Pant, Pant, huff, huff!

Okay, now just in case you are all wondering where in the world I have been....let me give you just a little glimpse of my recent life....

Last couple of weeks....get ready for a huge garage sale that I am having with my sister in law....in other words...go through the entire house looking for stuff to get rid of....go through kids toy boxes and steal, I mean take, their toys and put them in a black plastic trash bag while they are not looking....then go through their clothes and weed out what they don't need....find out that your five-year-old has over 15 skirts!!!!!! (why is it then, that I can never find just one, just one, for her to wear????? Oh, I forgot, they are buried in the pile of clean laundry that is piled on the guest bed....note to self....fold the laundry....) Then come to the realisation that, now I have to price all of this junk....sigh....get it all priced...then realise now I have to get it all to her house....sigh... Then find out that she actually expects me there around 6am to pull it all out of the garage....aaaauuuugggghhh! Never! Never! Never!!!! (never say Never!) She sweetly suggests that the kids sleep over so that I don't have to get them all up the next morning..... Take Jazz home, get up at 5:15 am (thanks Jazz, who needs an alarm clock???) Fix coffee...drink coffee....pry eyelids open with toothpicks (ok, not really on that part), realise that husband actually can sleep in seeing as he finished a job early, start tip-toeing, take three times as long to get ready....head out the door, remembering to put the twin stroller in the car, that you just pulled apart and washed last night. Get to S-I-L's house, drink more of that coffee, and start pulling stuff out....turn around to see your first customers showing up (some with flashlights/torches) at 6:30am, obviously they didn't know how to read seeing as the ad clearly said that it started at 7:30am, still not sure how they managed to figure out we were having one!! SIL tells me that the kids won't need to sleep over tonight as they were all up at the crack of dawn anyway....*snort* Oh, and if anyone needs a garage sale hint....here tis....put a set of bunk beds out the front, borrow them if you must, they will attract customers all day....*grin* SIL was selling some and although she sold them before we even started, everybody would stop and ask about them..... Oh, and have a friend who works in the veggie section, bring you cases of caramel apples to sell....Yuuummmm! Uh, only I don't think I was supposed to eat them all....ooops! Spend the whole day there.....go home and get up at the crack of dawn and repeat....

Sunday....garage sale is over, church fellowshipping, eating, and back to church.....Monday.....hurry and wash laundry and attempt to straighten house, because Lee's employer is sending him to town an hour and a half away, and putting him up in a hotel, and we can go too! Quickly pack, forget about the house, run out the door, meet him for supper at Burger King/Hungry Jack's (for you Aussie's), and then dash off to go visit some friends who live there....find that the highway is closed off, follow detours, miss one of them and find yourself lost in the boonies....call friend put the husbands on, get directions to follow the fence posts according to their colour, and other landmarks....finally get to friends house...late... Have fun, go to the hotel and crash. Get up, read the Bible, let the kids watch something as decent as possible on the TV, decide to be sweet and offer to pick up Lee some lunch and after much trial and error, and an hour later, have that done. Follow the detours, and don't miss one this time, make it there just fine....spend the afternoon/evening with them, head back to the hotel, crash, get up, pack, and head home. OK, this is now Wednesday, Jorge's 7th b-day (and Steve's), and we are going camping tomorrow (Thursday), I still have to do laundry, pack, shop for food/supplies etc. Do some laundry, Pack, shop, throw hands up in the air as to the condition of the house. (that I had finally just got into shape befor the garage sale fiasco) And quickly throw a b-day cake in the over for Jorge to have after Bible Study....seeing as I ran out of time to make the cheesecake he had requested! Got up Thursday, finished whatever packing didn't get done last night, and managed to leave around 9:30am or so! Phew! Had a lovely time (more on that soon) Pack back up, and came back on Saturday evening, after visitin with some friends in a small town on the way home. Skipped unpacking the car, went to bed, got up late (9am), got self and children ready for church, was extremely thankful for SIL doing my share of cooking (the church eats together every Sunday - pot luck style). After our time with our church family, went home and attacked the house with a vengeance! Several hours later.....much improved, but still working on it today....more laundry to do..... Thankfully neice is coming over to school Jekkie, and the others are working at their own pace. Rescued Jazz from leaning over the top of our 6' fence to look at the dogs (pit bulls) next door. Wiped up potty training puddle....and started blogging...

So, if you were wondering why I haven't blogged??? I'm sorry....been busy...kinda

Speaking of Rats...

We were, were we not?... We do have a problem with those, and thankfully...other than yesterday, it is an outdoor problem. Last winter they decided that our grill/bbq was the best place for a nest....yes, you read right...our grill. You know the thing that you cook your burgers on....nice juicy steaks....yeah. Wanna come over and 'cook out'? I wasn't very happy sharing my cooking surface with a family so Lee (OK, that's my husbands webname now, for all you commenters) came up with a way to down the population....All you rat lovers may now leave. He would sneak out there ever so quietly....and turn the gas on, wait a few minutes....and throw in a match! BOOM! Worked great..... Now, this doesn't necessarily kill them but it does flush them out...stunned, dizzy and blinded....and often with a new fur-style too. Then you finish them off with a sturdy piece of wood....and if you miss a few....repeat the process the next night.

And that is our rat elimination process....and that works for me....as we have kids, I don't want poison in the back yard if I can help it! Now for any of you rat lovers, (I feel sorry for you...), but uh, germ ridden rats must be 'taken care of' and whether you shoot, smash, burn, or poison 'em they, er, end up, um....dead. And if you wish to come and hold a burial service....most of them should be in the vacant block near our house.....respectfully tossed of course.

My Adorable Kids......

I have four of those kids that are perfectly adorable.....you know the kind....don't get dirty, are always sweet, never fuss or fight.....yeah right.... ;) Well, they are great....at least two of them still are, anyway. The other two? Well, here's a little story for you, just to help you understand....

I had exchanged my Son #1 for my Niece for the day....she's great with the kids...after a while she commented that two little people sure were quiet...and headed off to find them. Realizing she was right; I too headed after her, only to meet her coming out of the guest bedroom, where all the girls had slept the night before....with this weird look on her face. "You don't wanna go in there...." she said. "They've got your eggs out the fridge and are cracking them on Jekkie's "pallet"/bed-on-floor..." Sure enough, I went in there to find two of my dear, sweet, adorable kids sitting on the "pallet" amidst yolks and slime, and more eggs....Aren't they sweet? Want some? Kids I mean, not eggs, I need those....

Then take this morning for instance....first I hear Jorge yelling his head off at his little brother to " Put that down!!! PUT THAT DOWN! PUT THAT DOWN!!!!! Then I hear Iddy start screaming....."Jazz, put that down!!!!, Put that down right now! PUT THAT DOWN!!!! aAAAAAHHHHH!" (you get the picture, right?) So I figure that he's really up to something this time, and quickly head that direction hollerin' "What in the world does he even have??????" The reply comes quickly back...."A RAT!!!! Jazz has a rat, and he's bringing it inside!!!!" Do what???? Sure enough, my son, my dear darling son has brought a large, dead, eyes bulging RAT....into my house, and at the command of his terrified siblings, drops.it.on.the.floor. Yep! Want him? (you can have the rat too....got plenty of those)

Thus is the life at my house....and really....I love it.... And no you can't have my kids....they're adorable, as if I'd give them away!!!! But you can have the rats.