Snow Days

We had a whopping 8 snow days from school in February and the beginning of March!  People in other parts of the country would laugh at the conditions at cripple our town, but, we loved it!  We even got to keep Mimi here for a couple extra days!!  The kids were elated to play in the snow-particularly the twins!  

Emmy bumped her head and James came running to comfort her.  Be still me heart.

Our little snowbunny was DEVASTATED that she had to come back inside!

I am taking all the pictures I can of my happy place.

As the World Turns

The kids watching a show on my computer during a house showing.

So many workers to watch!

Strep and flu and ringworm...and wildlife...Oh my!

From January:

I seriously feel like someone is out to get me.  I cannot, CANNOT, catch a break these past two months.  It's curious that most all of the curve balls have happened when Nick is away.  We have been PUMMELED with sick bugs and infested with fungus and, now, wildlife.  I can't even make all this stuff up, and even if I could, I wouldn't even do that to my worst enemy.  But I am trying very hard to keep all of this in perspective (as in continual pep talks going on in my head.)  In the grand scheme of things, this all is temporary as there's never been a storm that didn't pass.

Once we finally finished 16 days of antibiotics for strep throat (because Emmy needed to complete a second round on a different medication after her allergic reaction on day 6 of Amoxicillin) and ten days of Tamiflu for the conventional flu,  James came down with the stomach flu.  For a week and a half.  In that time, Hannah, Emmy and Julia all took turns with similar GI upset.  In the last month, the kids and I have spent the large majority of it in isolation so as to not perpetuate any of these sick bugs.

I am also waging war against ringworm.  It has been the bain of my existence for the last month.  I never knew how pervasive that fungus is until now that I've viewed every document google has to offer on the subject.  Darla is patient zero, and Molly, Emmy, James and I all contracted it in that order.  Both Molly and Darla require frequent anti fungal baths followed by a lyme sulphur "dip" that makes our house smell like rotten eggs.  Because of how very highly contagious the fungus is, I have kept the dogs in quarantine and they are none-too-thrilled with the arrangement.  The frequent sterilization of every surface of our home and laundering of every stitch of fabric that touches our skin has commanded every bit of down time.  The dogs were contagious for three weeks after aggressive therapy was initiated.  The incubation period is 4 days to two weeks after exposure before the ringworm patch even shows up, which has made this a long term battle and we still have a couple of weeks before we have confirmation that it's behind us.  I feel like a crazy person trying to prevent the spread of this miserable slow-growing fungus. My house has never been so clean...so I thought.

As Nick was shaving before leaving for a week-long trip, and I was doing my best to put one foot in front of the other after a 5 am wake-up scream courtesy of Hannah, I saw a small dark creature jet across the floor of the kitchen.  I panicked and snapped into high gear and ran to Nick to please check  it out and make it go away.  He was in a big rush trying to get out the door, but, took a look under the oven and even vacuumed it out before he had to leave.  That sneaky mouse was still at large.  Through tears, I bid him goodbye, PETRIFIED to be left alone with the kids, the dogs and a mouse loose in the room I spend the most time in each day for the next 6 days.  I did my best to breathe through the fear and pulled together breakfast for the kids making sure I was standing away from the oven and baseboards when that rodent made a break for it back from whence it came.  I screamed and the kids started crying.  I told myself I HAD to keep it together, I was scaring the kids, so I told them a story that we were so lucky to have seen it come and go so now we know it's out of our home.  Of course now the kids were terrified, too, so I spent the majority of the day reliving the encounter and doing my best to fake reassurance to them that it was no big deal.

I was in perpetual fight-or-flight for two days anticipating another vermin ambush, when, as I was rounding out bedtime, I picked up on a skunk odor wafting through the air.  I hoped it would dissipate quickly and tried to move on with my duties without much more thought...Until I went outside and realized that it didn't smell like skunk outside of my house.  I had no energy to deal with it and convinced myself that it didn't smell so strong anymore.  It wasn't until I went into the master bathroom after serving the kids breakfast the next morning that the odor had become staggering.  I knelt down to the air vent to hear chirping sounds on the other side.  I sat down on the couch, and stared at the wall as I tried to think of what to do next and who to call for help.  Our neighbor, Mr. Richard, has offered so many times to help when Nick is away and my head kept going back to him.  Ten minutes after I texted him, at 730 in the morning, he was standing in front of my now open crawl space door with a game plan.  We would leave the door open for the skunk to hopefully come out on it's own and pray the the smell was just it's body odor and that it hadn't sprayed.  By the Grace of God, that creature found it's way out during the day as Richard, so very kindly confirmed when touring our crawl space with a flashlight after he got home from work that night.  How grateful I am for Richard's help and for that creature leaving our home and taking his miserable smell with him.

