We're Outnumbered!!

Sunday afternoon at 4pm, we were invaded... shortly thereafter I think I took an entire row of birth control pills. *laugh*

My dear friend, Crystal, had to be at the hospital bright and early to have their newest addition, so Tom and I volunteered to watch her two little girls. It's been... interesting. Let me give you the break down of ages here. My son is 5. Her daughter is 5. My daughter is 3. Her daughter is 23 months old. Yes, count with me. That's 4 kids age 5 and under. It's been interesting - and educational!

First thing that Tom and I noticed is that we are WAY outnumbered. And it's not just the fact that there are FOUR children in this house. But that when there are FOUR it seems like at least 15 and they all talk at once and they all want the same exact thing and the same exact moment in time. It is definitely a divide and conquer situation!

Everything has turned into an assembly line. Sandwiches for lunch get lined up on plates on the counter and it's like some quasi-lunchroom where Tom is throwing mustard on the bread, then turkey, then cheese and if someone doesn't like it, well, they'll just have to pick it off *laugh*.

Bathtime has been interesting... we put her two girls (M and D) in there first, then the youngest one (D) comes out, where I'm sitting in one of the bedrooms surrounded by nightclothes. While I get her dressed, Tom puts Cassie in there, then the oldest (M) comes out just as I'm finishing up her sister... then we put Jamie in there with Cassie while I'm getting D dressed, then Cassie comes out a few minutes later and while I'm getting her dressed, Jamie gets in to take his bath (poor boy, always gets the tepid water, but hey, whatever).

Bedtime has been funny. Both Cassie and D need help getting to sleep, so we get the older ones set up (Jamie in his bed and M on the sofa) and threaten them with no painting or whatever the next day if they get out of bed and then we try to get the little ones to sleep... then we hear whispering and giggling... the two oldest are pretty smart and have figured out that we are otherwise engaged so M is in Jamie's room sitting on his bed talking. (Tom has a funny story about this so I'll let him share that later)... When they do finally go to sleep, I am in awe of people that do this every day. There actually ARE people out there with 4 kids 5 and under. There should be laws against it. ;)

Actually, it hasn't been too bad. We basically have thrown in the towel and as long as they aren't going to hurt themselves or each other, the rest is okay. The two oldest are really good at helping clean up, but let's face it, that lasts about 3.4 seconds. We had grand plans to make a decent dinner tonight, but after realizing that we didn't thaw out the ground turkey, we did delivery pizza... again. Hey, the kids eat it and are actually quiet for about 5 minutes! SCORE!

Pictures (and if anyone says anything about the mess I *WILL* hunt you down and kill you):

It's been interesting to see all the different personalities. M is our little tattle-tale (it's the age, so is Jamie, which is interesting when they tattle on each other for doing the same thing). She is also one heck of a brilliant child. This little girl (in blue) is going to take over the world one day. She's also really very sweet. She's been so nice to her sister and Cassie and she thinks Jamie's just the best thing since sliced bread. It's been a joy having her here.

D is a complete doll. We want to keep her for a few more days *laugh*. She has latched onto Tom, he's her little buddy and she is a genius. She is very much aware that she has him wrapped around BOTH of her little fingers! I had an "awwww" moment today when she was taking wooden blocks out of the basket and giving them to Cassie, she was naming (CORRECTLY!) each color and Cassie was saying "Very good, D!" and building something. So cute!

And, no Crystal, I didn't drink the margaritas that were in that empty bucket in the past few days, Jamie asked for the bucket when he saw it and I gave it to him.

... that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!