And so it goes...

The story doesn't always turn out the way you think it will.  The favorite tv show ends with a twist you didn't want (and you yell at the tv!)...the book ends leaving you hanging....the letter that leaves you surprised.

Life is that way.  Where you thought you'd be in 1 year, 3 years, 5+ years is not where you are.  Thats where I find myself today.  In a different spot then where I thought I'd be.   I could choose to sit and wallow in that or I can choose to be thankful for where I'm at.  

I'm choosing thankfulness.

Today I'm thankful for:
A Savior who lives me even in my mess.

A husband who chooses what is best for our family.
Healthcare that is available to me.  

3 kids who laugh at the things I say or do that are just downright ridiculous when this brain of mine doesn't work right.
Friends who are understanding, pray for me, and talk me through things.  

You need to write this down!

While texting with a friend this week, about the antics that were happening in this house, she said to me "You better be writing this down.  It is so funny!"


You know, I need to be writing it down.  My brain doesn't remember all these things.  The stuff IS funny.  I want the kids to be able to look back someday and say "Really?  I said that?" or it to spark a memory.

So after almost a year since my last post I'm inspired to start writing it down again.  The fun.  The not so fun.  The easy stuff and the hard stuff.


Let the writing begin.

Flesh

It comes in MANY colors.....

In just a moment....

My dear Richarmie

It's January 12.

A day that in one moment everything in your life changed. 

A moment that is in your memory.  

A moment when everything you had no matter how much or little it was, was gone.

In an instant.  

In just one moment, one tick of the clock everything you knew, everything that was home, everyone that was family changed.

It's a moment, an instant that can never be changed.  

On this day, two years ago, you lost your parents.  Richarmie I know you tried.  I know you tried to reach them.  You also had a little brother, Djemson that needed to be protected.  Who was most likely just as confused as you were, if not more.

The tears you cried that day, and the weeks that followed I simply can not imagine.  

If I could be there today to hold you, to pray with you and over you, I would.  I would be there in a moment.  Instead I'm here, and you are there.  I hope you re-read my last letter and know that I pray for you every day.  

Today is different though.  I pray your heart is comforted.  I pray you understand that we want to honor what your parents started.  I pray that you know that we love you and Djemson.  

I also want you to know that exactly eleven months after that devastating moment  I saw your picture for the first time.  I heard your story.  

That moment is forever in my memory. 

A moment where everything changed.

In an instant.

One moment, one tick of the clock, where everything that was life as I knew it changed.

There were tears that would not stop.  I don't think I had ever felt that physically ill over someone who I had never met before.  I cried for weeks, for you and Djemson.  I laid in bed awake each night wondering about you and realizing that everything I knew was changing.  

In just that one moment our lives were forever changed by you.  

I love you my sweet Richarmie.  

I love you for that moment of changing our lives.

I love you for all the moments yet to come.  

Working towards becoming a Minimalist

We're moving in a direction of becoming minimalists.  I'm dragging guiding the family in that direction.  I read this article today ~ one of several that I've read over the last couple of months. 

I CRAVE less in my home.  Not that we live in clutter.  I just like clean lines and space.  


My family thinks I've gone out of my mind.  Tonight I started in the kitchen. Sam actually asked if we were packing and moving.  I took an ENTIRE clothes basket overflowing OUT of the kitchen.  GREAT items.  Some are just extra that I will store until the other 2 items just like it wear out (I may have reached a limit on how many rubber spatulas one person needs in the kitchen).  Some items we're just simply getting rid of.  Then there are the things that get used once or twice a year ~ you know like the meat thermometer to check to make sure the turkey is done.  It really should go with the roasting pan and not in a drawer for me to move every day.  So I'm re-assigning where items go. 

Tomorrow I'll go thru the basket of 'keep' items and put them in their new home (storage, or with a like item). 

We'll also start our 'get rid of' box. 

I invite you to join me, as we move in that direction of less is more. 

Even if you fight?

The family has started a new family Bible to read at night.  We have read the Jesus Storybook Bible so many times the kids are beginning to be able to recite parts of it.  We wanted something more...something with questions that related to what we read.  Starting points for conversations.  Sometimes I just can't come up with a question just before bed time, and at breakfast?  No way! 

Just last week we started this one... Mighty Acts of God.  I have to say, I like it.  There are about four questions to go with each story.  The first night we read every question.  Mistake with a 3 and 5 year old!   Emma was 'in' to it, but the other two were not by the end.  So now we scan the story and questions while the kids are brushing their teeth so we have an idea of what the story is, and what questions would best pertain to our kids. 