The following day, Emmy and I heard rustling sounds in the fireplace area, and upon closer inspection, I found a bunch of mouse droppings.  With heart racing, I taped up the vent holes, covered the front of the fireplace with a diaper box in addition to the plexiglass already there for childproofing, placed a bunch of traps and sterilized the floors with bleach, again.  I am counting down the minutes until Nick gets home so he can check all of the traps I've set because I cannot bring myself to look.  A silver lining of this debacle is that I have the kids scared silly about walking around with food and leaving crumbs for mice.  Small victories.

With our future decision made, we are on the clock to get our home on the market and sold.  Leaving this house will gut me (although the wildlife situation as of late is making it slightly easier.)  Last weekend, the focus was on decluttering the house before Nick left for the week, so that I could deep clean it and we could have a pre-emptive home inspection prior to putting it on the market.  This week has been filled with very, very long days and nights, but I can't remember the last time it was so neat and clean.  If it weren't for the critters in and under my home, I would be a zen mama in my clutter-free surroundings!  Now keeping it clean with my crew is going to have the opposite effect on my mental well-being, I'm afraid.  We had the home inspection on Thursday and it went well despite a leak from the humidifier under the house rendering the insulation in that area dripping wet.  After two visits from the HVAC people and one from a plumber, I think we've got the issue ironed out.  Now to pick and agent, knock out the list of repairs and touch-ups and get this place listed...But that's for next week, for now, Mama's tired.

Hannah's 3!!

It seems like it was just over night that Hannah went from two years old to a "three-nager."  She is so full of personality and sass.  Hannah plays so well independently, particularly with her dolls or Barbies where she acts out different princess scenes.  She spends a large percentage of her day dressing and redressing herself.  Her current look usually involves some combination of tights and a shirt, her fashion forward outfit preference is, apparently, well beyond her years.  It is a chore to get her to wear what most people consider pants (not tights.)  Thankfully, I only have to fight that battle on the days she goes to Mom's Day Out and church, otherwise I don't bother.  She is now potty-trained during the day (woohoo!!) I can honestly say that she was potty trained the week before her third birthday, and I'm not proud to admit that I broke her off cold turkey from drinking milk from bottles in that same time frame. :-/ SO RELIEVED to have that behind us, it was most unpleasant there for a couple of weeks!  Just two nights ago we transitioned her to her toddler bed after she began climbing out of her crib with ease a month ago.  So many changes all at the same time!

Hannah is such a dynamic little person.  She is a whistle blower and doesn't back down in a fight.  She is careful and conscientious.  She is patient and thoughtful with the most acute memory.  She is expressive and quite dramatic.

She prefers to eat her meals early in the day.  Her favorite meals for breakfast are cinnamon chex cereal, pancakes, waffles and scrambled eggs with ham or the white part of hard boiled eggs.  She DESPISES egg yolk.  For Lunch she likes to make her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich with pirates booty and applesauce.  She doesn't eat dinner most nights even though it's right in front of her, but has been on a salad kick lately.  Shocking and welcomed!

As for sleep, she usually wakes up between 615 and 645 and then takes a nap around 1:00 until about 3:00 or 3:30.  Lately, there have been some days where she choses not to nap at all, so I reluctantly accept that she'll drop that nap in the not-to-distant future.  It will be a sad, sad day when that happens.  Bedtime is usually around 7:30PM, but on occasion, she'll read or sing to herself in her bed until a little after 8:00.

Hannah keeps us laughing with some her hilarious observations and comments.  Each night when we pray, we ask Emmy and Hannah to add their prayer intentions.  Every single night, without fail, Hannah prayers for "De carwashes and de tunnels and de yellow (as in egg yolks.)"  She prays for all the things she dislikes the most, I laugh (in my head) every night, but am secretly impressed with the concept of praying for the things we like the least!  If I could be so faithful as to take the same approach.

