Cleaning and uncleaning

With 5 kids and a bunch of animals the house gets dirty -- very dirty, fast.

Today I spent hours cleaning, dusting, mopping, straightening, and lots and lots of laundry.

In the end I was really happy. My house was clean!

Then the kids came in. In minutes... no seconds.... they managed to unclean a lot of what I did today. There were crumbs everywhere! More LAUNDRY! A full sink of dishes! How did this happen?

My mother can keep the house clean effortlessly (at least it seems effortless). I am very jealous of her skills in this area- maybe I'll get better with time. 

I firmly believe that if something takes an hour to clean it should take more than 2 seconds to unclean- that needs to be a rule somewhere. 

All I can do is laugh.  If I wanted a clean house having 5 kids and a lot of animals is not a good idea- its a good thing my mess tolerance is pretty high.

Kids Toys I Loathe

Every parent has some kids toys that make them irrationally annoyed. There are the obvious culprits- toys that make noise or giant messes.  Play doh is one of the toys that makes me nuts- it gets every where and dries- colors get all muddy etc. That is a pretty reasonable toy to dislike.

One that does not make sense is balloons. Balloons drive me nuts. Nothing good comes out of balloons. ever.

Helium filled balloons or regularly inflated balloons, doesn't matter. They make me nuts.
If they are the ones with a string tied on them, someone will let it go and then there is an epic meltdown. They may get tangled and then: epic meltdown.

If they are just regularly inflated they get 'kept off the ground' and someone gets stepped on or knocked over then: epic meltdown. Sometimes things get knocked over and then there is an epic meltdown.

There are fights and all sorts drama from balloons.  I truly dislike them, more than I dislike the kids drum set. Just seeing them makes me feel irrationally angry and annoyed.

This summer is going to be great-- it has to be

I am looking forward to the summer.

First, this winter has been long- seemingly interminable. I am ready for a change- of course when at the end of summer I'll be ready for a change too.

This summer will be the first summer in 4 years I have not had to worry about my kidney being a brat- because in a week, it will cease to exist.

I am going to water ski, swim, go tubing, run, pole dance, go to the park, go to the beach, maybe even go camping.  This year will be great.  Finally. After 4 years of stents, surgeries, recoveries, lots of meds, ER visits, this year will be great. I can't wait.

Why the lack of pole dancing??

Where have my pole dancing posts gone? Well, my kidney has been giving me such trouble, I have had to take a step back. 

It is so frustrating to work so hard and then have to take months off to heal from another surgery or infection.  My kidney is being removed soon and after that happens and I heal- look out pole world here I come.

This is not they way that I wanted things to turn out, but I have exhausted every option with my kidney it is about time to call it a day.

One of the hardest things of this is missing my pole time and my pole friends.  I loved my pole time away.  I miss laughing and seeing them. I can't wait to get back.

Soon. But not too soon.

Family can come from the heart

I have a great family.

One of the biggest lessons that I have learned in the past 4 years is that family rarely is limited to genetics.

Family means people who love and support each other- that can mean watching kids, helping around the house, laughing, hand holding whatever.

My family (biological and not) is amazing.  They have carried me, watched my kids, made dinner, cleaned my house, cheered me up, urged me on, and kept me going for the last 4 years I can never repay them.

The thing is I don't have to repay them.  I will be there for them when the need it and I will teach my kids that it is a privilege to be in a position to help someone else.  It is an honor and a privilege to help someone when they need it.  Our job is to serve and help others.

My family includes friends, neighbors, biological family, and even pets (really animals are some of the best therapists in the world)- the more the merrier.

I am truly thankful for each of them being in my life.

Henry Is 2

Henry just turned 2. 

He is my little man.  He still breastfeeds and sleeps in bed with me. 

I can't put into words his personality. He is unique and hysterical.  He has a great sense of humor and is caring and loving.

If I was thinking this afternoon I would have gotten a video of him singing "Let it Go" from Frozen.  He can't pronounce all the words but he has the melody and it is so cute- not that I am biased or anything.

He loves to build with blocks and legos and gets really upset if he feels left out in any way and has a sense of justice and fairness.

SUPER HENRY!

I hope we can plan a great party to celebrate how awesome he is.  Our family would not have been complete without him.

White Fang

Aurora-- White Fang-- the Siberian Husky can sense when it is going to snow.  She gets excited and bounces around like she is half Tigger-- and that is before it snows.  When it snowing she is outside and is just thrilled- its like it is snowing just for her.

Yesterday, the pressure was changing, she knew snow was coming and about every 15 minutes, she wanted to go out and see if it had started snowing yet. Each time, she got outside and it was like the wind came out of her sails each time it had not started yet, she was so disappointed.

She does like to leave if she is left outside for more than a few minutes, even if she is tethered, in a yard with a new fence.  So she can't stay out for a long time. 

This morning she went out and it had snowed but only a little-- and she was bummed.  You could see her thinking "Really?? This is it? There is supposed to be more!"

There will be more later today- but not yet and she is annoyed.