You do the math

A 20 week old baby...
2 year old TWINS...
a three year old...
2 four year olds...
a five year old...
a just-turned-seven-year-old...
2 moms...
record breaking heat...
and SEAWORLD.

Really, need I say more? Because if I do, it will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm exhausted! If you'd like some pictures of our crazy day, head over to Kellie's.

No pain, no gain...right?

I worked out with Jillian Michaels on Saturday. Today is Monday and I am still in pain. Bad pain.

Yesterday I was having a hard time walking. Today I'm having a hard time moving.

Jill would be proud.

Is there something different?

Do you notice anything new?!?!?

This is what I have been obsessing over working on over the past week. Okay not just this one particular header but quite a few headers! I'm seriously having so much fun and I already made one for the fall. This could get quite addicting!!!

PLEASE, let me know what you think!

Final update (hopefully) in the Dog vs Wild series

We got news back from animal control...

Titan Dog Mad doesn't have rabies. He lives to shed another day! Fabio will be glad to know that his work isn't finished and that he is still needed.

In case you are wondering...

...If you bathe a yellow lab in tomato juice, he will turn pink.

Because I am sure that you are all waiting on pins and needles to find out what has happened to Tomato Titan, aka Skunk Dog, formerly known as Titan Dog Maddry...

Well, he has been bathed in baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, tomato juice, dish soap and dog shampoo.

And now smells like a mixture of tomato juice, skunk and burnt rubber.

But because it is 9000 degrees outside, oh and because we believe that Titan is human and are in love with him, he is back in the house. And has been sleeping soundly from his adventure entitled, Dog vs Wild. Spoiled dog spent one night and half a day outside, probably didn't sleep a wink and will now sleep for a week to make up for it! Poor Puppy!

Tomorrow I will call animal control to find out if the baby skunk that Titan murdered had rabies. It makes my stomach hurt to even think about what will happen to Tidy Cat Mad if he has rabies...

Can you smell what we are dealing with?!?!?!?

Words couldn't describe the kind of day that I had today. Really. And since it is currently 1 in the morning I'm not even going to try to describe my c-r-a-z-y life.

Instead I will show you what I have been doing for the last hour and a half:

Here I am ready for battle...

So Kellie and I were playing with Photoshop when all of a sudden we smelled skunk. Strong. Very strong. Very, very strong.

And then I remembered that Titan was outside.

When we looked at him out the backdoor we saw him freaking, rolling in the grass and frantically running all over the yard. Ugh, we knew right away that he had an encounter with the skunk!

After googling what to do to get rid of the smell, Big D Lamar went to get our supplies while Kellie and I got "dressed" for duty. Can you tell by out pants what our husbands do for a living?

And this isn't even the worse part. The worst part is that Titan killed the skunk. The baby skunk! And so here Kellie and I sit and wait for the Animal Control people to come and get the dead skunk. At 1 am.

Did I mention that we have 7 kids to care for tomorrow? I smell another adventure tomorrow...actually I don't smell anything right now except for skunk. Ugh, what a day!!

Yo Daddy! We love you!

Daddy,

Because I'm 7 years old here are 7 things I love about you!

1. I love it when you take me to SeaWorld. I like doing the waves at the water park with you!
2. I love that you know lots about God and that you pray with me.
3. I love that you play the 'wildebeest' game with me.
4. I love it when you take me to get the Oreo frosty at Wendy's.
5. I love it when you take me to breakfast at IHOP and it's just me and you.
6. I love it when you play Battleship with me and last time we played I won!
7. I love it that even when you are tired, you still spend time with me.

Love, Caleb

Because I'm 4 years old, here are 4 things I love about you!

1. I love you so much.
2. I like to play with you. But sometimes I get hurt. And you give me ice.
3. I like it when you take me to Peter Piper Pizza.
4. I love it when we play Zingo.

Love, Luke

Love-Love - in honor of your 7 years of being a papa, I'm going to tell you 7 things I love about you:

1. I love that when the kids are driving you crazy, you always wish for a paintball gun.
2. I love how your face lights up when the kids tell you they love you.
3. I love that when you give the kids a bath and they make a lake in the bathroom, you don't get crazy like I do.
4. I love that you really try hard to speak to our kids hearts.
5. I love how whenever you wrestle with any of the kids, they always end up hurt. Okay, maybe I don't love that, but I do find it fascinating. We won't count this one..
6. I love that you do girl hair. And that it looks like daddy did it. I also love that you paint the shishers toes for them! Soooo sweet!
7. I love that when left on your own to dress the children, they always end up with fascinating outfit combinations.
8. I love that in spite of this crazy life we lead and that you aren't home as often as you'd like, you really strive hard to be the best dad you can be.