The night before Hannah's big day, Emmy insisted on staying up late to help me decorate so that it looked just right.

What is I'm?

Three fingers is too hard, let's just go for a thumb's up!

Hannah has wanted a Lalaloopsy surprise since she saw a commercial on Dora for one months ago.  I laughed at this toy (that soils diapers) years ago and honestly never thought I'd be seen in a checkout line with one.

Krispy Kreme donuts are a new favorite in our house. :-P

I found a cupcake tin for mini princess dresses at Hobby Lobby so the girls had a bunch of fun icing and decorating the cupcake gowns.

Facetime!

1. How old are you?  “What is I'm?” 

2. Who are your best friends? “Ashley." (Miss Ashley, her teacher) 

3. What is your favorite thing to do? “Nuffing." Emmy laughs. Hannah: "What's funny?"

4. What is your favorite color? “Purple." 

5. What is your favorite food? “Donuts” Emmy: And hot cocoa? Hannah nods, "and I like marshmallows."

6. What do you like to do with your family? “Nuffing."

7. What is your favorite toy? “Frozen.” 

8. What do you want to be when you grow up? “I'm gonna be a singer.” (Emmy prompts this one.)

9. What makes you happy? “Nuffing.” 

10. What makes you sad? “I'm don know” 

11. What is your favorite show to watch? “Callou.” 

12. What is your favorite book? “Snow White. I have Snow White at my school.”

13. What do you love to learn about? “I'm dunno.”

14. What was the best part of your birthday? “CAKE!"

15. Where do you like to go? “I get to go to Disney World!”

16. Who are your teachers? “I dunno.” 

17. What is your favorite treat? “CHOCOLATE!"

18. What do you think about before you go to sleep? (Shrug) “I'm dunno.” Emmy: "Frozen?" Sissy nods.

19. What is your favorite animal? “A Yion. And Monkey"

20. Who is your favorite singer? “I yike Shake Shake Shake." (Shake it Off by Taylor Swift)

21. What’s your favorite song? "Shake it off."

22. What’s your favorite game? "I like Frozen."

23.  What’s your favorite movie? "Frozen."

Change is Coming

After many months of open hearts and prayerful consideration, God is leading us in a new direction.  This summer, after Nick relinquishes his command, we are parting ways with the military and moving to California as Nick begins a one-year graduate program at Stanford University.  It feels so good to say that!

It all started years ago, when Nick completed his first command.  We had 10 years of military service behind us and faced the ominous question of what next.  We could stay in the military to finish out his 20 years for retirement or we get out.  I was 110% committed to getting out of the military while Nick straddled the fence.  To appease me, Nick studied for months and took the GMAT in December of 2011 and scored remarkably well (although he still believes that he could have done better...)  The following months came and went without any grad school applications submitted.  To say that we were stressed would be a gross understatement.   After many uncomfortable, passionate conversations, it was determined that Nick would stay in the Army so that he could achieve his next command.  I struggled mightily with this, but decided to give it to God (and our therapist) and focus on caring for the family, which was what I have been called to do.  If only I could just give my spring of 2012 self a hug and say, hang on tight, this is going to be a WILD ride, but it will all work out for good and be greater than you could have ever imagined.

Since moving into our new home in the country, I am in my element.  This time spent nurturing our family in such a beautiful place as this has fed my soul.  The deployments are hard, but after all these years and all of these babies, I've finally found my stride and life is otherwise so good.

Nick's command has been a busy one, we assumed that once his two years were up that we would have another year here at Fort Campbell while Nick completed an administrative job for his battalion.  This past summer, while he was deployed, Nick had a routine counseling session with his boss, and it didn't go favorably.  Nick had spent little time with his boss over the last year given his company's preoccupation with fielding their new aircraft, and that limited face time colored the review.  The take-home message was that the job we had anticipated Nick having after completing his command was no longer on the table.  This, rightfully, brought forth some intense soul searching and contemplation of the future.

