Death to a Worm

We have ants.  Or we had ants, those little teeny sugar ants that smell like windex when you squish 'em with your bare hands.  So, I put in a call to the pest people and because it was Memorial Day Weekend we had to wait the ever so long weekend to get the guy to come out.  Now, we have a regular guy who comes that we really like....but a different guy came this time and he was sizing up my cleaning skills as soon as he entered my kitchen.  Mind you, I have an almost brand new kitchen (praise God for the flood last year), so my kitchen can't look that dirty.  He was running his finger across the stove and saying things like...."Yep-ants might like just a little drop of butter from a pan you left here,", or "You need to take everything out of your pantries and wipe them down with a cleaning solution of half peroxide, half water".  WOAH!  Wait! What did he just say?  Does he know what I have to do every day?  I have to pick up after these three kids, bathe them, be extremely patient with them, do their laundry, drive them places, feed them, wipe their butts, wipe their snots, wipe them in general, read them books after books, pretend I like to pretend, keep them alive and keep their daddy happy.  AND my pilates instructor wants me to do heel-toe slides, bent knee fall-outs and arm arcs every day.  I decided right then and there that the man did not have kids. 

I quietly watched as he set up all his bait traps and gel baited my kitchen; then I watched the ants come out of hiding and march along the cabinets, walls and molding to take part in the dying process.  This started James' fascination with bugs.  Did I mention we were having company for dinner that evening?  Wonderful.  We can all watch the death march. 

Upon exiting, the bug guy quietly made his way to the door and said he had just painted the room for his firstborn child coming this October. I smiled, mainly because I love to be right when I size people up and told him his world was about to be rocked, to be changed for the better. He asked how so.  I said, "You will realize just how selfish you have been your whole life".

Continuing with the theme, James decided he would "take in" a worm as a pet (thank you Kat and Suneigh for the most excellent idea!).  He dug and dug and dug a hole right in the middle of my front lawn and finally found his worm friend.  Next, he rummaged through the giant blue recycling bin, found an empty salad container, filled it with dirt, attempted to poke holes in the top (with a butter knife), and quite proudly showed me his new worm home and pet worm named "Charlie".  Well, I didn't know worms could die in just a few short hours if it's too hot and dry.  I missed that part in biology.  I thought they just needed dirt to live.  Well, sweet James kept trying to bring the worm inside and he would say, "Mom, he's just resting..."  Well, resting he was, because we killed him.  Rich got home and pronounced him dead.  And here we are having a funeral for him and laying him back into the garden from whence he came. 

To top it all off, we are trying to get rid of ringworm in our household.  We keep passing it back and forth, one to another. So when you see us, please don't touch us.  Have a blessed evening and I hope you sleep soundly thinking about all the creepy crawlies!

33 hours

I'm sitting here, stunned, utterly and eternally grateful, wondering how this all happened and thankful that it did. 

Thirty-three hours ago, my sister posted a link on facebook to a website which rallied people to collect money for the goal of giving Iva June an opportunity this summer like none that I could find here in Hampton Roads.  She will attend a Summer Speech Camp at Quilt Autism and Speech Center and hopefully learn perhaps, a little more how to communicate what is captured in her mysterious brain. 

I am in tears to have seen what the good Lord has done, completely taken aback to know that people care so deeply and am honestly overwhelmed by donations from the most unexpected places. In a short 33 hours ALL of the money was collected and not even some of my closest friends have even seen the link or know what's going on yet.  Please know MJ, Uncle Jim, Aunt Lynn, Katie and George, Charles and Cherish, Emily and Fred, Andrew and Nicole, Erin, Jenn and Josh, Aaron and Valori, and Isabella that you have touched our lives in a way that I will never ever forget. 

And for the rest of you who didn't have a chance to share in the joy yet, thank you for loving us on a daily basis and praying for our sweet girl of mystery. 

eeeee!

I'm a failure as a Mom.  I want to quit, give these kids back, or start again so I can redo some things.  I tried to see the beautiful in today, be thankful about the little things, like, the literal sunshine peeking through the clouds and my son digging around in the sand finding rocks, shells and treasures; but alas, when I looked up the weather forecast on my ipad and there was an actual rain storm picture on each of the 7 days in the the 7 day forecast, I retreated back into my shell again to whither away and wonder again what I was going to do with myself...with ourselves if it rained for 40 days and nights.  God bless Noah. 

Our family has been sick for about 10 days now.  We've all had parts of the snotty flu bug and I am not kidding you when I say EVERY time I look at Charlotte, she has boogies running down her face.  That was June last week. At the end of the day, I have very visible dried snot all over my clothes, skin and jeans, and I scrub the girls clean, but by early the next morning, Charlotte's hair has been snot-glued to her nose in the middle of the night, and June awakens with snot trails on her face.  

Even though it's been a hard week, much of it just because of my own "stuff" in my head, I am thrilled that June is trying to say something to us.  
One of the few things she says is, "EEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"  She does it repetitively, compulsively, and depending on how loud it is, we can generally gauge whether she is upset, calm, or in some cases, ready to poop.  Trust me, it can get very annoying.  She has been saying it all day long lately.  Today was a very happy day for her.  She was almost humming her eeee's, like she was singing a song.  It was rather pleasant compared to all the eeeing she does when she is clearly upset, or in public.  I am waiting for that song.  I really think it's coming.  When I sang with her she smiled, and when I play the piano next to her, she is relaxed and engaged in the moment. 

Mostly, I wonder what are you thinking little one....and why does "eeeee" excite you so much? Goodnight little lady of wonder.

Bathing beauty. No towel needed.

June enjoying the sand at Ocean View a few weeks ago.