The Six Pack

Yesterday I managed to get out of bed, shower, fasten my pants with a rubber band, and head out the door--all in time for lunch!  I had just a couple hours, I figured, before the yuckies would start to settle back in, and I was on a quest for Pre-K school supplies!  So Zachary, Sammy, and I kicked off our errands with a visit to Chipotle for a burrito bowl.  My little guys were awfully excited, for the plan was to head to Wal-Mart next for Sammy's school supplies.  What was really  on their mind, though, was the upcoming Halloween holiday.  They were hoping, clinging to the faint chance that Wal-Mart might already be stocking costumes!  Zachy really wants to dress up as "Buby Spy-man" and Sam has had his heart set on a Spiderman suit with muscles  for a good five or six months now. As we were loading up in the van to begin our exciting shopping quest, Samuel stopped me with his BIG BROWN eyes and sighed, "Mommy, you're pretty." If that doesn't mak...

Steve is running a tight ship around here lately.  He has been through the drill several times before:  Mom gets sick and tired and lies around for much of the day, and in the meantime, the house kind of falls apart.  But this time, things have been a little different and the boys are really pitching in to pick up the slack!  They are learning responsibility and looking forward to the day that those chores will involve feeding and entertaining their new baby. For now, take a look at my five little helpers!  David and Alex are helping mow the grass.  At least with this 100+ degree heat, the grass isn't growing too  fast.  (Get a load of those swath marks...) All the boys have been scrubbing sinks and toilets! Is that a smile I see on my little Joe??? Anyone who can walk takes a turn with our devil dog energetic puppy . And believe it or not, those little arms that cannot even reach the kitchen cupboards are loading and unloading the dishwasher! ...

Please send many prayers for Brittney Butcher and her family. Brittney is 14 and received a heart transplant around the time that Zachary was born... they were in the hospital at U of M at the same time. Brittney presented with flu-like symptoms yesterday and had to be intubated this morning with only 25% heart function. Doctors are treating this as a transplant rejection. Please send many, many prayers for Brittney and her family at this scary and very critical time. They have been such an incredible inspiration and support for us over the years. Stop by her CarePage at http://www.carepages.com/carepages/BrittneyButcher to offer Brittney and her family your well wishes. Brittney and family You are our heart hero!!!

Zachy's little brother!!!!  ( Or sister, but that's a fat chance.) If you have been following our blog , you may have heard that we are once again blessed with a little miracle!  Zachy gets the chance to be a big brother, and I'm keeping fingers crossed that he will be out of diapers before Number 6 arrives (again, fat chance...) So, what's his due date? many have asked.  Well, technically it's April 2, the very day I TURN 39....ugh!  So when our sonogram yesterday estimated March 29, that sounded good enough to me.  Better to have this baby before I'm officially ANOTHER YEAR OLDER. The second most-asked question I have received:  "Are you praying for a girl this time?"  Do I want  a girl?  Is the ocean blue?  Is the pope a Catholic?  Are you kidding me?  I always  want a girl!  But we fall so  in love with each and every one of our sons, from the moment we know of their very existence, that there is no way we co...

My nose is stuffy all  the time! I sobbed all the way through Marley and Me . I can smell the meat department while driving past  the grocery store. I gag when I open the refrigerator. My head pounds, but there's no real relief. Nothing tastes good, yet I eat all the time. I get winded just walking to the mailbox. I snap and growl at the boys for the slightest thing. All I want is to sleep, but my mind won't shut down. The boys call Steve at work to inform:  "Mommy's puking.  Can you bring us lunch?" Every day is like running a marathon. I am so  glad our new home has six bedrooms! I need to change the name of our blog! What am I???

Tonight we went for a swim in an attempt for relief from the 100+ temperatures.  Zachy was showing off his latest tricks, which include fearlessly running, jumping, and "cannonballing" into the pool (albeit with a tiny inner tube.)  After a while he grew tired of being "big" and convinced brother Sammy to join him at the baby pool.  The two brothers strutted their stuff in front of a couple of smaller infants and had to be called out several times for rough play.  Finally, Daddy called "time" and one by one, our slippery little swimmers filed out of the pool and into our van.  Zachary continued to push the envelope and pretended not to hear my requests to get out of the pool, until finally we threatened to leave without him. His stout little legs jumped out of the water and zipped away from the pool area, where he stopped dead in his tracks, dripping excessively  from between the legs. "Wait!"  he hollered.  "Me baby pool!   Me peed mine le...

What's a boy to do when the mercury rises so high that even the grass can't stay alive?  How's a mom not to lose her mind when she can't send her boys outside to play?  What's a summer without make-believe pirate games in the backyard, sweet, refreshing rainfall, camping under the stars?  What's the point of taking a dip in the pool when an expected cool, invigorating swim feels more like time spent in the sauna? I'm generally a summer lover, but this nonstop heat and drought is a bit excessive.  We first hit the century mark in early June this year, and temperatures have hovered around or above 100 degrees ever since.  I had wonderful plans to entertain the boys this summer--exciting and cheap  ideas for outings that would keep them busy and out of trouble.  But unfortunately most of our plans fell through right along with the scorching heat, and we have had to re-think our summer strategy. Luckily our move to a new neighborhood earlier this year brou...