After Nick returned from the deployment, he came to join the kids and I in California.  While he was there, both he and I, with open hearts, started conversing with so many family members and friends about our predicament.  Those conversations snowballed into others and come September, we made a decision that Nick would apply to grad school, with the GMAT score he had taken years before that had not quite expired yet.  This fall was consumed with applications and essays to Stanford for the conventional 2-year business school, the 1 year executive business school (with a focus on leadership for students with an average of 12 years work experience) and to Duke business school.  We knew that they were completely ambitious, but Nick had gathered from his many conversations that, at his age, the only way grad school would really be a wise investment (both in time and monetarily) is if he went for one of the top-ranked schools. Nick felt strongly that grad school would be the best transition from the military to the civilian business world, and that if he wasn't admitted, it was a clear sign that wasn't the route he was intended to take.

After some majorly down-to-the-wire revisions, his first Stanford application and essays were submitted for the 2 year conventional MBA program in the end of September while on a work trip.  Duke came next.  I will never forget him running into the twins' room while I was reading the kids a bedtime story, roughly 4 hours before his application was due, asking me to read his essays.  A similar scenario played out the night his Stanford MsX application was due.  My Dad had uncovered some incredible advice for a recommended approach to the most daunting of the essays: "What Matters Most To You and Why?" just a couple of days prior to the deadline.  Nick had agonized over whether to keep the essay he had tweaked from his first Stanford application even though it wasn't consistent with the advised approach, or scrap it and start over.  So, at 10 o'clock at night, 4 hours before the deadline (PRAISE JESUS FOR PACIFIC TIME) that essay was re-written.  It was an intense night with rapid-fire revisions.  Just after midnight, we got a text from Poppy telling us about a movie that he, Grammy and Grant had just finished watching.  The timing was impeccable, with the both of us bleary-eyed and knowing they were still awake, we gratefully sent the draft along to Grant for one final revision before Nick hit the submit button.

We waited weeks for a response from all the programs.  In that time, we learned that Nick's boss had actually slated him for the same job we had originally anticipated him having only for the other battalion.  An unexpected but appreciated decision, that definitely complicated our picture of the future.  He was offered interviews with both Duke and the Stanford MsX programs.  He traveled to Durham for his Duke interview and Skyped with the Associate Director of the Stanford MsX program in the end of November.  Both of the interviews went well, and we were left to wait some more.

In that waiting period, doubt certainly crept in.  Nick was convinced that he was going to get e-mails from all of the programs with a picture of a young kid clad in their school t-shirt flipping him the bird.  He deployed in December, and a little over a week later, we received word that he had been waitlisted for the conventional 2 year MBA at Stanford.  Then, we learned that he was accepted into Duke MBA and hours later came the news that he was also accepted into Stanford's 1 year Executive Business School (MsX.)  We can't help but wonder if the overhaul in the 11th hour on his main essay for Stanford MsX made the difference. We were both genuinely surprised and overwhelmed.  The decision to apply to grad school was a leap of faith and was made without deep consideration of the logistics.  Neither of us really thought it was going to pan out.  We were both deeply overwhelmed by the prospect of making such a radical life change, stepping out from the "stability" of the military into an abyss as Nick described it.  He doesn't have a clear picture of what he hopes to do after he completes school and knowing how much he loves what he does right now in the military (even though his job description will change in the very near future) really brought forth some legitimate concerns about what to do. That all on top of great concern that his replacement is arriving in the end of June and his ability to change command and out process from the army in time for the first day of school on July 6th seemed nearly impossible.

Stanford is where we want to be, both because of it's ranking and, most important, for the first time in too many years, we can live near both of our entire families.  Out of concern for the borderline impossible timeline, we requested to defer Nick's acceptance for a year.  Stanford will only entertain such requests for those making them on the grounds of compulsory military service, and therefore they agreed to look into our case.

In the week afterward, Nick's best friend, Derek, and his wife, my girlfriend, Mel, just-so-happened to come for a childless visit for work.  The timing was, once again, impeccable.  We spent numerous hours together and were able to talk all of this out with them, who have been invested in our lives since we all first started dating 15 years ago.  We started getting answers to our questions regarding Nick's medical board for his back and how that would impact his out processing timeline.  It's doable.  His replacement doesn't graduate from his school until June 19th, however, he identified a way that he could get his family moved to Tennessee prior to his finals and opt out of "walking" for graduation in order to come back to Fort Campbell immediately after finishing his finals to complete hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment inventory before their official change of command, which might happen around July 2nd.  So, it's possible, too.  I woke up Wednesday morning after learning the last of the information the night before and I couldn't stop thinking about Proverbs 3:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding

In all your ways acknowledge Him

and He will make straight your paths.

