Day 5 of 5 of single mom to 4; 2014 edition

Ran VERY late today. 

Went to Muffins with Moms at Kid Konnection with Lukie Lynn. 

The kindergarteners went to Middle School Fun Day where we teachers really weren't needed, we got to sit back and watch :)

Had a meeting in the afternoon that the parent never did show for. 



Finished our mother's day projects with the kids & sent them home. 





Went to the 5th grade business fair where Andy had already spent his $20 in the morning with his class. It was great to see all the things the kids came up with to sell. LOTS of Bandee's bracelets, supply vs demand wasn't quite adjusted there. Andy bought a Tin Man made by a friend's son, some doughs and puttys, clacker balls, a tennis ball man that holds things in it's mouth and some other odds and ins. Zach and Luke each got boomerangs. 




Then it was a mad cleaning dash for Dad to come home and out the door to Sturgis for Andy's next baseball game. It had been nice all day, hot even! 





By hot, I mean 68* just so you Nebraskans can get a feel for what I mean.....








85+* is not hot, that is scorching and death is imminent. 
65-85* is the perfect thriving climate. 
45-65 is NOT BAD and 


25-45* is tolerable. 

-5-25* is COLD and 
-25to -5 is darn cold. 
Below -25 DOES HAPPEN and we do survive just as painfully as the 
95-115* range that also DOES HAPPEN here.
That there is the temperature scale for the northern Black Hills. 



As I said, it was a perfect thriving climate this afternoon, but wouldn't you know the second we get to the ball fields, it's in the "tolerable" temperature range and with rain and wind chill it was leaning toward cold. I was happy to have grabbed my rain coat, a blanket, umbrella and everyone's jackets. 




After the game we all went through the Sturgis McDonald's drive through and guess what, they had $1.99 Happy Meals! SCORE! We usually just each get 2 things off the dollar menu, so the boys were stoked to be able to get Happy Meals for once. I even had a gift card that covered all but $2. 









Andy got to have his best buddy Devin spend the night and Wayne was not far behind us getting home. Life is good. 

Day 4 of 5 of single mom to 4...

What. A. Letdown. 

A skiff of snow in the morning in Spearfish and flakes melting as they hit all day. To school for all. 

Field trips, meetings, and Andy's Spring Concert was on the agenda tonight!
It was a great program complete with instruments and a duet during the Happy song by a boy and my secretary's daughter. Bonus-my phone videoed the entire thing without dying. I'm a horrible videographer though. 

The drama of the night: another one of those damn rabbits died! Reason unknown to me! It was one of the bigger ones, the male. Not sure why we suck at pets???? My neighbor threw it away for us while we were gone. 


Then the oil light in my van would come on for 2 seconds then go away. It happened 3 times today. I text Wayne who then immediately made me go find a jug of oil in the garage......then I couldn't get the cap off the reserve and nearly burnt my hands on the engine block trying.


Had to go get Anson again. 



Maybe I will make it the last 24 hours without his help. 
Thanks Ansin, and thanks Shannon for keeping Jake and spoiling him ;) 


By the way, my husband us currently here: 

Day 3 of 5 of single Mom to 4; 2014 edition

It gets more interesting by the day around here. 

Today as my child struggled with another child and consequences were given, I find myself incredibly thankful that my children are who they are and the issues we come across are minor in comparison to the issues out there in the world. I sat reading the Little House series with my boys crowded around my couch cushion that we somehow found amongst piles of clothes, a littered floor, a full sink and laundry everywhere again, and I was happy with it all despite the stress of it all. 



.....On the other hand, is it summer break yet????









......no, not even close. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...... BRING IT ON!!!!! 
I could use a break for a day tomorrow. 6" is nothing around here, but with 50mph winds, sometimes it becomes something. I don't want to drive in it though. I could totally make a day of watching it blow by my window any day!!!

Andy's Dutch Boy costume....

Zach as "Little Black Bat Hood" who delivered a basket of popcorn and chocolate chips and "jewels" to all. 

The biggest nightcrawler I have seen in years found right in the middle of Juniper Drive.....

The impending storm IS on its way......

We shall see what tomorrow brings. 

Day 2 of 5 of single mom to 4; 2014 edition

Shit always begins to hit the fan on day two. 

Today started more how I expected....

alarms went off on every iDevice we have, I managed to sleep through them. Wayne called 4 times before I heard it ring. I went back to sleep for another 20 minutes even though I swear I had rolled off the bed and walked into the bathroom. Whatever.


The boys did their usual "I can't find any clothes" and "He said this, stole this, touched this..."



