My Summer in a Suitcase

I'm HOME!!  After wandering around all summer long I've finally come home.  Really, I lived my entire summer out

of a suitcase. I got to know that poke-a-dotted baby pretty well. I learned all about packing smart and saving space.Where ever I went I always found this flowery carry-on FULL.  I mean jam packed. I smile as I think of how this explains my summer. Full to the brim, packed to almost over flowing, every crack tucked tight with something, the kind of full you have to sit on and zip it shut before anything falls out. All summer long I was doing something. If I wasn't off in another state I was running around doing something at home. So, to put my summer in a "suitcase"....this is what I did:

     It started out with a trip to IN. On to VA to spend some really amazing time with my cousins!! Then back to IN where we went garage saling and I found this lovely, cute, travel buddy for 10$.

About a month later I got to pack it for the first time. And man was it full!! I had an amazing time at the Journey!! Made lots of totally girl memories. :P It's amazing how fast you can get close to someone. Miss those girls, probably never will see some of those girls again. :(   

In July We went to IN again and oh boy did I ever have a fun weekend!!! Friday night we arrived at my Grandma's we said "Hi" and then ran off to play volley-ball with the Berea youth. I have never had sooo much fun playing volley-ball in my entire life as I did then. We played till about 12:30 and didn't end up getting home till like 1:00 in the morning. On the way home I looked out the window to see a falling star go shooting across the sky. Those kind of little things make my heart happy.:)

Shortly after we got home my Grandma left this earth to join my Grandpa and Jesus in Heaven. Dad and Mom left right away and Tim and I came down on Friday with Conroy's.  So for a few days I was queen of the house. I learned pretty fast that there are quite a few things I don't know about cooking. Not that we starved or anything, actually it was quite the opposite. I discovered that 2 people do NOT eat as much as 5 people do, we had lots of nice left overs to fill up the frig with. So really it was quite fun, quiet, and a tiny bit lonely at times, but it was also terribly fun to have my brother all to myself all evening long.:) :P

I spent a week at Jesse's to help Monica with the "before the baby" stuff. I found out how much work it was to run a house with 3 small boys, a grown man, and a pregnant woman. I got pretty homesick in that short week and was very happy to return home for a few weeks break before the new baby showed it's red face.

In that time at home I found myself running off with my brother for a few days to FOCIS and having a ton of fun. When Tim asked me if I was going I was like no I can't go Monica's baby might come and I have to be ready to leave this house in the drop of a hat I can't run off to some fun family week.
However, I decided that I'm only going to be young once so I'm gonna do wild and crazy things. I can sleep when I'm old and shriveled up. Right now I'm young and free and single. I had a ton of fun!!

I got used to waking up in the morning and planning my day knowing that at any moment I might be walking out the door and leaving for a month. Not exactly a stress free way to live but I survived. :)

After one false alarm my Mom and I finally did leave. The birth went so fast that I actually got to watch it and help out a little too of course.  I will never forget the happy shout Jesse let out "IT'S A BOY!!" And so that was the beginning of it. Jethro Glen took his place in the quartet of boys. 
There is hardly a moment of silence in that house.  They are definitely all boys!! :) :P
I did enjoy my time there. I learned LOTS about running a house and getting along with boys.   I never knew a Sunday morning could be so crazy. Shoes must be found, socks must be put on, hair should be combed, coats zipped, shirts tucked in...finally when you do get to church you end up feeling like you've done a day's work before 10:00. :)