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord

and turn away from evil.

It occurred to me that God had already cleared the path for us, there were no longer any roadblocks besides our own fear of the unknown.  So, I felt a strong urge to call Nick and tell him my revelation.  I told him that I didn't want him to have to call me if he found himself in a conversation with his boss about our future plans (as was already scheduled to happen this week anyway.)  I trust that God is leading us to Stanford this summer.  He agreed.

We are excited, yet still guarded, being so used to the other shoe routinely dropping.  We are like deer in headlights beginning preparations for selling the house and moving the family to Stanford.  We are just now beginning to talk about the special moments that we will be able to share with all of our family and so many of our treasured friends in the bay area....It's all so novel.  Just the other day as I was driving, I was lost in a day dream envisioning myself driving the van across the California state line and I just felt the tears starts pouring out of my eyes.  I can't begin to fathom what life is even going to look like without the military and the deployments that come with it; and having an incredible abundance of loving arms from our family who can now walk through life with us after being away for so long gets me choked up at the thought.  This is such a tremendous blessing for each and every one of us.  God has been ALL OVER this from the very beginning and I know he will continue to guide us in the days, weeks, months and year ahead as we embark on our next great adventure.

Mercy.

Not 3 hours after I finished the last post did God answer my prayer...

Nick was originally supposed to be home Friday night, but then a delay in Afghanistan happened and yet another unexpected overnight stop in New Jersey for maintenance issues.  I had put off shopping for, well, food, but also the last touches for Hannah's birthday in hopes that I might be able to do it alone while Nick spent time with the kids.  Knowing that the very best case scenario would bring him home Sunday afternoon, the kids and I braved the cold and rain to go to my very least favorite store, Walmart, for the sole reason that it is a one-stop-shop.

I loaded the kids as quickly as I could into the extra-long three seater cart that I, luckily, found in the cart return next to my car in the very back of the parking lot.  Apparently everyone does their shopping Sunday afternoon.  With Juju secured to my chest in the carrier, I pushed the other kids into the store as quickly as I could to get out of the nasty weather.

Our first stop was the produce section, where Sis, strangely, fell out of the cart onto the floor.  She was rightfully upset and started screaming as I peeled her up off the floor.  She promptly lifted her dress and started pulling down her tights to show me the booboo on her knee.  She could care less that she had gone commando and was completely disinterested in waiting to show me her "wound" until we got back to the car.  Her already fiery 3 year-old temper was escalating as I frantically tried to pull down her dress.  Gratefully, the bakery was near and I used a solid deflection tactic and told her to, "look over there! Cupcakes!"  That was the golden ticket to getting her back into the cart.  As we pulled away from the scene, I managed to exhale and wipe the sweat off my brow.

With multiple hands grabbing for things and threatening to climb out of the cart, I did my best to do drive-bys to get what I need without even having to stop.  The thought that goes into all of this to maximize efficiency and avoid backtracking or, worse yet, forget anything may well cause smoke to come out of my ears.

After gathering our foodstuffs, the next stop was the children's clothing section so that Sis could rectify her panty situation.  At this point, the anticipation had become too much, and Emmy was determined to pick out Sis' birthday present from she and the twins (something that she had been meticulously planning since well before her own birthday.)  Hannah had a vested interest in everything that Emmy was looking at, while Emmy was doing her very best to be discreet.  Sis was entirely put off by secrets being kept from her, so before things could get any more testy, I pushed on to the next stop: the fabric section.

I have been burning the candle to make a t-shirt quilt for myself and am excited to finally bind it, but I neglected to buy fabric for that step before and the urgency to complete my project was clouding my better judgment.  The unfortunate part is that there is rarely someone manning the table in the craft department as was the case this time.  After banging into multiple displays with my personal caravan we hunted down the sales associates in electronics, and our help finally arrived.  At this point I was more than ready to split.

