This Is In My Living Room:

Which has been SUCH a helpful reminder.

Since this week has been one for the books.

One child forgot their binder at school.

And while they were waiting to get a hold of me at home…

wet their pants.

Bennett and Libby have been the faces of destruction

from getting Silly Putty in their hair

to playing in a bag of flour throughout the kitchen and the dining room

…of course while I was doing something constructive like picking up the upstairs and putting sheets on beds.

Spencer and I both got yelled at by the same stranger.

He had run out to grab the mail and a car thought he was running out into the road and honked their horn.

Another car going the opposite direction didn’t feel that was enough and commenced to yell at Spencer to get back in the house

and when I stepped out onto the front porch shouted at me to keep an eye on my kid, he almost got run over, on and on.

P.S. he was not even close to the road

or to getting run over

or to being unsafe.

I’ve had both pest control and a plumber on the residence

one dead rat in my pantry

and another on my front porch.

Libby thought maybe she shouldn’t have to nap anymore.

P.S. she totally does.

AND a hawk ate one of my chickens.

Which I shouldn’t be mad about because seriously no ONE is laying right now anyway.

And if they do lay, they eat their own eggs part of the time.

Don’t think about that last one too long, it will seriously gross.you.out.

The drain on our dishwasher needs to be replaced so we’ve {Adeline and I} have been washing dishes

by hand

for eight people

two times a day.

I informed my sister that I absolutely did not have time, despite what I had told her earlier, to co-author a book with her in the month of November which made me feel like a bag of turd.

{But in reality, I am a self-published non-fiction writer…

if anyone in the universe counts a blog.}

So yeah. sometimes weeks suck.

But here’s a bunch of pictures of the fun stuff that we managed the last two weeks.

I think know the cat hates that I let this happen to him.

I bought an umberella at the thrift store specifically for pictures.

Well, specifically for these pictures, I guess, as it died right after.

If you’re ever like: Katie is the coolest person I know.

How can I let her know that?

What’s something that she would totally love?

And use?

And take awesome photos with?

Hopefully?

Answer: a clear golf umbrella.

Watching our cat cornering a rat in our mud room.

Silly-Putty-in-the-hair bath.

Flu shots.

Because rainy season is in full swing around here…indoor exercise.

Bryce took these pictures of us.

Hanging out our second story window.

I’ve wished a million times over that I had a pull back of that.

This is me getting after Adeline.

The older kids and I went on a hike on a Saturday.

It was without a doubt the best afternoon.

Meg and Elizabeth were totally on the picture band wagon.

They had tons of silhouette ideas.

I almost didn’t take my camera, but the kids asked me to bring it…they were so right.

K. This little session?

The best.

They totally posed themselves.

And undressed themselves…

And the flour incident.

We played hide-n-seek.

And they wanted to jump onto the cushions, again.

This is me.

Today.

Not parenting.

Because by 10:30 I was sooo done with their shenanigans.

I plopped them in the tub with the bubble machine while I folded laundry in peace the next room over.

I guess that’s it!

Thanks for reading!

This is forced enthusiasm!

Because.

Again.

This week.

Bleh.

Katie