We LOVE you!!! Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Caleb,

Today you turn 7 and to say that you are excited about that is an understatement! And to say that mama is shocked at how the time is flying by is even more of an understatement. I often feel like it wasn't that long ago that it was just you and me, playing in the front yard of our little base house in Minot and waiting for Daddy to come home from work. Just mama and Caleb. How you love to hear stories of when it was just us!

My boy, your personality really hasn't changed all that much since then. You were sensitive, curious, spirited, intelligent, cautious and loved being outdoors. You still are all those qualities and more. You love to read, write cursive, learn about animals, draw, play sports and you play outside for hours with the neighbor kids. You have a great sense of humor and love your baby brother and sisters. Oh, Caleb, how they love you!! You have a great sense of compassion and really want to know the truth. You like rules, boundaries and structure, and you never give up. Never! You will work hard at trying to figure something out and won't quit until you have, not only figured it out, but mastered it. As I write all these things, I realize more and more how much like your Daddy you are. And I love that! You would be blessed if you were just like your Daddy.

You are a natural leader Caleb. I have noticed that in the past couple of years. While you are the youngest in the neighborhood, the kids all follow your direction. Your teacher said the same thing about you last year. She called you a "Peer Leader" and you even got student of the week for that quality. I pray that you are aware that people are following and that you lead them in the right direction. That will be hard, buddy, but I have faith in the one that YOU call, "Savior." He will always lead you in the right direction!

I love all these great things about you Caleb, but what I love most is that you know Jesus and you know His Word. I'm proud of you for scoring high on all your tests last year, but what I'm most proud of is that you scored so high in your bible knowledge and comprehension. I love that God continues to reveal Himself to you and that you understand concepts like "grace" and "mercy" and "Turkish delight". I love that you try to explain God to Luke and that you really want him to know more about your Savior.

Caleb, I love you and am so proud of you. I'm thrilled to see this light inside you shine through brighter each year. My prayer for you is that you continue to love learning about God and sharing that knowledge with others. I pray that people are drawn to you because of that bright light within you. You are an amazing little boy, so full of life and promise, and I pray that you always remember that, "to whom much is given, much is expected" and that with Christ all things are possible.

I love you Caleb,
Mama

The rest is over, now back to work!

I have been in Houston visiting my family for the past week and will go home tomorrow. And I'm not happy about it.

I have said it before, and will say it again, I love being home. It's such a nice reprieve from my not-so-normal life. I spend more time with the kids, more time relaxing and more time refreshing. I spend less time running errands, less time being busy and MUCH less time cleaning. We've been hanging out with family and going to the pool. It's been fun.

And now I go back to reality. Translation of the word 'reality': Joseph's terrible work hours, lots of work with the spouses club (did I mention I'm President next year?) and lots of cleaning!! Yuck. Yuck. And yuck.

But, there are things that make coming home more appealing. I have missed my man something fierce and am excited to see him. Even if it is for 30 min a day.

And on my way home from H-town, I will swing by the airport and pick up a friend I haven't seen in almost 5 years! The last time I saw her was shortly after Luke was born. I have never met her baby daughter and she hasn't met the Twinks!

Then right after she leaves (literally right after) my BFF is coming to stay with us before they move to Korea for 2 years. That is going to be crazy and fun all rolled into one. 7 kids, 3 1/2 adults (Lovey only counts as a half since he is hardly around!) and a dog all in our not-so-big home. I smell an adventure.

Yep, I have a couple of things to look forward to when I get home. Now I'm getting more excited...

This face makes me crazy..

...crazy irritated,
...crazy SMITTEN,
...crazy annoyed,
...crazy in LOVE,
...crazy frustrated,
...crazy in AWE,
...crazy with laughter,
...crazy shocked,
...crazy aggravated,
...crazy hungry (he's delicious!)
...crazy speechless,
...crazy, CRAZY!!

And usually all these feelings at the same time!!!

My Luke is something. Seriously, something. And I absolutely love him!!

Boston recap

(Emily and I back in April. I have pictures of us from our trip, but have to find them...)

I think that this may be the longest blogging break that I have taken in a while. The truth of the matter is that I'm too busy living life to blog about it. Living each day in the Mad house is an adventure, that is for sure.

But now that I have a few minutes, I want to catch up a bit and tell you about my time in Massachusetts.

Boston was wonderful. On my way there I read 4 (yes, really) magazines and learned a whole lot of nothing, ate, people watched, spent a ridiculous amount of money in the airport and talked to NO ONE! For those of you that know me, you know that was a feat in itself.

Once I got to Boston, Emily and I ate at this brewery across the street from the "Garden" and then got on a train to Gloucester, Mass. On my trip we shopped, went to a cocktail party at this fancy house, slept in sleeping bags by the ocean, slept on a fancy estate, went to a crazy beach party, met people that I don't even remotely run into in my neck of the woods, ran in Boston, ran by the ocean, rode in trains/subways/buses and had so many adventures that I really could write a book about my 4 days away.