So we went to the check out, and Emmy and Hannah helped themselves out of the cart to pour over the impulse candy buys, and then promptly fight over the single remaining "Frozen" ring pop.  I held Juju close with one hand (who was also trying to grab for impulse buys) and unloaded the cart with the other.  All the while I was listening to the clerk chatting up the childless woman in front of me about some unfit mother who coddled her child while they had a tantrum.  I was feeling grateful to be in their presence while my hungry kids' behavior was teetering in the balance.

That's when Ms. Loretta, the very kind grandmotherly director from the littles' Mom's Day Out walked up behind me in line.  She gave me a hug and ask how we were doing after our plague.  She loaded my grocery bags into the cart while I wrangled my kids and paid for our goods.  I couldn't thank her enough.

We ran to the car in the cold rain and I loaded the kids as quickly as my hands would let me.  I had everyone secured when I noticed James' shoe was missing.  I started to struggle with an internal conflict...How much did we really love that shoe?  Maybe I will pray it gets turned in to customer service and I can come back a different day?  But it's one of two pairs of shoes that actually fit him.  I had a sinking feeling that we needed to go back into the store.

That's when Ms. Loretta came walking towards me with her arm outstretched offering James' shoe.  She found it and was hoping she'd see me, but if not, had planned to give it to me at Mom's Day Out on Tuesday. It turns out she had parked right next to me in the way back of the giant parking lot.  She then held an umbrella over my head while I shoveled my groceries into the car.  Thank you, Jesus, for sending me an angel.

And then Nick came home 4 hours later.  All is well.

Lord, have Mercy

So, I thought I got my deployment bad luck out of the way the day after Nick left when we all had to go to the vet to learn Molly had bacterial growth in her ears and Darla had yeast in hers requiring packing every two weeks fro 6 weeks.  But then I thought it was when Hannah dropped two pennies into my gear shift and the technician at the Toyota repairs department told me I couldn't wait to have the car inspected because of the damage the change could do.  So, after the notoriously miserable 15 month vaccines, I dragged all the kids to the dealership, during nap time no less, to have the situation rectified.  I will say, I was BLOWN AWAY by the customer service...They knew I was coming with all of my kids and they, very kindly, escorted us to the play room as soon as I arrived and did everything they could to make us comfortable.  A little too comfortable, maybe, because both twins needed to evacuate their bowels and we required two trips to the bathroom for a potty run and for supplies to clean our snack and sippy explosion.  We were out of there an hour and a half later, and all things considered, I don't think it could have gone any better...Except for James banging on the showroom window to announce himself.  I was counting my blessings that I hadn't really gotten hit with the rotten luck I usually do when Nick is away...

Christmas was wonderful.  Afterwards, we holed up at home and played with toys, only really leaving to get groceries.  In that one solitary outing, Emmy and I somehow managed to contract strep throat.  I can't remember the last time I was that sick.  I wasn't able to eat anything for a couple of days, which led to some serious muscle weakness, made worse only by the fact that Emmy was requiring some serious TLC.  There was no conceivable way I could physically manage taking all of the kids to the doctor with me so that Emmy, my new bed buddy, and I could acquire some meds.  By the grace of God, our babysitter, Emily, was available on New Year's Day and came over to watch the three littles while Emmy and I went to the walk-in clinic.  After waiting an exceedingly long time with all of the other sick people in Clarksville, we both tested a resounding positive on our rapid strep tests and were finally on our way to pick up our meds.  Only we missed the pharmacy by 20 minutes due to their modified holiday schedule.  I told myself that the hard part was behind us-getting in to see the doctor for the diagnoses and prescriptions-and that we'd be the first ones in the drive-through the next morning.  18 hours and we'd be on our way to wellness.

A couple of days later, things were beginning to look up.  I suppose things were going a little too well, because that's when our next assault came.  Sunday morning  Emmy came down with a high fever.  After being on antibiotics for three days, I was concerned that she had a secondary viral infection.  Monday morning, I dragged all of the kids back to the walk in clinic to learn that Emmy now has the flu--which the only conceivable place she could have contracted it was the walk in clinic when we were diagnosed with strep throat.  We literally hadn't left the house since then.  They quarantined us in a back room to test the twins because they fall in the high risk group and to determine their dosage of Tamiflu.  Luckily, they both tested negative and were therefore prescribed a precautionary dose of Tamiflu for 10 days.  We FINALLY left the clinic for Kroger to pick up the twins' meds and a few food stuffs since we were running low.

