Chaos

I love chaos...I thrive on chaos...sometimes chaos makes me crazy. After all I am the mother of 4 children born in less than 5 years. My house has been even crazier for the last few weeks. I've started babysitting for one of Bear's classmates and her sister, who will be the Boy's classmate when preschool starts this fall. I love having all the kids in the house. It's great! I think the best apart is that my children are entertained by their friends being there with them, so I've been able to keep things more cleaned up around the house. My kids are also becoming more responsible because I'm remembering to make it a priority to have them pick up before Daddy gets home from summer school. The kids have been doing quite well at it. I do usually reward them with something...an icee, playing in the creek, or getting out the play-dough. Play-dough with 6 kids isn't easy. Especially when Bean is a play-dough eater.

In the chaos of everyday, the other day, I wanted to take some pics of the kids playing in the creek to share. Instead of taking my camera back into the house when I was done, I stuck it in the garage. Big mistake! DH had warned me the roof was leaking like a sieve. Of course I forgot my camera when it was time to bring in the kids and do baths. Fast forward to yesterday...Dh was cleaning out the garage and lo and behold found my camera...in 6 inches of water. Oops! So, I took out my batteries, SD card, and let it dry out. Figuring that my first check from babysitting was going to replace my camera. Last night, we put fresh batteries in and the camera worked. Not 10 minutes after I'd decided what camera i was going to use as my replacement. I'd planned on ordering it after the kids went to bed. Thank you Jesus, that it worked.

Added to all this, I'm in my 4th round of potty training. Bean has been very motivated but my motivation is lacking. She's my baby. I know it'll be great to have her out of pull ups and all but then I lose the last shreds of babyhood that she has. She talks like a big girl, feeds herself, wipes herself after using the potty, tries to brush her own teeth and does her best to dress herself. When she talks, she says the most grown up things. I can't believe how big my little girl is getting.

Here are the pics from their fun in the creek that almost cost the camera.

The Boy

Mr. Man

Bug, Bear and the Boy

Daddy and Bean