a day in the life {or just a morning}

3 of the kids were up WAY earlier than usual . . . and way earlier than they should have been, if you know what I mean. It's never a good way to start your morning to have the kids get up before you. {But I usually like to wait until the first number in the time is at least a 6 before I get up.} One other kid got up later than usual, which also has its issues! We were not off to the best start at this point.

Anna {one of the early risers} was whining like crazy and I could, honestly, hardly make out what she was saying. It was something about cinnamon. I had to go to the bathroom, so I went -- how dare I do such a thing, I know! -- She comes up to me in the bathroom with HUGE tears streaming down her face. I kissed her tears from my perch on the toilet {can I not just have 30 seconds, please?} and asked her what the trouble was. She was angry that I wouldn't give her cinnamon. Yup, plain cinnamon. Not on toast, not on oatmeal, not on applesauce. She just wanted cinnamon! Weirdo! Finally she conceded and let me give her oatmeal {which she calls opey-meal, it's ADORABLE!} -- with cinnamon on it. So that situation had been diffused.

Next, a certain pre-teen complained of not having socks to put on. I asked if he had checked for his clean clothes pile in the laundry room and looked through the not-yet-folded stuff in the basket by the dryer. He screamed yes! He did that! He had NO socks to wear! What on earth was he to do? So I checked the clean laundry {and the dirty laundry, to make a point} and there were no socks to be found anywhere. So I reminded him that I don't wash stuff unless it gets into the laundry basket and that, possibly, there were a bunch of dirty socks in his room. He thought, maybe, there might be some, but surely I was slacking on my motherly duties somehow to create a scenario where he had no clean socks. We went, together, up to his room {which I rarely enter} and it was a pit! We found the missing socks . . . almost all dirty. A few pair still balled up, like you do with socks instead of folding them, and in random places in his room -- but none in the sock-and-underwear-drawer where they belong, mind you! He put some on, slammed a few doors, mumbled under his breath and went to the bus.

Next, the first grader of the house decided he didn't really want to go to school {it's kind of his "thing" to not want to go to school}. He told me his leg was broken and he couldn't walk. He wouldn't get up off the floor. I tried to lift him up and set him on his feet and he slumped to the floor like a wet noodle. It was time to leave. He had no coat on, no boots, no backpack, and he wouldn't get up off the floor. SUPER! So Rebekah left without him. {Lydia is home for the 4th day this week with the crud. We've been to the doctor and I guess it's just viral, so they can't do anything. Fever, sore throat -- her voice doesn't even sound normal -- and generally achey.} Our kids usually walk, but there is a bus that comes to the apartment building a couple doors down from us and picks up kids and takes them to Falcon. So after talking to his dad on the phone {who miraculously with a few well-spoken words, possibly the same ones I had already said, can make things better -- which, if we're being honest, just pisses me off more} he agrees to get on the bus.

So, now I'm down to "just" 5 kids {one baby, one sick 4th grader, a 3-year-old dressed up as Minnie Mouse and 2 "extras" who don't live here, but who are practically like family}. This afternoon I have a funeral to go to.

At least the dryer started today {it doesn't always start} . . . there's always that! Gotta wash some socks, dontcha know?

Happy Friday!

{In the spirit of keeping up the appearances of normalcy on the blog -- even though you may have noticed I totally blew yesterday off -- here's an old picture. Enjoy!}::

{Don't freak out and worry about me. I'm fine. Really. I was just a yucky morning. I'm pretty sure you've had one or two of those too, right?}