My precious Emmy was struggling mightily with a 103 degree fever, terrible body aches and fatigue, but dutifully kept up with me while we tore through the store.  I felt like I was in a supermarket dash game show, pulling things off shelves while practically running through the aisles.  We finally made it back to the car at 2, no one had eaten lunch and we were well into nap time, and the kids were having a hard time hanging.  I strapped everyone into their seats and finally exhaled.  I then went to look for my phone, praying that Nick would call so that I could regale all of the days events.  But I couldn't find it.  Which is not unusual, anytime it's in plain view, one of my kiddos steals it.  I emptied my purse and tore through the car and still couldn't find it anywhere.  I remembered that the last time I saw it was when we got into the car after leaving the walk in clinic.  The kids had attempted the passcode too many times and it had been disabled for 15 minutes.  I remember looking at it feeling annoyed and then put it down in what I thought was my purse on the center console.  I drove through the pharmacy to ask if I accidentally left it there...Nope.  I parked again, took a moment to breathe and then and apologized to my very sick little girl and those who were now sleeping, that we had to go back into the store and retrace our steps.  We went back in and straight to customer service.  Apparently no one had turned in my pink phone, so the nice associate offered to call it, which immediately picked up to voicemail.  Something was clearly not right.  My phone was fully charged and I never turn it off...and I also now remember that I had left my car door unlocked while we went into the store. :( It's becoming clear that my phone was stolen from my center console.  Knowing that there was no way for anyone to get ahold of me, let alone for me to call for help while quarantined to the house with a sick kid, I was desperate for resolution.  

We went to Verizon to see if they could track my phone, but to no avail.  I was committed to finding an old phone at home after learning the ridiculous price tag on all the phones-even flip phones- at Verizon.  As I pulled out of the parking lot, an unfamiliar warning light illuminated on my car dashboard, and after reviewing my owner's manual at the next red light I learned that it was my air pressure warning.  It was almost 3 in the afternoon, and at this point the kids were crying for food.  I grabbed them Chick-Fil-A and then found the nearest gas station air pump to check my tires.  Luckily, the extreme cold temperature was to blame and it was an easy fix.  Even still, I was very much maxed out with the curve balls pummeling me.  As I drove home on the freeway, the truck directly in front of me spit out shards of glass from the truck bed.  I seriously can't even make this stuff up.  After clearing away the debris with my windshield wipers, I notice that the bottom of my windshield was nicked in the process.

We got home and I, thankfully, located an old phone that Kris and JP lent us for Nick to use until he gets his upgrade when he returns home.  I attempted to activate the phone with the directions the helpful person at Verizon had given to me, but it wouldn't work.  Of course.  I kept getting a message telling me to try from a phone other than the one I was activating, which is all fine and good except I DON'T HAVE any other phone.  So, I fed the kids (FINALLY) and wake my sweet sick girl to go back to Verizon to have them help me activate the phone before they closed and I was phoneless for the night.

When we got there, I made the grave mistake of not putting Sis in the Ergo on my back.  She was fired up (probably from eating a meal and a half all day and no nap) and was tearing through the busy store.  James pulled Julia's hair while they sat in their stroller and she let out a blood-curdling scream and dissolved into tears.  I pulled her out of the stroller as quickly as I could, and that's when Hannah jumps in and initiates a game with James where he "pushes" her out of the stroller and she dives onto the floor.  Meanwhile, Emmy is sleeping on the bench.  After many well-deserved annoyed looks, I left with a working phone and my over-tired kids.  

Six days into her amoxicillin treatment for strep throat, Emmy woke up with hives head-to-toe, and a patch of ring worm on her right shoulder, the twins are cutting multiple new teeth, some of which appear to be molars, we are in the throes of potty training a newly-weaned-from-milk-bottles Hannah because not only were they (the bottles and the diapers) becoming behavior issues but, well, it was (past) time and we are stuck at home anyways.  And Nick's return flight has been delayed...twice.  Lord, please have Mercy.