On Saturday evening I was reading with the kids while D was out speaking at a youth event, and it talked about God's covenant with Abraham, and how a covenant was a special relationship.  In the story it touched on how a marriage is a covenant ~ a special relationship ~ and more than just a promise.  I explained to the kids that Daddy and I have a covenant that we would always be married.  ALWAYS.  Emma spoke up and said "Even if you fight?"  

"Yes, even if we fight"  

Then came the statement "Well you've never had a fight about something"  

Wrong.  I explained that we had disagreed about things plenty of times.  She was surprised.  

"Well it must have been before I was born"  

*snicker*  yeah cause in the last 8 years there wasn't a single thing we disagreed on! 

Oh honey!  It was very eye opening to Emma, that even though her daddy and I had disagreed on several things in the last 10 years ~ including the years AFTER she was born, it didn't change the fact that we made a covenant to always be married.  We would work through our disagreements (like when I tell them to 'work it out') and pray and ask for forgiveness of each other.  It was such an eye opening conversation for her.  She realized that yes, indeed her parents are sinners that don't always think the same thing!  But she also saw, that despite the fact that we don't always agree on things, we would always be married.  

We would always be together.  

Even if we fight.   

Never a good sign

It's the day before Buddy's 5th birthday.  I should be cooling the beginning of a Lightning McQueen cake.



I'm obviously not.


Why you ask?   Ah simple.  The pan holds 1-1/2 cake mixes.  I the brilliant mom, only purchased one.  ONE.  I could have a cake with no wheels.  That might not go over well.

Fine, I'll color the fondant while husband picks up the 2nd cake mix on his lunch break.

The store near him does not have said cake mix that I need (I refuse to mix flavors!).

I also discover that I do not have red food coloring to color the fondant.

Brilliant I tell you.  So now husband will stop at another store on his way home to pick me up some red food coloring (Lightning McQueen must be red afterall).  I will be heading to yet another store, to pick up the 2nd cake mix and some ice cream (ooo and I just remembered we need plastic forks & spoons!)

This does not give me high hopes in how this cake is going to turn out!

It's not that I don't want to write...

I'm finding it hard to sit and write.  Maybe it would help my heart?  Not sure.

I miss Djemson and Sophia.  I love seeing all that photos that friends, and mission teams are taking while they are in Haiti.  I hate watching my kids grow up in pictures though.  We are waiting on one piece of paper for our Dossier and then we are in the running around stage getting everything stamped and such.  I called today to follow up on that one piece of paper ~ and the person insisted she sent it 'weeks ago', but it was only 2 weeks ago that we were there to see her.  Funny, I think she never mailed it.

There has been such a giant gap here....
Lovergirl's birthday.  She's 8.  EIGHT  I'm not so sure I'm ready for her to be 8.  Nevermind when she said the other day "You know I'm almost 9"  Yeah...YOU ARE NOT! 

The end of preschool for buddy.  My little guy who never spoke a word till he was 2-1/2 completed his first year of preschool and loved every day of it!  He is looking forward to next year.

The end of the school year for Lovergirl ~ she's going into the 3rd grade!  Please lets make time stop!  She struggled so much on the last day of school.  She just loved 2nd grade, her friends and teacher.  When she got off that bus the last day she burst into tears.

The little princess is enjoying having her sister and brother around every day.  She's trying new things, getting into loads of trouble, is completely potty trained (WOO HOO!!) and is looking forward to her first year of preschool in the fall. 

And now we're in the groove of summer.  Going to the beach with friends.  Stopping at all sorts of playgrounds to just run and play.  Library story hour and crafts.  Riding our bikes, and family walks.  I'm really soaking up this summer, as I feel like I completely missed last summer.  I was still too much in recovery mode.  We have hiking and camping, and picking berries on our list of summer fun.  Here's hoping we have some blogging ideas from it all!

Dear Djemson.

You are an amazing little boy. I loved you the moment I laid eyes on your picture.  You have such an infectious smile.  You love to laugh.  You fell in love with your papa when we arrived in Haiti.  You love the friends you have there.  I adored hearing you yell to your friend Tomas....and hearing him yell back to you so you could find each other.  The two of you switch plates half way thru a meal was just too funny to me.  You would both have the same exact items on your plate, but for some reason it tasted better if you switched.  I was so proud of you when you gave the rest of your eggs to Danny.  You will share with the kids who don't have what you have.  I love that about you.
I love that you found it necessary to put a juice box straw in your straw cup.  And it worked!

