Another Valentines Day

Well Valentines Day has come and gone and I still have yet to post Christmas 2013 pictures, or tell about my mom's surprise birthday party, or Lawson's 4th birthday or any of that other stuff.  Time just seems to get away from me anymore.  Actually it feels more like I move from one chaotic event to another.  I've actually for quite some time allowed myself to feel like somewhat of something....not quite a failure, but someone who can't seem to get their poop in a group.  The house is chaos.  The checkbook is chaos (2 people with debit cards means 1,000,000 transactions that need to be logged).  I forget to check backpacks.  I forget to refill my children's medications but it doesn't really matter because I will forget to give it to them even once I get it.  I serve way too many chicken nuggets for dinner or eat out because I'm so tired that I can't deal with frying hamburger and mixing it with Hamburger Helper.  The van looked like a typical mini-van on the inside for the longest time - the only thing keeping it from being completely disgusting was the lack of wood-paneled inserts on the door.  Even Cade has taken to telling me I look really tired because I have bags under my eyes. 

I've wondered what is wrong with me - why can I not seem to get it together and keep it together for longer than 5 minutes?  Then someone from church made the comment "adding that 2nd kid is rough."  Finally I felt somewhat vindicated and maybe not so much like a failure.  This was coming from seasoned parents who added their 2nd child only a couple of years after their 1st.  But they understood.  They talked about they could still do anything they wanted with #1, but when #2 came it was like someone put on the brakes.  And that is exactly how I feel.  I know this stage won't last forever.  Maybe my brain will come back and I will quit being so tired....of course then I will hit menopause and it will all start again.  Until then though I will no longer be working at the church parsonage with Camryn.  Someone stopped her from putting my keys in a wall outlet while I was staining the kitchen cabinets. I'm all done with that.  I tried to venture outside of my home bubble this week and that didn't work.  I will try again in another 6 months.

Part of last weeks chaos involved the dreaded Valentines Box.  I still remember typing the post with his first box and I said "1 down 6 more to go."  I knew that time would go fast, but I had no idea just how fast.  We just finished Cade's 7th box.  I might have been weepy if I wasn't so tired and busy trying to find a clean spot to take a picture of the box.  Thursday night I ran to Springfield to get treats and paint for my parsonage cabinet project and Jay stayed home and did a million other things.  Once I got home we finished the box.  And I'm proud to say Cade didn't touch one thing on it.  I learned in K a Valentines Box was not a fight I was willing to have with him.  We do plenty of things to make him responsible - gluing crap on a box is not something I see as life altering.  But I did laugh that night as I walked through our hall.  I could see Cade parked in front of the TV while also looking at Jay's back while he was hunched over our kitchen counter gluing legs on the box. 

This box ended up being a group effort for both me and Jay.  He did some, I did some, but he was the one responsible for the ear notch idea.  

And after these pictures Camryn ripped the pigs tail in two.