Out to eat in a small town

After the school open house, my friend and her family decide to join us for a meal out.

She has 4 kids and I have 3. We have 3 adults (John, Jenny, Amy) and 7 kids. Kids that know eachother real well and are in a rowdy mood.

The local fare is limited so we decide to go to the sub shop on Main street. It is 6:45 pm on a Thursday night and guess what - they are out of bread. That is Evansville for you folks. You can run a sub sandwich shop and on a regular business night at dinner time you can run out of bread. Are you kidding me? So we go to the local restaurant next door.

We blow in like hurricane Katrina. (we left about that much damage when we exited too)
They have 1 hour 'till they close.

There is one other family at a table and a single senior citizen grandpa at another.

We take up 2 booths next to grandpa. Who informs me he has shut off his hearing aid upon our arrival.

Our waitress must have had a brood of kids because she in neither flustered nor fazed by our entrance.

The old man however cannot help himself to comment (AKA criticize) on his way out.

He asks me: " Do you plan to buy these kids that food? I tell you when I had my kids in a restaurant I expected them to behave....... If they didn't they did not get to eat...... I was strict with them."

I reply: "Oh hmmm how that work out for ya?"

This was quite mild considering what I could have said. I just smiled and thought to myself. "Yes and I will be just as annoyed when I am driving behind you tomorrow as you are to eat behind my family today. "

But thanks for the unasked for advice (criticism) you go home and pat yourself on the back for raising perfect children.

Meet the Teacher

Today we met David's 2nd grade teacher. She is young and pretty and David noticed.

He told John that she was A LOT different then what he expected. He said he thought his teacher was going to be like 900 years old.

He is sitting in the front row, 1st seat, wobbly legged desk. She is going to regret that. But that is what you get when your last name starts with a B. she said. I smile thinking about how very many opportunities she will have to be reminded that David is in the wobbly legged seat right in the front row. (imagine a small chuckle escaping my lips - oh ok you're right, it is a down right out loud laugh)

David already found 2 library books on Bionicles at the school library to check out on the 1st week. Yeah this kid is ready for school.

I took a quick glance at his books in the desk. She better enlist this boy as a helper right away or she will be doomed. The math and reading are below his level and when he gets bored he TALKS!

Can't wait for the 1st parent teacher conference.

My very own shower

Yesterday I showered in my very own new bathroom shower.

Wow was that nice.

2 weeks with no shower of your own sure helps you appreciate the simple things in life.

The tile looks great. It looks like it will be easier to clean too since there are no built in nooks and crannies to get gunk in.

I bought a shower caddy and smiled at the thought that when it gets dirty I can just throw it out!
(refer to post about being a pitcher by nature)

David took his own shower today and loved the fact that he could change how fast the water sprayed out. He adjusted it to barely trickle down. Whatever it takes to get the hair clean without a fight.

A View to Die For (or From)

Late Night Excitement took on a whole different meaning the last 5 - 10 years of my life.

Now it usually means a night waking or 2 from one or more of my children.

Last night it took on a whole new meaning.

As you can see from the above picture we are looking at the insulation and studs in our bathroom. (ceiling and all) The calming ambiance is overwhelming. It is like camping, just a lot more expensive.

Well wouldn't you know it, the amazing view came with an extra perk, a night visitor.

Somewhere between 2:30 and 2:45 am a bat began to circle above my head in my bed.

That is right folks, over my head swooping around my room. I could feel and hear the breeze. AAUUGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This isn't our first bat so I knew what to do. Pull the covers over my head, shriek and inform my husband he was on flying mammal kill duty.



You see when we bought this old house it came fully equipped with a load of projects and an attic full of bats. During a 2 year span we had 4 bats make it into the house. It took us 3 trips from the bat proofer and over $2000 to eradicate the bats and their remains from our house. Oh but old houses have so much character. Yeah. Beautiful original doors and woodwork tend to mean cracks big enough for wildlife.



I should have known that the construction project would have reintroduced us to our neighborhood bats. Guess the last 3 years of no bats made me forget all about them.


John, my hero, successfully rid our room of the rodent (oh umm mammal). Great now I can't sleep. That was it for me, no more shut eye.

So not only is our bathroom view not one "To Die For" it is one "To Die From" (if you were a bat that is)

Now we poop outside too!

So it is one week since we started our bathroom remodel.

We do indeed have a toilet but I wanted to share a how exciting this has been for my Caleb.

He was inconvenienced the least with the no toilet thing. After all he still fits on the potty chair.

During this time he needed to do his "big job", so we took the potty chair out to the garden.

John dug a whole, took out the bottom of the potty chair and sat him down on it.

I wasn't sure how this would go over but of course he loved it.

He got the cutest little dimple smile and said: " This is fun! I poop outside now!"

Glad he enjoyed it.

Half way there

I have never been more excited about a toilet then I am right now.

The plumber just came and replaced the flange and the toilet in our half done bathroom.

We officially lived 5 days, 1 hour, and 9 minutes without a toilet. (2 of those days with no water at all) Not that I was counting or anything.