My boy Djemson, I loved the passion in your eyes to learn about your fwem.  How excited you were when you discovered we have our own machin.  You loved have your foto taken with your fwem. 

However, my boy Djemson.  You gave your mama two white hairs.  They were not there before my trip to meet you.  It may have had something to do with you running up and down the rebar stairs.  Or you hanging off the edge of the wall, or the roof.  Maybe it was the jumping off the four foot wall.  Either way my dear I will start coloring my hair.  Your mama is far to young to have blan hair. 

Love You
Mama

The perks of the flu

This week our family has been hit with the flu.  The test-you-with-a-nasal-swab, the-nurses-all-put-on-masks-every-time-they-enter-the-room-flu.  The you-need-antiviral-meds-flu. 

I'm tired.

I didn't even get the flu.

Everyone else did. 

Three family members tested.  Three positives.  Hindsight if we had asked to have the 4th family member tested Sunday night I think we would have had a positive then. 
Through all of the sitting up with kids at night in a steamy bathroom, dosing tylenol and motrin, soaking cloths in cold water for foreheads, washing laundry, and driving ALL.OVER. the area we live in to find the meds I have to say I'm thankful.

I'm thankful that I could find the last dose of tamiflu for the princess.  I'm thankful that I drove by an Amato's and was able to grab some lunch.  I'm thankful that we have quick cares and doctors that I can walk into and get care for my kids and husband.  I'm thankful for gingerale and gatorade.  And Lysol.  Lysol is my friend.  I am appreciating Nick Jr & the Disney Channel.  We've watched a lot of that lately.  LOTS and LOTS of TV. 

Yes, there are dirty blankets that need to be washed.  Yes there was poop on the couch (it's since been cleaned).  Yes, the princess was coughing so hard, she choked and puked on me.  THREE times.  Yes, she even did that in her bed on a different night.  So I changed her sheets THREE times.  Yes, there is a plastic grocery bag in the middle of the living room for everyone to deposit their dirty tissues in.  Frankly you can't even walk through the living room at this point with everyone sprawled all over the place.  They even took to laying on the cooler floor to help with the fever. 

What hit me the most though was looking at the calendar and realizing we're almost 1 year from my aneurysm.  I'm NOT supposed to be here.  At least by what the surgeon said.  I'm so thankful that God's plan was so different.  That even in the mess that this week has been (and it has completely turned my week upside down) I can see that God has a wonderful plan.  I'm thankful to be here, to wipe noses, and eat toast all week.  To stumble out of bed every hour at night because someone is fussing.  To just be nurse mom. 

Talking you off the ledge.

Sometimes you need to just be talked off the ledge.  I needed that this week.  I needed someone to just listen.  And understand what I'm saying.  I got that this week from Mama H  I've since set about to work on some fund raising things we needed to get done.  Instead of looking at the big picture, I could break it down into steps.  I could trust God with that big number.  It really is out of my control.  I can't let it haunt me.  I can't let it dictate what I do.  Realistically HAVING that money does NOTHING for me, if our Dossier isn't completed.  I need to do the things I'm in control of.  Thanks Mama H for our conversation this week.  I really needed that.

Love at first sight

Have you ever fallen in love with someone or something the moment you laid eyes on them?  Ah....I have.  I most certainly have.  It is the love that keeps you up at night.  That makes you wonder what exactly that other person is doing.  What they are thinking.  Are they warm?  Did they have a great lunch?  Do they even know who I am?  Do they love me they way I love them?  Will they even like us? 

On December 12th we were shown a photo of two beautiful children.  Two children who have been through more than any child should EVER have to go through.  They lived through the earthquake in Haiti.  Their parents did not.  They arrived at an orphanage sometime in late March, early April from what I can piece together.  What happened between the earthquake and their arrival I simply can not imagine.

This photo was shown to us

 Are they not just so beautiful?  I love that I see smiles on their faces.  It does this mama's heart good.  Their new mama.  That's right.  We're adopting.  Not one, but two children.  Siblings.  Two beautiful children who clearly love each other.  We've seen other photo's of them since that day.  She almost always has her arms around her brother.  She is quite protective of him I'm sure.  And why wouldn't she?  She is the big sister. 

