And Then There Were 4...

I took on the responsibility of taking care of my sister's 3 kids (plus my 2) while she went away on vacation and I nearly went bonkers! Seven people in my tiny house!! They were with me from Thursday night until Tuesday night) I had 2- 12 year olds (twins), 2- 4 year olds, and a 3 month old...I have never heard so much bickering in my life!! My son and my nephew bickered like mad and then they're the best of friends and the twins (boy and girl) bickered like an old, slightly unhappily married couple! And they can eat! My goodness- now I know why my sister is always going grocery shopping! I had her cracking up on the phone one night! I cooked dinner for 6 of us and told her my arm was hurting from stirring 2 boxes of mac n cheese! I didn't realize how much food it took to feed 6 people! I made breakfast Sunday morning and actually had to cook a whole pack of turkey bacon! That usually lasts my family for at least 2 feedings! How do people do it these days with the price of groceries skyrocketing?!

Trying to entertain them had me tired and borderline delirious! Saturday we went to my goddaughter's bowling party and then to the pool at her house- Donovan almost drowned (in front of 2 life guards mind you) because he managed to drift just a little past the 3 foot mark and couldn't stand up all the way and had started swallowing water (my whole world just blanked out in that instance), my younger nephew who could barely stand up in 3 feet of water somehow got past me and was about to try to slide in the pool in 7 feet of water- thank God that didn't happen, that water was twice as deep as he is tall! This is after having him repeat to me and my friend over and over not to go past the number 3. Sunday we went to the movies- how can anyone afford to pay for a movie for a family of 5 people is beyond me...and we took our own snacks, except the popcorn which I purchased!? It cost about $50 just for an afternoon at the movies! After the movie and to help them burn off some more energy, I let the 3 boys have a water fight on the front yard with the hose and 2 supersoakers! Of course that caused more arguing, crying and whining between Donovan and Jaden because they both wanted the hose, so I made them share and my older nephew played with both supersoakers! UGH! My niece wanted no part of it so she sat in the house with Xander! It was a mess, but I have some great pictures- I'll post a few later!

Monday, I sent Donovan to pre-school, I kept the the baby upstairs with me until the afternoon, my niece and nephews are downstairs ruling the TV so I could try to regroup so I'd have enough energy to continue going on! I tell you, I give props to any woman with kids, especially if they have more than 2!

Tuesday, my sister returned from her vacation- so that became clean-up day in my house! I had my older nephew clean the bathroom, which was a mess from 5 kids and take out the garbage, Donovan, my younger nephew, and I all whipped Donovan's room back into shape and my niece cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed the living room. I then went behind them and swept and mopped the floors and did a couple loads of laundry!

I sent Troy to pick-up my sister from the airport and was just starting dinner as she walked in looking all relaxed from a nice vacation....but that didn't last long because she ended up having to go off because the kids couldn't find her car keys! I sent them out earlier that day to pack up the car with their luggage and never thought to ask for the keys back. We searched and searched and she finally eneded up finding them in a flap in the stow away seats INSIDE the car! Thank goodness her car doesn't automatically lock after a few minutes or she would have been S-O-L-!

Anyway, the chaos has died down and my house is back to normal, except for the fact that Donovan has had a fever for 2 days! Calgon...take me away!

Can you say birth control!? LOL!