I am convinced that the great conquerors of the world learned their great military tactics from children. Whom else can so efficiently seek out and destroy so quickly, quietly and completely? (That new piece of furniture didn't stand a chance! Not that I have new furniture... or come to think if it, even if I did have some... it would only look new for about five minutes).

• The divide and conquer method! A few of them head upstairs and a few downstairs and between the two groups, there is just no way for the "enemy"(namely the mommy who is trying to maintain a sense of order and cleanliness) to keep up with the little army.
• Attack when least expected! That peaceful and quiet time that we mothers naively think of as nap time is just a cover for secret plots of how the rest of the day will be spent in delightful chaos.
• The secret weapon! That darling little "baby" looks so sweet and Innocent. Don't be fooled. (At least at my house) He is the tool of mass destruction!
• Distract and destroy! One child will act as the decoy while the others whirlwind every thing in sight (and a few things that were out of sight but are now scattered on the floor).

I'm sure I could go on, but at the moment the one-year-old has scatter the dry spaghetti noodles all over the kitchen and into the living room and the three-year-old has just tipped over the box of Cheerios. Wish me luck as I go into battle! (Or at least pray that I find a bit of sanity buried under the piles I will be picking up today).

Spring has sprung!

The warmer the weather (and more garden-friendly) the less I want to be in the house! I have to discipline myself to come back inside to clean, otherwise I would be outside ALL day! Hmmm... that's not a bad idea. Maybe I'll get my house sparkling, lock the doors, and the kids and I can picnic and play outside all day. Then when we come inside to go to bed... it will be nice and clean. :) Most of the time we'll be outside together and before I know it, the kids will have made their way indoors and caused all sorts of havoc. All the while I am contentedly (and ignorantly) digging in the dirt. So when I come inside, exhausted and ready for a rest... guess what I usually find? Yup. An unexpected pig sty. Oh well, at least spring is here. The kids and I can hardly wait for water balloon fights, running through sprinklers, playing in the mud and watching our garden grow. I hope you all have a fun and sunny day!

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!

Daddy has had to work a lot of over time lately. This song has taken on a whole new meaning for me. So as you're singing this, think of this from "mommy's" perspective... Hee Hee

I'm so glad when daddy comes home!!!

Glad as I can be.

Clap my hands and shout for joy and climb upon his knee.

Put my arms about his neck, hug him tight like this...

Pat his cheek and give him what?

Four screaming kids. Oops... I meant, A great big kiss.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day filled with love, flowers, and a little chocolate! I love this special holiday dedicated to all the wonderful women in our lives. There are so many women who have influenced me profoundly and I am so grateful for them and their wonderful examples. I can't name you all, or we'd be here all day... but here are a few and just ONE of the THOUSANDS of things that make you wonderful:

• My mother: always caring and willing to give and give and give of herself
• My paternal grandmother: a woman of incredible faith and diligence
• My maternal grandmother: sparkling eyes and sense of humor
• My maternal great grandmother (for whom I am named): never spoke ill of anyone
• My childhood best friend: always there to buck me up
• My sisters-in-law: became the big sisters I never had
• My running buddies: listened to all my whining with love and patience
• YOU: Yes, you! You wonderful examples of motherhood. The women I have always looked up to you and hoped, someday to be as good a mother as you are. (You know who you are!)

Ladies, I hope you all have a wonderful week and remember what a huge role you play in the lives of all the people around you.

With love and appreciation,

ME

Soccer Saturdays

This is what our Saturdays consist of this spring. SOCCER!!! I gave my girls the choice between soccer and Tee ball and this is what they chose. It has been so fun! Although I love baseball and tee ball is just too funny to watch... I think I'm sold on soccer. The kids all get to play, everyone gets the ball, and they run the WHOLE time. GO MADI GO!!!!
(I love how worn out they are after the game!)

Of course Connor is really into watching the game. Well, from the playground at least.

Brooke is usually smiling from ear to ear as she chases around the field with her team. They are like a little swarm of bees buzzing up and down the field together. Half of the game is usually being played somewhere out of bounds as they chase the ball. And what do the rest of us do during the games? Well, someone holds the camera, someone else chases runaway younger siblings and the rest of the time we are yelling: GO GIRLS GO!!!

Do you powder your nose to clean the powder room?

How do you dress to clean the bathroom? I know it sounds like a weird question... Like how should I dress for such and such an occasion...but I am serious here. I used to just stay in my grubbies, hair in the matted knot I woke up with, smelly and un-showered, and on a mission to make my bathrooms gorgeous. But inevitably, a friend or seven would drop by for a visit, my husband would NEED something dropped off at work, or an emergency errand would pop up and require me, in all my splendor, to appear in public.

So now a days I shower and get ready for the day... even on those days (like today) that I know all I am going to do is clean and scrub and get dirty by cleaning some more. But obviously this is a no win situation (or I wouldn't be blogging about it). For you see... cleaning in anything but my grubbbies is just down right dumb for me... I always seem to ruin anything I am cleaning in. Last week for example... I ended up bleaching spots in my jeans. Sigh! Or the time I sat on the edge of the newly cleaned tub and laid waste to my favorite capris. Sob! And this morning I accidentally soaked my up-do and makeup when cleaning the shower. It was really kind of funny!

I do have a friend who cleans her shower while she is taking a shower... but I just can't do that. First of all, my shower is MY time... even if I only get two minutes, with kids pounding on the door... it is two minutes of ME time. And secondly, with my luck the comet cleaner and my shampoo would probably combine, causing some chemical reaction resulting in a large explosion or a green goopy monster or something.

Maybe I'm just a clumsy cleaner. I do have to wear an apron almost constantly. Hmm, maybe I should go for the painter's frock, like the kindergartners. Oh well, at least my powder rooms are clean and smelling nice even if I'm not anymore.

International Day

Madi sporting her African outfit.

Madi's school had an international day. They could dress up, bring a food and share words they knew from the country they chose. We rigged up an African outfit for her and her dad taught her some words in Swahili. He then surprised her by showing up for her classroom party in his African outfit and let her show the kids his singing drum. (He got a lot of funny looks from the adults, especially since he did wear it back to work that day). Isn't he the coolest dad!