I was so far removed from my "normal" life, it was crazy. And it was so fun. But, in spite of all the cool, eclectic, interesting, artsy, rich people that I met - none filled me up like my little family does. I missed my kids like mad and missed my man something ridiculous!

So you can imagine my disappointment when not 1, but 2 planes that we were supposed to get on in Boston were broken!! Thus making us miss our connecting flight home in Atlanta.

I cried at the gate. The airline lady looked at me like I was nutty. Then gave me a free ticket. That didn't make me feel better, since all I wanted to do was see my little family

Trans Air (who by the way was fabulous! I have never flown with them before and was super impressed!) was able to get us on the last flight out of Atlanta and upgraded us to first class! 18 hours, 3 planes, a bus, a train and a borrowed truck later I arrived on my doorstep. Everyone was sleeping and Joseph was at work, but had left a surprise for me in our room.

He pulled a "While you were out" on our room and gave it a much needed makeover! Is that man a keeper or what?!? This was all his idea and I was shocked. Here is a sneak peak...



While it was fun to escape my "normal" life for a while, it really was good to come home and be with my little family. With that said, Em and I are already talking about what we are going to do with the free airline tickets we got!...

Long overdue!

I'm finally getting a few minutes to post some pictures of my little Twinkie's birthday par-tay. I'm just slapping them on here in no particular order so we're gonna go with it, peeps!

My good friends Stacy and Karen.
Lily Kate coming out of the bouncy castle. To say that it was a hit with the Shisher's is an understatement. They LOVED it!
My BFF's Kellie and Emily.
Little Ella girl.
My attempt at a Ladybug cake. Not super impressive, but homemade nonetheless.
Stacy and "big buddy". That is one of the girlies friends, Caleb. Isn't he cute?
Cake action.

Silly Shishers. I heart these girlies.
Luke and his girl, Rayna. Her big brother is Luke's best buddy.
Pinata time!!!
Silly, taking her stab at it...
After the rain cleared up we put the bouncy castle in the backyard.
These sisters have some mad cake eating skills. They get that from their mama.

The boys took over the bouncy castle and had a blast. Seriously, it was like a mosh pit for little ones. Amazingly there was no crying!
Sisters getting some pinata loot.


The girls went to bed before the party was over so they opened presents the next day. It didn't take them long at all to figure out that if they ripped the paper, there would be something fun inside! And they had LOTS of ripping to do!! I took note of who the gifts came from, but someone accidentally threw that paper away so I wasn't able to write thank you notes. And it's still bothering me!

The day before my exodus

It's 7:28am and all is quiet at the Mad House. All my little people (and Daddy) are still sleeping. I hope that this is a glimpse of what heaven our summer mornings will look like.

I leave tomorrow for Boston and haven't even started packing. Which is really unusual for me. Usually when we are going anywhere I start packing and getting things ready a week in advance - making list and piling things on the guest bedroom that we will need for a trip. You can imagine all that we need (and don't need for that matter) for this Mad House.

This trip is different. It's just me. I don't need 2 pack'n'plays, 30 diapers (which lasts us barely 3 days, people!), backpacks filled with toys and games for the boys, 8+sippy cups, minimally 41 sets of clothes for the kids (daytime and pj's)....really the list is ridiculous.

It's just going to be me, my suitcase and -this is the most exciting part- a magazine or book!!!!!

What I have been working on for the past week, though, is a schedule and notes for when I am gone. I really should post that because it will give you a glimpse into my very psychotic mind.

I'm just not sure you are ready to go there. It would be fun though...

Oh, yeah - I have had many an inquiry about why I am going to Boston. One of my BFF's, Emily, is there and I am going to go and hang out with her for a long weekend. She is there for her brother's shwanky wedding and wanted a date. I've never been to a shmancy fancy wedding celebration, so this is exciting. Oh, and I have never been to Boston either. And I really don't know what else I will be doing or where else I will be going.

The whole trip is going to be an adventure and I love adventures. Before giving birth to my oldest child, I used to be quite adventurous. Some would even say wild and carefree. Some would probably even say too wild and carefree. I haven't seen those traits in a looong time. I thought I pushed them out with my placenta, but have decided that they are still there. Somewhere. Somewhere deep.

And my goal is to find them this weekend.

My sister is coming to love on and take care of my chillin's. Please pray for her. I don't think she has the foggiest idea what she is embarking on. Seriously. This is a girl that doesn't get out of bed before noon and thinks a long day is going to class for 3 hours and then to the gym for 30 minutes. I.kid.you.not. She told me that once. If she thinks that is a long day, she will think these days are marathons. I have faith in her. My notes should guide her. And Joseph will pseudo be here and my mama is coming in for the weekend to help her too. 3 people should be able to do my job, right?

My kids will be fine.
My kids will be fine.
My kids will be fine.

I really hope I find that carefree part soon...