Our family prays for those children day and night.  We wonder what they are doing.  Are they have fun?  Did they pay attention in school?  Did they brush their teeth?  Do they even know who we are yet? 

This is an exciting journey we are embarking on.  We are thrilled that God has placed them in our lives ~ even if we've never wrapped our arms around them.  Yet.  We are planning what we are bringing to Haiti with us in March for them.  We will follow those children around and do all the things they want to do.  We'll snuggle and love on them.  We will hug them so tight.  Join us on our journey of Bringing Djemson and Richarmie home. 

Family meals are a myth

I have become convinced that family meals with 3 kids that are RELAXED and we are ALL at the table are a myth.  Something I can only hope to achieve.  It does not matter how early I start, and what is on the table (or not) there is the constant up and down ~ mostly by mama.  Please tell me you know what I'm talking about. 
Enter the dining room with me.
The table is set.  Every piece of silverware that anyone could possibly need is there with their plate or bowl.  Sippy Cups or glasses are on the table and they contain the beverage choice of each individual.  Milk, or water?  Napkins are in each spot waiting for sticky messy cheeks and fingers.  Dinner is on hot plates.  These  parents know that the little people do not like their food as hot as mama does so they dish theirs out first.  THEN they are called to  the table while  cutting items into bite size pieces.  Strike!  That child didn't want their noodles cut.  The parent apologizes but says that they still need to eat the item.  After all it does taste the same.  Everyone sits in their seats and the shoveling of food begins.  Another child requests some ketchup for dipping.  Not a problem.  BBQ sauce just doesn't suit their tastes.  The ketchup is retrieved.  The child insists on squeezing out some.  While that is happening under the direct supervision of one of the parents another child declares mustard is needed as they are on their way to the fridge!  ESCAPE!  A child has escaped from the table.  One parent must quickly retrieve that child from the vortex of the refrigerator!  There is too much going on in there and they could be sucked in permanently!  This child does not like to be retrieved and is protesting!  Oh there is a stray squirt of ketchup!  More napkins please!  WE NEED MORE NAPKINS!  WHERE ARE ALL THE NAPKINS????
Being that these parents have run this race before they can grab the child from the vortex and search for more napkins!  THE CROWD CHEERS! 
Everyone is safely returned to their seats to find the first child who protested cut noodles is done eating.  They would like seconds.  Second are dished out.  The parent who likes their food hot is beginning to realize that they indeed may be eating another 'warmish' meal tonight.  Children are eating.  Dinner is dished out to both parents.  The parents sit.  "I need more water"  "Can I have more mustard?"  "My peas won't stay still"  "I need a different spoon"  "I NEED MORE NAPKINS"  The parent who prefers piping hot food and is probably getting a cold meal gets up from the table to retrieve more napkins, water and a different spoon.  The other parent squirts more mustard (much to his dismay) and re-corrals the peas.  There is an instant meltdown because the mustard has just touched the peas.  Huge-flood-like tears are marching down the cheeks of a child.  The child is no longer hungry and needs to get down.  The first child is full and the last one at the table is done because, well, everyone else is.
The parents settle down into their seats with slightly warm food and begin to eat.  A sigh is heard from the far end of the table.  Yes  A relaxed family meal will happen...someday.  For now this family is just enjoying the chaos that happens with little children at meals.

"I should have missed this"

I think of that often.  I should have missed this.  I'm so thankful for God's plan.  I should have missed the first day of school for lovergirl and buddy.  I should have missed all the soccer games, and practices.  I wasn't supposed to be here for camping in the yard with the family.  Running in a 5K should have never happened.  But it did.  Just like so many other things.  I choke back tears time and time again.  It doesn't have to be anything significant like celebrating birthdays, or holidays.  It can be little things like seeing your kids hold hands or helping in a classroom.  Many times it hits me in the face when I least expect it.  Those are the times I probably need it the most.  To remind me what could have been.  Near death experiences make you appreciate everything so much more.  Seeing the youngest wanting to wear her spiderwoman costume out to eat.  Realizing in the grand scheme of it all its NOT a big deal.  She's clothed, she's happy, she's not hurting anyone.  The spraying of the hose on the house...I actually sit back and laugh at it now instead of running outside insisting the kids shut it off.  Are the windows closed?  Yes.  Is it hurting anyone?  No.  Keep spraying (and don't ride your bikes near her when she's spraying).    Being sneezed on and coughed on.  Finding a little girl who insists on taking everything off in order to falls asleep to only redress her at 9 pm when she's half asleep.  Watching the oldest get off the bus and wander down the road trying to step on as many leaves as possible.  In a brief moment all of that should have been taken away.  I could have missed all of this.  I'm so glad I haven't.

