Not so happy things.

I have been very good about posting all the things that make me happy, but we have gone through a wave of disasters lately. I wanted to jot them down, so I keep an honest and accurate record of our real lives. And so my kids know that no matter what they remember about growing up (or how mad I got) I still loved them despite the large amount of items they tried to break, dismantle or destroy!

1. The girls flushed a bar of soap down the downstairs toilet last week. I have had to plunge it far too many times to record while waiting for the plumber to come home from a trip. Hope he calls tomorrow.

2. The girls can now climb onto Trey's top bunk bed. These made for some scary moments, and now have the ladder safely stored under the bed.

3. Trey threw a gooey, stick eye ball from Trunk-or-Treat on the kitchen ceiling this morning. After I told him to NEVER throw those things and get it down, I turned around to find two more stuck next to it and the first one mushed black all over. Look out; one angry mom on the loose! After much scrubbing and a layer of paint I can still see the greasy marks. Not happy about this one at all!

4. The Berber carpet downstairs near the back door has slowly been shredding by the quick hands of two little girls named Brynn and Kaitlyn. It now is covered by clear packing tape until I find someone to come and re-stretch it.

5. The van's rear windshield wiper is broken after Josh decided to wiggle it until it nearly fell off. Still deciding who to call or where to take it. Would like to be able to see out the back this winter.


6. After putting things away last night and going down to check the broken toilet, my Bev Doolittle painting fell off the wall, with no one close by, crashed to the floor, broke the glass and cracked the edges of the frame. Need to call around to various framing stores to get estimates.

7. Found more things than I care to describe inside the heater vent in the kitchen.

8. Our largest Hermit Crab died last week. Our backyard was muddy mush after getting rain for a week and couldn't go out to bury it outside, so I now have a dead crab wrapped in paper towel and a Ziploc in my freezer while I decide if I should just put it out with the trash tonight.

9. The girls’ bottles and diapers leaked in our bed this morning and Matt's PJ's were a bit damp when he woke up. Actually, he came down to the kitchen fully dressed at 6:30 AM which is never a good sign. Did three loads of laundry on the Sabbath.

10. Trey still has a 12 year old molar we have to get yanked and a spacer put in so we can straighten out his back permanent molar that is coming in. No clue who to call. Trey still doesn't know he needs it out. He probably, no, I should say WILL need to be sedated.

11. Discovering half a bag of Andes Mint Bits scattered all over the basement when Brynn snuck down for a little hidden chocolate. One bonus: Once I got them all up with the vacuum, it now smells like mint when you use it!

Well, there's my list.

To be fair, I should say that a few things have gone well. The warts have gone away with much prayer and nightly applications of Compound W. The van's car stereo went on the blitz for a month and would never really turn off (I just turned down the volume) and suddenly started working last week. We all got our flu shots, the cupboard hinge was just loose and not broken and no one has managed to break their arm THIS year.

I shouldn't complain. Sometimes when it rains it pours, but always after the storm clears, there is a beautiful sunset. That's what I'll keep reminding myself!