BREEZY FIELDS

to be the mother to the most amazing kids a woman could ever be given. I love each of you as I never imagined possible. I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I'm with you. -Elizabeth Barrett Browning

This week I decided you could not pay me enough to do the job that I happily (mostly) do for free. I have scrubbed vomit out of car seats, clothing, my front porch, and off of bathroom floors. I have cleaned up little puddles of tinkle in my dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and playroom. I have scrubbed out a cooler that somehow still held contents from cross country snacks back in October. I've defrosted a freezer, cleaned out a fridge, done hours of dishes, millions of loads of laundry, scrubbed bathrooms, cleaned out my van... And this is what I have decided, there is a very good reason the leaders of our church encourage women to get an education (besides the obvious), it is because, as a mother, you do MANY menial tasks and your brain has to have SOMETHING to think about. Good news- Sawyer is completely potty trained. Jane is no longer ill. P.S. this is not a complaint, as I said, I am happy doing these things- merely an observation!

My sister is here for one more day. She is loved. You want to know why? She came down to see blue skies (and us of course). It rained the whole week before she came, it has been sunny the entire week she has been here, rain is forecasted for the 10 days after she leaves. God must know that a woman that is 8 months pregnant with her 5th child and is longing for a little sun needs it. We have played hard every day, any surprise there? No. Meags brought her two youngest, Wil and Hazel, and the little cousins have loved being together. Sawyer idolizes Wil. Hazel can't get enough of Jane and her make up. The swing set we traded our old washer for has come in mighty handy. It is set up in our courtyard, taking up a great deal of space, but well worth it. Wil, Sadie, Hazel, and Sawyer have spent hours playing outside in our beautiful weather. Story- yesterday Isabella and I took Ellie out on her walk. Ellyn seemed excited until we started walking and then she was teary and t...

"Show me a woman who doesn't feel guilty and I'll show you a man." --Erica Jong I found this quote on another blog a few days ago and I loved it. You want to know guilt? Watch your poor, sweet 5 year old that already has difficulties with walking limp across the floor. Why is she limping? BECAUSE YOU BROKE HER FOOT!!!

Yes, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the two women from the Northwest. They have been delayed a day and it dang near killed my kids but they are living and they are coming. I gave myself an early Mother's Day present and hired a company to come vacuum, dust, mop, and scrub my bathrooms and as much as I hate spending money on something I can do and might even do better, it has been a huge relief. I hit meltdown point the other day and that was the result. But... I have been able to work on other projects that I haven't been able to get to and I haven't been a total stress case with my kids, good all around. I swear, by the time I make meals, clean up meals, get kids ready for school, do Jane's school, change diapers, run to soccer, etc... it would take me two days to do what they did in an hour and 45 minutes (there were two of them). Mike told me at the beginning of the deployment that I should just get someone but I am too cheap. However, I've dro...