The inconvenient night?

Last night was a night I wasn't really looking forward to.  Well I was...but yet I wasn't.  It really was to me an inconvenient night.  It rained so I choose to not head to soccer practice.  I REALLY wanted to go to Chili's for the St Judes fundraiser...but did I?  It meant packing up 3 kids and driving 35 min into town.  Managing 3 kids at a restaurant ALONE while husband drove there from work (which was another 30 min NORTH of where we were).  Antics with 3 kids while waiting for food?  AH so inconvenient. 



How very selfish of me.  I came to that conclusion when thinking of my friend Dawn and her family doing the very same thing...coloring peppers in the restaurant, ordering some yummys...but the big difference?  She was missing her hero.  Her son died of cancer.  UGH.  How many times did she or her husband have to go places and manage the kids alone because the other was in the hospital with Bub?  How many times did she wish they could even go out to eat?  How many meals did she eat on the run?  Or did they eat alone?  How could I complain about an inconvenience of one night?  I had ALL my children with me and healthy! 

Yes I had a bill of over $50 for dinner.  Yes, I listened to kids fuss on the way home.  Yes, they were jumping in the booth and peeking at other people. 
I gained perspective though.  My children learned that not all kids are healthy and able to go to soccer, and dance like they do.  Or even go out to dinner like they can.  I learned to be grateful for what I have around me.  To think of others and the paths they have walked. 

It surely can not be labeled an inconvenient night.

I've come to realize

I've come to realize I have a HUGE problem with jealousy.  UGH.  Lots of repenting that needs to happen.  Jealousy of friendships that I wish I had (that I don't).  Jealousy of freedoms that are just not in my life right now.  Jealousy of the ability to spend some money ~ that we clearly do not have.  It's all pretty selfish and truthfully some of the things I'm wishing I had probably have a TON do with the selfishness.  It could be everything to do with it. 

I often wonder if there are expectations about me that aren't true ~ but I need to stop putting what I think someone may be thinking on someone else and just think what I think.  Not what I think someone else things.  I mean really do I have that much time to think about what someone else thinks?  Thinking that answer should be no.

It also comes down to accepting that I am who God made me.  I may never be that persons best buddy.  Yeah, it'd be great, but in reality I need to be me...what God has for me.  And not try to be what I think (again thinking) someone else wants me to be ~ unless that someone else is God. 
He has a perfect plan for my life...one that did include a lot of stuff I'd rather not have dealt with over my 30+ years.  It is what makes me well me.  It gives me a different perspective.  A sometimes odd opinion.  Just because it's my opinion doesn't make it the only way.  It is definitely based on experience, perspective, and where I am in my relationship with Jesus.  The last part being the most important ~ that relationship with Jesus. 

Mom Olympics

Sometimes I wish I could enter a mom Olympics contest. Mom's are great a so many things but there are rarely gold medals. I could place in "nursing a baby & making a sandwich". Imagine that contest as moms are feeding their new bundle while flipping a grilled cheese or two. Re-swaddling in the dark. Now there is a great one.
Burping the baby. Eh...not so great. My husband would be spectacular at that. I have pictures of him burping Lovergirl when she was just a day or two old and his hand looks gigantic holding her up. He could always get that last burp out of the kids.

My latest sport in mom Olympics would be 'redressing a toddler in the dark 2 hours after you have fallen asleep....' Oh yes...picture it now. You have been asleep for 2 hours and crying wakes you from the other room. You stumble out of your bed not reaching for the light. The night light in the bathroom guides you to the child's bedroom. You must quickly feel around in the bed to find the child who is crying JUST a bit louder. Your goal is to redress the child in a sleeper with out waking anyone else up. Once the child is found (because really...which toddler stays head on pillow, body down from there) find pajamas that are on by only one leg...which is on the WRONG leg. Place shivering arms in the sleeper all while 'sshhhhing' to help the child calm down. Take leg off wrong leg and straighten pjs out. Place the shivering legs in the correct wholes and find zipper. ZIPPPPP with out zipping any shivering body parts ~ belies getting zipped in sleepers makes for screaming. SHHHHHH child again and re-cover with blankets.