~A Day in a Nanny's Life~

It begins with a buzzing alarm. We hold hands as a little boy prays "Please be with us in the big day ahead of us..." I smile, knowing that this will be true. Breakfast is over, a baby's diaper must be changed.
It's time for chores, two boys ages 2 and 3 do the dishes. Cups become paint cans, spatula's become paintbrushes and wooden spoons become bridges. Till they are done their P.J.'s are soaked (never mind that they were wearing waterproof aprons) and the window has gotten washed twice. But none the less the dishes are done!!  The boys must be dressed now, I attempt to read them a story but eventually their energy becomes too much for the little house and I send them outside.
     As I hang up clothes I glance across the lawn to see Joel and Jared "taxing the snowmobiles down a very steep hill," motors a roar. I can hear their motors from across the yard. And through the window I am keeping an eye on Jethro as he lies quietly on the couch. I continue to hang up clothes. Jo-Jo and Baby have now deserted the snowmobiles and are now " tearing down a dirt road on the 4-wheeler" with just as big a motor. I turn around to check on Jethro and am startled to find him on Jalon's lap1 You never know what's going to happen when you turn around. The boys are now playing by the canoes and I have heard an awful lot of clanking coming from that side of creation. I desert my clothes hanging business once again to silence the matter. Finally I finish hanging up the clothes.
   It is mid-morningish Monica is busy sewing.  I decided to take the boys for a walk. Including Baby Jethro, however he simply could not understand why in the world any one would stick him is a thing with wheels and cart him so far away from his mother. " I don't get it Auntie, for all I see of this world you call so beautiful is all blurry." Needless to say he was completely unimpressed with his first ride in the stroller. (However I did take all 4 of them on a walk a different day but he was sleeping and had no say so in the matter. :P :)
Nap time came like a refreshing rain in August. Change a diaper, pick a book, then head to bed. I read a book of my own as I tell the boys to lay still and be quiet. Finally they do...then last of all I do.

    When I wake up from my nap I do the jobs that are much easier without the boys around. Sweep the floor, do the dishes and hang up more clothes.  But before I know in the happy sounds of revived boys has found my ears and they are calling for something to fill their empty stomachs. I get them snack. One for you, one for you and one for you. A Mother calls from the bedroom. When I return I find Jared sitting nicely at the table putting pepper on his granola bar. Never know what extra spice they might add to life. :)
   I send Jared outside. Jalon and Joel are no where in sight. "Dear me, who knows what they could be getting into.  My curiosity is soon fulled, as I am handed a watering can full of green tomatoes!
   Several ladies from church come and bring meals and I become babysitter. With 5 kids ages 3 and under I find it to be a full time job. Eventually they leave and I set supper on the table. I bring the clothes in off the line then hold a baby as I watch boys out the window. When the sound of their Papa's truck comes in the drive way and the door slams announcing he's home, the very last place you want to be is in their path of travel as 3 freight engines roar to the door shrieking out "Papa!!!!!!"
    After supper their Father takes them outside and I am left to do the dishes and clean up the house in the peace and quiet. I fold clothes and give Baby Glen a bath. I put clothes away and finish just as dirty boys come in for baths. I cut up peppers to put in the freezer, find a bedtime snack and brush the boys teeth. Then I finish cutting peppers and find spots for them in the freezer.   My job is done (for today), tomorrow I will wake up and work hard amongst more crazy chaos but for now it's bed time. And a shower and my bed feel like a long needed vacation.


Things I have learned:
 That blue band-aids do fix bleeding boo-boos and when no blood is found a hug and kiss will do.

A pack-and-play can be turned into a house when a blanket is put over top.

A kitchen stool can be turned into a motorcycle with a very loud motor and an ice cream bucket or Tupperware bowl will do nicely for a helmet. :)

And screws can be pounded into boards with a  hammer, but only when Auntie and Mama are not watching.

 And when ever Jared couldn't get his shoes off, he was stuck or couldn't get a toy to behave itself properly then I would hear him holler at the top of his lungs, "Nanny..." melted my heart every time!

 One afternoon while eating snack Jalon asked me, "Is this his belly button??" I look over at the hole in his animal cracker and inform him it is rather a hole to keep the crackers from getting an air bubble while baking. He gives me his normal, look of thinking and a quiet "oh."

Taking 4 boys to town on a shopping trip and lunch in the park is very fun, but extremely exhausting as well. Note: if you plan on a morning trip then it will take 3\4 a day and the rest of the afternoon for recovery. :)

Excerpts of another morning's happenings:
 A pillow is fetched, a blanket fluffed and a baby primped. Two cameras flash as Monica and I try our best to get newborn pics of Jethro Glen. Our photo shoot is interrupted as boys are in need of a snack. Dirty hands must be washed. a little while latter the door crashes open and boys come barreling in. The photo shoot has come to end.

 I change a hollering baby's diaper and before I know it. I have 3 boys beside me with toys in hand in such sweet little voices saying, "Here's some toys for the baby." I accept some but gently remind them that the baby is a little young for toys. 
 

Yep, I was about to be dowsed.

  I changed over 80 diapers. Made at least 60 meals. Gave some where around 90 baths to 4 squirming little boys. I lost the count of how many loads of laundry I did. Swept the floor at least 85 times. And much more all in a months time. :) :P

                                                  I love them all. The crazy and the wonderful.