Back to the same

Has it really been a week? Only one week since I've posted last? So it has.

So now what? Where do I really begin catching up a whole week? It's not like we were on a fabulous vacation or like my fingers fell off at the nubs and I couldn't type. Do you really want to know what I've been doing? Really?

Cleaning. Yep. That's it. Cleaning.

Every Memorial Day weekend our friends, a family of 5, descend upon our house for 3 days and 2 nights. As much as I love hosting them, I love having all of my house work out of the way before they arrive, while not looking like we are their friends, the Messy Messerson's. Did you know I have a control issue when it comes to clutter and mess? Maybe you've caught on.

Not all of last week was consumed with cleaning. Eric worked 16 hour days three days in a row last week, leaving me at (almost) single parent status morning and night. Luckily, I got by just fine without incident. I already knew that my blogging would be taking a backseat and that cleaning around the kids' bedtime was going to be a priority. Getting through the week just made it all the better to have my husband home for a nice, long weekend together.

On Thursday, I took Lincoln to see an ear, nose and throat specialist. In the past 8 months or so, Lincoln has had more than his share of ear aches and ear pain. His pediatrician made the referral to the ENT doctors that I used to work for. It was great to see all my old friends and introduce them to my kids. The doctor came in and checked Lincoln over, he ordered a hearing screening and then made the recommendation for the procedure for ear tubes. Lincoln is not really a critical case to worry over, the doctor seemed to base his decision mostly on his history and the fluid that seems to be collecting in his ears. Basically, he feels that Lincoln will be relieved of any current discomfort he has in his ears while eliminating the recurring ear aches that he is mostly prone to. It was actually a relief to me to hear his recommendation, knowing that my baby boy will soon find relief without his ears bothering him and hoping that this will cease some of Lincoln's bouts of the fussies that usually occur at bedtime. Just maybe he'll even get his smile back.

Now, onto our weekend. Derek and Beth arrived Friday evening much later than they had anticipated. We had dinner and prepared for the next day. On Saturday morning, Beth and I share the tradition of hitting up her parents' housing allotment's garage sales. This marks our third year we've gone out together and we always look forward to a great day of treasure hunting. The dad's on the other hand, get the fine collaboration of looking after 5 kids: ages 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7; Lincoln being the youngest and the only boy. The guys have learned not to ask when we'll be back, how much money we've spent and "what are you gonna do with that?" Beth and I did have a great day of scavenging deals and sharing girl time without the chatter of little mouths interrupting every other minute. The dads did a great job of tending to our children by taking them to an amped-up community park complete with a ferris wheel and a mini kid's roller coaster. Everyone was happily tattered and tired when we joined together for dinner at our favorite pizza shop and shared the highlights of our day. The girls enjoying a goodie bag of everything sparkly and girly from a garage sale free box: True love!The next day, we said goodbye and took a family nap. A long overdue rest for all of us. Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind still sleeping; three days later. Before they left, I helped with bath time and cleaned 3 little girls and dried 4 little girl heads with enough hair to gag a horse. We did not do a thing for the rest of the day. I picked up here and there, but was otherwise content with just leaving things a mess wherever they landed. I'm on a break. Later in the evening, we did manage to peel ourselves from our new lazy state of being and headed to the playground.Monday was our town's annual Memorial Day parade which is all of about 6 minutes and includes the high school band, the Lion's Club, a handful of war veterans and any kid who wants to march or ride their bike in the line-up. The parade concludes with the fire trucks, with Daddy on board) and the ambulance services. Everyone goes through town and to the local cemetery for a memorial service. Lincoln ate Goldfish crackers with his friend Cole and Elaina flitted about with her best friend, Ali. Hey, they were both being good, what can I say? Just when I thought I had neglected my share of the blogosphere for long enough, a friend of mine called and away went my blog time once again. So there you have it! A week in a nutshell. Or some nuts in a weak-shell. However you want to put it.