Stumble back into bed and lay their wide awake. A major victory has happened. No one else woke up and you accomplished this in a pitch dark room. You can now lay awake for the next 45 minutes and try to get back to sleep.

Thank goodness for sunglasses

Thank goodness for sunglasses. I needed mine this morning as that sweet girl who saved my life got on that big yellow bus for her first day of 2nd grade. Maybe it was the hub-bub of getting everyone ready to walk to the bus stop. Or the fact that she and our neighbor looked great dressed for the 1st day of school ~ and had each grown a ton! It could have been that I'm pretty sure I failed school supply list 101 and sent the wrong item with her and have yet to purchase the item I think the teacher was talking about. It might have been her cute Justice shirt, hot pink converse sneakers and brightly colored socks that made my eyes form tears from their brightness. Of course there was when the bus driver gave out her seat assignment at the back of the bus! She's still my baby! She goes up front right?

Where are these tears coming from?

It might simply have been the fact that she's growing up...and she IS the girl who saved my life. She's smart, funny, and would do anything for anyone. She will do GREAT in 2nd grade. For today though I'm going to be wearing my sunglasses.

My friend Supermommy

See there down in the corner...under followers? That's Supermommy. Dawn. Doesn't she look great in that black dress? I remember when she posted that picture...how excited she was.
I could tell you stories about her, and her family. Her husband Stu that she simply adores. Her love for him, and her being deliberate in carving out time for the two of them has had a huge impact on me. Her son Sammy who gave her the name Supermommy and his antics of just being a boy. We shared a lot of stories back and forth over the past few years of boys being boys and raising them.
She also has an amazing love for Jesus and she just loved sharing that with people. She embraced her Jewish traditions all while knowing that Jesus is the Messiah.


Tonight she is with Him...

That breaks my heart.

Dawn lost her battle with cancer, but has her healed body in heaven. She's not in pain any longer. She's holding the babies she lost. She's dancing I just know. Here though in this world she left behind a husband, a son, parents and a brother. A husband who just did not want to see her go. A son who is so, so young to lose a mom. I think of Sammy and I just keep praying for him over and over again. She would walk him to school and back each day. She was so proud of his accomplishments in school and was his biggest cheerleader.

The thing is though, I've never met Dawn in person even though she has been a part of my life though for three and a half years. We've been on forums together, and talked on various messengers...sometimes just by typing...sometimes she'd turn her camera on. I always liked it when she turned her camera on. I loved her smile. It seems odd at first to mourn a person I've never met. I can say though that I love her like she had been sitting in my living room drinking a coffee out of one of my mugs.
So tonight there are over 100 women from all over the world who have been joined together by motherhood praying for a family they've never met. Praying for a son that is not theirs. Mourning a friend they had never met face to face.

Now to grab some chocolate, a cup of coffee and pray for Stu and Sammy...the things that Dawn loved.

Laundry, laundry, every where

Lately it seems like I just can not stay up on our laundry. Try as I may it's just not happening. Truthfully though it's been that way for almost 2 years. TWO YEARS! Yes...when little Trible became part of our family little did I know that my days of staying on top of laundry and *gasp* having it ALL done (washed, dried, folded & put away) except for what we were currently wearing were over. One little person just threw it out the window. There were the days when it was just DC and I. I did laundry once a week because I felt like I *should* I mean really...it shouldn't sit THAT long should it? And then came Lovergirl...and once week was a necessity. There was the odd week that it would have to be done twice in a week, but it was rare. When Buddy came along I was on an every 3 days cycle. But it was happening, I'd have days where I never went to the washing machine and that was good.

Now....that's not the case. There is ALWAYS a hamper full of dirty laundry. There is ALWAYS a load to be washed, or dried or folded. My kids don't change their clothes half way thru the day. Somedays one little girl wears her leotard ALL.DAY.LONG. Towels are used for a few days. I've tried all the *tricks* I've heard in order to cut back on laundry...but it's just not happening. Little Trible brought with her apparently a never ending pile of dirty clothes (she is by far the messiest toddler!)

Don't read this as a complaint. I'm blessed to have a full-size washer and dryer IN my home to use. We've lived in a house with only room for a washer (miserable six months!) and we've shared laundry. I'm thankful for little people who spill yogurt down the front of their shirts. Or the fact that my husband has the greasiest clothes I've ever seen. I have 3 great kids and a husband who works hard. I just wonder if I'll ever get lost in that growing mountain!