Hump Day

My alarm rings at 6:15 every weekday. This morning by 6:45 I was more than ready to go back to bed. This day was shot and I had already displayed a less than desirable side of myself. The dogs came in from a mere ten minutes outside smelling of something dead, really really dead. The odor was so intense, I cried out, "oh holy hell" more dramatically than my son has ever heard me react to anything. He was holding his blanket over his nose until he decided the blanket must smell badly too and put it in the wash. Greg came home a few minutes later to me still panicking about the road kill aroma filling my house and grabbed his flashlight to find the poor critter the dogs recently discovered. Too bad for our neighbors who aren't usually up at 6:30 in the morning because their dogs were not happy about Greg walking around with a flashlight in the dark and set out to put a stop to it. I let our dogs out to lead Greg to their "friend" and they eagerly rolled in an area on the side of the house. No remains were located. I am ill thinking about how that's going to end for our dumb dogs. Lord help me. I refused to let them back inside as all my babysitting families were arriving to an energy none of them are used to seeing first thing in the morning and an odor none of them will soon forget despite all efforts to do just that. Greg gave the dogs sponge baths because it is way too cold to use a hose and there was no way I was allowing them back inside until they were clean. He brushed their teeth and Norwex cloths were used in hope of absorbing the remaining odor. The dogs weren't any happier with me than I was with them. Around ten, Lauren called and as I shared the story, she started laughing and the more she laughed, the harder I laughed. It took a while for me to see the humor in this one but once I did, I literally had tears running down my face as I recalled the look on Ty's as I screamed a profanity I honestly don't think I have ever used before. This morning was not my finest hour but we all survived.

Later in the day I asked four year old Anna if she could go talk to her one year old sister who had woken up while I fed five month old Deacon. Anna hesitated. She questioned if we really had to let Ava get out of bed today. Anna thought it would be best for everyone involved if I just kept Ava confined. I asked Anna if she would like to stay in bed even if she was awake all day. That girl looked me dead in the eye and asked, "would Ava be there?" I died laughing.

The moment you realize you have continued buying snacks for that kid who always raided the chips and salsa despite the fact she moved away.

We allowed Kate to join my parents on a trip to Texas to see Lauren this week. First, I cannot tell you how much I miss the extra set of hands she provides and second, I am so jealous. I sent her with enough school work to cover the week she is missing in lessons with me. Rumor has it she had some complaints about me ruining what was supposed to be her vacation. She is starting to sound a little more like the rest of her sisters these days! Overall though, she is still pretty sweet.

Sometimes I think Anna might be on to something. Keeping this one confined would eliminate a lot of stress for a lot of people. There is a reason she is pretty.

Makenna was called into the office last week and asked if she was hacking the school wifi system. She smartly answered, "no but do you think I would tell you if I did?" Awesome. And if that weren't enough, she also told them they should have hired the kid they expelled two years ago who could effectively override the school's system because he was smarter than the techs they currently use. Those techs happened to be present for her unsolicited advice. Lord help me. By the way, she hasn't hacked anything. There was a glitch on her phone. But some days I really do wonder where it all went wrong.