The Making of M.O.M.

It's Friday already. Man this week flew by. Once again my memory, along with several laughable moments, escape me. Gee, how I wish our walls could talk so they could remind me of all the funny things I've forgotten. Actually, maybe I don't wish that. Maybe they would tell a little too much.

Anyway, onto this week's Das Not Funny! Friday post including all the things I will tell.

One morning last week all 3 big kids climbed into bed with me while the babies were still sleeping. I clicked on the TV hoping to catch a few more Zzzzz's. As I doze in and out of consciousness, this what I hear:

Lucas: "Shuuuuuu weeeeee! My fangers stank. Bizzy, wanna smell dem?"

Elizabeth: "Sure." ............... "Wooooo. You're right. They do stank!"

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**Look away now if dead animals freak you out**

Yesterday our ~~bird dog~~ squirrel dog, Brinkley, delivered this little gem to our door step:

This is the 3rd one she's delivered to us as a, um...trophy.

The kids were lucky enough to witness Brinkley proudly presenting me her catch. Therefore, it became a hot topic for the rest of the afternoon. When Luke got home he shoveled up the rodent and began the trek to the woods to dispose. However, the kids wanted to do this:

The look on Ashlee's face alone is enough to crack me up. However, the icing on the cake was when Elizabeth said,

"Mom! I can see it's poop hole!"

Yes sweetie, you can. Along with it's bulgy black eyes and nasty, rodent teeth.

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Just when I thought the morning sickness was over it came roaring back on Tuesday. As I hovered over our kitchen sink, Elizabeth looked on with with concern. As I changed my clothes and we prepared to go out on a Mommy/Daughter date she asked,

"Mom. Why did you frow up? Are you getting sick?"

"No baby," I responded, "It's just because of the baby in my tummy. It still makes me sick sometimes."

"Why, Mommy? Do all Mommies get sick when they have babies in their tummies?"

"No baby," I sighed, "not all of them."

"Well, why do you get sick?" she questioned.

"Because honey. That's just the way God made my body," I tried to explain.

"Well why in the world would God do a thing like that?"

I'm asking Him the same thing.

Alrighty folks. Below is MckLinky if you'd like to play along. All you have to do is enter your info into MckLinky and he will do the rest. Y'all have a great weekend.

Have you wondered just how those 6 days went while I was away, enjoying sleeping in and not changing diapers? Below is a post that Luke wrote for all of you inquiring minds. The best part about my entire vacation was the desire my husband had to caring for our children and let me take a break. I think he was just as excited about my getting a vacation as I was. If nothing else from the whole week stands out to me, it is that my husband loves me more than I could ever deserve. I am married to a remarkable man. One that loves me when I'm unlovable, takes care of me when I'm capable of doing things myself and sacrifices knowing the benefits I will reap. Sounds a lot like another Man I love. I am truly blessed beyond measure.

So, without further ado, here is Luke's take on 6 days of being a single Dad:

So you may ask what life is like for 6 days, with 5 children (all under 5 years old), while your wife is away. I have to ask myself the same question. First of all, I am not some super hero, tight-wearing, perfect dad. Several people have asked how things were, while my wonderful bride (I may have added that part) was off on a deserted island being waited on hand and foot. Everyday there were about 2 meltdowns before breakfast, 1 before lunch, 2 before dinner, and 1 before bedtime.

After we dropped mommy off at the airport, the first destination of the daddy day care bus was..... Bass Pro Shop. For those of you that know me, that, in and of itself should be funny. I must say going there at 10:00 in the morning was quite nice. There is noooo body there. I have the babies in the twin stroller and the older kids get to walk around. They all listened really well. The biggest hits were: Lucas getting to touch an actual gun, Elizabeth seeing the HUGE catfish in the fish tank, and Ashlee finding the princess tackle box. After that 2.5 hr time span (hey, they were happy and I wasn't leaving), we went to a park to burn off some more steam. We finally made it back home for naps.

That one day is the only full day I remember. Some other activities we had were: playing in the leaves, children's museum, gymnastics, church, bounce house, and my memory is gone again. We did some school work. I say some so you can insert how much you think it was. I would stay on the low side if I were you. Me being the morning person I am we were out of the house by 9:00 most days. For the first couple of days things were ok. Mentally I think it helped knowing she would be gone for a while and I had no choice but to make it work. The longer the week got, the harder things got. By the sixth day I completely failed at being a patient, loving dad. I found myself getting on the kids for every little thing. What was really hard was there was no down time. I found myself constantly correcting someone, changing a diaper, fixing something, stopping a fight, cleaning, etc. By the end of each day I was done.

What really helped during the week was starting everyday in prayer and studying the bible. The two days I didn't start my day with God I had the least amount of patience. I must say I had a lot of quality time in the word and in prayer. The distractions of work were not there, the computer was broken, and we don't have but 8 channels to watch. When the kids went down for there naps I would lay down for 30 minutes to an hour. It was so refreshing. Jessica had also pre-made some meals before she left. We had friends bring by dinners. Grandparents took us out to eat and some of the kids stayed with them 1 or 2 nights. Friends dropped in, with their kids, to bring a good distraction for my children. Two nights, guys dropped by to make sure I was still alive. Friends called to check on me, offer to go to the store, bring a biscuit buy. Friends at church helped load and unload the kids. The older kids stepped up and helped clean and helped with the babies.

After it is all said and done I would do it again. I do see the daily struggles Jessica has to deal with and it makes me appreciate and love her so much more. I am especially thankful that God has put in her a desire to be with our children day in and day out. It was a great week with my God and my children.