David and Caleb both had to flush it to make sure it worked. I am thrilled. It does not rock, it does not shift, it does not leak, and it does not get stuck and run water all day.

Oh it is the little things in life that bring so much joy.

There is a bathroom in my kitchen!

So today our bathroom was demolished. No, not by my boys.

I have been wanting for YEARS to have a bathroom that actually was done right and today the project was started. (mostly things in my house have been done by the owners - which have been MANY since our place is 140 years old)

Today I took the kids to the zoo in order to keep them away from the demolition activity. Well, and near a working bathroom. You see we have only one bathroom. Normally this is not an issue because everyone but me can pee outside standing up. (add eye roll)

Our trip to the zoo was classic Baierl fodder. Of course Nathan falls asleep on the way there. Caleb and David fight some of the way. I realize I forgot 2 of the 27 items necessary to have an outing. We get to the 3rd animal and it starts to sprinkle.

Ok no biggie, I keep umbrellas in the van and we are only at the 3rd animal. Then it hits me -I vaguely remember the boys playing with the umbrellas in the back yard a few days ago and think - Those umbrellas aren't in the van are they? Nope, not with us at all. Well it is only a sprinkle.

Cue downpour. We are hovering under a tree, unsuccessfully shielding ourselves from the rain. It becomes obvious we will have to RUN FOR IT. Either to a shelter building or the van. We choose the van.

Cue screaming Caleb.

Cue screaming Nathan.

Cue David falling on wet pavement.

We make it to the van. I take off Caleb's clothes and wrap him in a blanket. I strap Nathan in his seat so his screaming fit is at least hands free. I discover the bandaids I have aren't big enough and Davids knee is actually scraped up fairly deep. I rummage thru my 1st aid kit and clean the dirt out, cut the gauze with a fingernail clippers I keep in the glove compartment and wrap his knee. All the while I am still getting soaked because there is so much toys and JUNK in the van I couldn't do that between the car seats and such. It looks like I took a shower with my clothes on. Nathan is still screaming. I get in and turn on the heat, wipe off my running mascara and have a 5 minute pity party. During which time I inform the kids that the next one to ask me a question will be beheaded. I am just kidding about the beheaded part. But I thought it.

I drive my 3 wet, unhappy sons to the Children's Museum. I change everyone into dry clothes (everyone but me- good thing my shirt wasn't white) I pay $15 to get in, $3 to park and the sun comes out. GRRRRRR. Where is my dental guard? I am clenching my teeth again.

We have the absolute best time there. Praise the Lord He redeemed the day.

While in the "Musical" room AKA NOISE room, my cell phone rings. It is a call informing me I will have no working toilet tonight. Poor Steve on the other line must have wondered what zoo I was at? I expected this, so I am not alarmed.

I come home late, with a van full of tired kids. I have dirty sippie cups, spilled popcorn all over the van, a change of wet clothes times 3, dirty bottles, a bag full of fast food wrappers, 4 dirty diapers and no running water anywhere in the house. Oh yes and a stripped bed that needs to be reassembled because the bed was peed in last night. Grand.

Nathan needs a bottle to go to bed but I have none that are clean, so he gets his milk added to a remnant of lemonade. What can you do? 'Must have liked it, he drank it all.

The whole bathroom is in my kitchen, except the toilet. That is outside. Hey, now I can pee outside too!

At least I won't need a shower tomorrow. I took 2 of them today.

David's 2nd Grade Class

We did indeed register David for Evansville 2nd grade.

We just got his class list and teacher assignments. He is in a class of 16 kids, 11 of which are boys. His teacher is MS. Mackensie Wade. She is young, and has a class full of boys. (Should be interesting, I am already praying for her)

David is elated that his neighbor friend, Parker, is in his class. That was such great news for both us moms.

He was so excited to pick out his school supplies and his Clone Wars Star Wars Backpack and lunch cooler.

He is so ready to be at school and I am excited for this new chapter in his and my life.

Good bye Crib

I have to admit it is a bit soon to take down the crib. Nathan isn't even 1 year old but none the less the crib is history.

A few days ago Nathan kicked the crib sides right open. He proceeded to roll right out onto the floor. The back gate of the crib opened like a flap and plop onto the floor he went. (the crib survived 4 boys - mine plus my nephew so it was more than USED!)

Imagine how mystified I was in the wee hours of the morning going into his room, hearing him crying, but not seeing him in the crib!?!?!? (The back of crib flapped back into place and looked normal at first glance) I tell you what, I was fully awakened with a shot of terror.

Now he sleeps on the cutest little toddler bed that matches the other boys' beds. How adorable is that! He doesn't even crawl or walk yet and he is in a big boy bed.

I took the hardware off the crib and put the pieces out for the trash. I gave myself 10 seconds to stare at it and ask myself if I would miss it. UMM NOPE I slapped my hands together as to signify my "washing my hands of the thing" and went into the house thinking - one step closer to the end of this 1st year.

Nathan doesn't know it yet, but I too will be celebrating when he turns 1.
No more 1st years. No more breast feeding. YAHOO!

Bring on the toddler years. I LOVE THOSE!