I got the lunches packed, the breakfast presented (I do not SERVE breakfast) and the children clothed. We made it out the door at the time we normally leave when we don't have to drop off Jake....so you can imagine how that went....there was no catching the buses at Mt. View today, instead we drove into Belle, dropped off Jake, drove out of Belle, over to Spear, dropped Andy off at Creekside, Zach off at West, Luke off at Kid Konnection and then parked myself at Mt. View.


It's career day here at Kindergarten...... we have mining engeneers, vets, cops, rock stars, fireman, Supergirl, chefs, cheerleaders, ball players, doctors, nurses, dentists, princesses, fisherman, hunters, farmers and of course, LOTS of teachers big and small!!!!

(By the way, totally dropped the ball on it also being career day for Zach at West....he declared his latest future career and strutted it proud today regardless of his bright green Old Navy fleece sweater as the attire, another obsession of the Spring- he plans to be Andy & Devin's BUTLER when he grows up. I shit you not, that is the kid's dream job for the better part of this year.) 




Someone loves us enough to leave fresh veggies and roasted red pepper hummus in the lounge, which is already gone at 9:30am. YUM!!! ....and there's a crockpot full of some sort of amazing smelling, presumably taco, meat in there too! YAY for not having to pack my own lunch.


My productivity for the week is slipping already and it's only Tuesday :/ It may not be the best day to give up caffeine but it's what I'm doing today...Go ME!!!


I managed throughout the afternoon, ran about a thousand errands and then took Zach back into the dentist. As you may recall, he hit has mouth on a slide at Watiki Saturday. It took him quite a while to fess up to what had happened. There was just blood pouring out of his mouth and he looked like hell. 

He was able to chew and didn't seem too bothered by it the rest of the weekend so I had put it off on priority one with all we had going on. Then this morning when we were getting ready for school, he came up to me and complained about his teeth still hurting. This reminded me I had intended to call the dentist yesterday. It was now top priority. On the way back to Belle after school, the boys were being boys in the back seat and Andy popped Zach in the mouth somehow. He was crying so hard he couldn't breathe!

 They were able to squeeze Zach in around 6pm. We got there early and read some very interesting books on teeth. Then both Jacksons checked out his mouth, checked x-rays and took pictures. In the end they decided to wait to do anything. They said his roots were wide open and could not be worked on right now, but if

he developed a blister, pimple looking thing above his teeth or if they started to darken in color he would have to go to a specialist and have them worked on with the possibility of his teeth dying. I was told yet again that he would need braces as well. He has an entire list of "don't eats" including apples, carrots, suckers, hard candy, gum, large bites of meat or anything that would require the use of his two front teeth or hard suction, the way

I understood it. In 10 days if there has not been improvement we are to go back. His front teeth used to severely overlap and now there is a gap between them!!! They are incredibly loose. AND YES THESE ARE

HIS TWO FRONT TOP PERMANENT ADULT TEETH!!!!!!! 














Yikes.

Wayne decided not to be shown up by his wife on a business trip and is currently at a Rockies game with a ticket much cheaper than mine and around as close to the field ;)

Visit Rapid City is displayed at the stadium. 




Jake has struck again.....

and again.....

He can now operate the microwave :/

and again....

wonder what the rabbit is thinking?

He has taken no less than 3 baths tonight and still went to bed filthy and muddy. He has this thing with diaper digging. It is absolutely disgusting and I have no idea what is wrong with him, but if you don't notice right away that he has pooped.....

If seen, shoo back to the yard.....

Straight from the tub, out the door into the mud.

He also got into the side yard mud hole twice tonight, caked himself in toothpaste once and soaked himself in the sink...if only that were after the toothpaste. Terrible two's are here to stay. 


Luke's Preschool/Kindergarten group do a "Where I Live" field trip this week where they go around to each house and find something (goodie) on the porch. 19 packs of sidewalk chalk are ready to go....

Last year it was day 2 of 5 of single mom to 4 while Wayne was at state wrestling in Watertown that shit started hitting the fan as well. Jake was 6 months old and got RSV from some of my daycare kiddos. He was bad. I almost called the ambulance twice when he wasn't getting any air and turning purple despite all his nebs and meds I was pumping through him. At that point everything about him stopped growing. His teeth that were coming up stopped, his hair quit thickening, his weight stayed the same 16#s for 3 months straight, his tube surgery was postponed because 6 weeks later he relapsed and flared up the RSV again (didn't even know that was something that could happen). Anyhow, back to 2014....this time Jake has allergies or a cold brewing (maybe due to the fact that he hops out of the tub and runs out the door naked as a jaybird), but nothing too bad, its someone else who has medical issues on the rise amongst everything else. 

We are all headed to bed and hoping for a great tomorrow :)