These are built-in playdates for them b/c for all of the things that we do outside of the house, I email the list to all my local mommy friends.  The kids get to play & the mommies get some adult conversation.  It's really great when it works....but so far, the entire summer, I've only made it to 2 things where I was planning to have other people meet us.  I've had to cancel EVERY other event b/c of money or because there was a worker here doing something on the bathroom.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I LOVE the new bathroom & am forever grateful for all the work done......but I'm going stir-crazy & need a break from our 4 walls (& the 5 children in it)!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Last night Larry & I had this sweet time together, comparing our calendars & just talking.  We don't get a lot of time to sit & talk, so it was really nice.  In doing so, we figured out that I couldn't do my daily activity w/ the kids today due to $$.  I was bummed that we would yet again have to cancel but I understood.  With all the money going out last week, we couldn't afford to spend anything "extra" this week.  The compromise was that I *HAD TO* get out of the house, so we planned for the kids & I to go eat lunch w/ Larry at the church today.

 

This morning we got up & almost immediately the bickering started.  Although we are mostly 100% settled & adjusted to having Andrew & Kourtney here, Savannah & Andrew still battle for bragging rights on who gets to be the "firstborn" around here.  They are both very strong willed & hard-headed, both are used to be "in charge", so they have a tough time coexisting some days.  This morning was rough.  I hate when we have days like this b/c I feel so defeated & exhausted.  On top of their arguing, Samuel hit his head on something & was crying.....Sarah was asking me 500 questions all morning.  None of those things by themselves would drive me over the edge, but when you put it all together.....ugh.....I was so frazzled.  By the time we pulled up in the church parking lot, I had "had it" up to my eyeballs.  The kids weren't necessarily being bad at that point...just noisy (due to the sheer number of them in a small space) & I was feeling very flustered & stressed out.  I wiped off a few stress-tears as we walked into the building & put on a happy face b/c I was going to get to spend the next hour w/ my hubby!

 

When we came in, Larry broke the news that the man who hurt him at work a couple of years ago was out on parole.  That was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back.  Before I knew it, I was being held while I cried on his shoulder.  I couldn't even really explain WHY I was crying, but I knew that I was stressed to the max & needed a break and crying was the only thing I could do at the moment.  He just stood there & held me while I got it all out.  When I stepped away & wiped my eyes, he made a joke to get me laughing & we went on to eat our lunches.  When we sat down, he looked at me & said "Give me 5 minutes!" & ran off.

 

I was a little confused, but intrigued.  When he came back, he said "Your mom will be at our house at 6:00 tonight.  Bo told me I could take the night off.  We're going to see a movie!"

 

When I asked who would teach his class tonight, he just shrugged & said he didn't know but that I was important & he knew I needed some "time off", so he was taking the night off to be with me.  :)

 

Of course then I just cried more & hugged him again......only this time it was tears of gratitude.  I really love this guy.

 

Bo----thank you for sharing Larry with me tonight!  I really appreciate it!

And mom, thank you for being willing to come babysit at a moment's notice.  I need this!  See you at 6:00.

 

And later tonight I sent this update:

 

Ya gotta love a guy who will pull off something like this.  He ended up telling me tonight that he was sorry he hadn't done this sooner & "gave me permission" to tell him when I'm reaching the point of feeling like "I've gotta get out of here!!!!!!!!!".  We laughed & decided it was sorta like tag-team wrestling, where you tap out & tag the next person to go in when you feel totally wiped out.  :)

 

As it turns out, we saw Pirates of the Carribean 2.  I thought the movie was OK, but not anything kid-friendly.  I guess I went in watching it to see if it would be ok for the kids (b/c Andrew really wants to see it).  Due to the violence & scary stuff, I totally don't think it would be ok for them.  It was cute, but not really my kind of movie.  Of course, by the time tonight came around, I would've gone & sat in my driveway in the van or took a tour of the city dump for 3 hours if it meant getting me out of the house, so I sure won't complain about the movie!!!  LOL!

 

 

When we got home tonight, Andrew pulled a folded up $1 bill from his pocket & handed it to me.  I asked him what it was for & he said he'd heard me telling someone today that "we're broke".  ::sniff, sniff::  Sweet boy!

 

And then I went into the bathroom & knew that I could smell bleach....but wasn't sure why.   Turns out, he was in there cleaning for me (w/ a cleaner that has bleach in it) to try & help me.  I told the kids earlier today (when they asked why I was crying at the church) that I felt really stressed out & overwhelmed, so I guess he was trying to help me out.  :::shoot....there I go again, crying!:::  I love this kiddo!

 

Oh, and while we were gone, the kids made me a sign that says "Thank you for taking care of us!!" & they all signed it.  It was hanging on my bathroom wall when I went in tonight.  Do I have the sweetest kids or what???  :)

 

It was a great break tonight.....I'm so glad Larry got it worked out & did this.  I totally needed it!!!!!!!