Two More Weeks

Two more weeks until I can reclaim my house AND my sanity.  That's right -- only two more weeks until school starts!  I told the kids yesterday that we will be starting to prep for the new school year this week so that by the time the big day comes we will be right back on schedule.  I thought I'd baby step us into it by starting with just our morning routine.  You know -- wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed {in clean clothes}, and do chores and then Scripture Time.  Pretty basic, right?  Well, it should be, but of course I was met with resistance every step of the way by a certain number one son.  Ethan had the kitchen for his chores and insisted that he shouldn't have to do them until later in the day.  So, instead of spending the 10 or 15 minutes TOPS that it would have taken him to just DO the kitchen, he spent about 3 1/2 hours melting down and freaking out about it while I tried to get the others to stay on task and the baby to go sleep for his morning nap {which never happened}.  Today's attempt at getting back on schedule was even more abysmal thanks to a new culprit in the form of Grace.  She stayed in her nightshirt all day, turned her nose up at doing any chores, declared today a "freebie," and proceeded to watch TV and play on the computer for most of the day.  She had one brief, creative burst in the mid-afternoon when she and Ethan transformed the living room into a giant dog house using my quilt design board and some cardboard boxes, but then it was right back to her previously scheduled activities.

Left to right -- An "entrance" flap, an "exit" flap and "spy holes" for spying on Sophie.

As you can imagine the house has been in shambles for most of the day and since Scott was with the young men tonight I was on my own for putting the kids to bed.  Grace proved resistant once again with bedtime but after putting everyone else down and kicking her out of the house and onto the back porch for calling me names after I refused to read any books to her tonight, I decided to throw her a bone and let her "earn" a book back by helping to clean the house.  To my surprise she hopped right to it, and with some music blaring, cleaned the family room while I finished up the kitchen.  I had to laugh, though, when I looked over and saw the way she was cleaning and "organizing" the junk on the fireplace.  With careful thought and precision she placed each item just so and then when she was all finished went and got the camera to take a picture of her handywork.  All's well that end's well, though, and once our work was done she went right up to bed and only requested two picture books rather than her usual two chapters from our current read-aloud -- "Aliens Ate My Homework."

"Look," she said -- "I turned the 'V' into a heart for 'Love'!"

Here's a close-up of another interesting item from the above montage.  Ethan and Grace have taken much delight this summer in picking on Sophie and making her cry.  This "portrait" that Grace created by making a color copy of one of Sophie's old pictures and then coloring over it is one such example.

 In other news, there's only two more weeks until Lover Boy's birthday!  So hard to believe.  This little guy is getting so big.  He got his first "real" big boy haircut a couple of weeks ago and it makes him look like a real little kid!

Ignore how FILTHY his onesie is and focus instead on his cute little face and pokey-out-y ears.  And that bunny in the back seat.  Hahaha.

He may not be walking yet but he's got furniture cruising and stair climbing down pat.  It's only a matter of time before the steps start to follow.  In other developments, he's been throwing the most hilarious little temper tantrums lately.  They really are too funny.  Thankfully, he's still our happy little carefree baby boy for most of the time.  And even though, I will be excited when the older ones are back in school for the day, I know that this little one {and Jane} are surely going to miss having them around.

Tender Mercies

To say this summer has been trying would be a vast understatement.  I worry sometimes that I give off this impression that I've got it all together here when in reality I am almost always one kid meltdown away from a nervous breakdown myself.  Today was a rough day.  Scratch that -- this has been a rough week.  Raising children is HARD.  So much harder than I ever imagined it would be.  Especially since my kids are not normal.  Each and every one of them is spirited in their own way.  What does that mean exactly?  Well, essentially it boils down to the fact that they are just more.  More intense, more emotional, more sensitive, more persistent, more everything than a typical child.  In a room full of regular balls, they are the super bouncy balls that are ricocheting off the walls, ceilings, and floors.  {Before crashing through and breaking all the windows in the room as well.}  

After a friend told me about a book called Raising Your Spirited Child a few years ago, I eagerly bought a copy and dove right in.  The first page practically had me in tears.  I'm not alone! I thought.  It's not just my imagination -- my kids really ARE different!  Things that work to help control normal kids do not work as well or at all for spirited children.  The persistence and tenacity of my kids {such as when they're in the middle of a meltdown or freakout session} is astounding.  They will literally carry on for hours and hours without any sign of relenting.  In short they have a way of wearing me down completely.  Hence the rough week and summer.  There is nothing so frustrating as feeling like you have ZERO control over your children especially when you are trying your hardest to do everything you can possibly think of to help them toe the line.  

Now don't get me wrong.  I love my children.  They are great and wonderful and have tremendous potential and capabilities -- I wouldn't have them any other way.  I don't want to break their spirit, I only want to harness it.  To help them realize their potential.  I know that these little spirits were sent to me for a reason.  I am rather spirited myself, for one thing, but aside from that I have ALWAYS had a soft spot in my heart for the spirited child.  Even before I knew what the term meant.  But that doesn't make it easy to take care of them day in and day out.

My point in bringing all this up tonight is that today I reached a breaking point.  Dealing with screaming and fighting children for most of the week finally took its toll and by about 10 o'clock this morning I was an emotional mess.   I was already crying before church started -- not a good sign -- and as the day wore on the tears continued to flow.  Scott has meetings before church every Sunday which leaves me on my own to get myself and all 5 kids ready for church.  I'm usually able to shower and get ready while Alex takes a nap but he didn't really want to do that today.  As I got out of the shower and heard him screaming I yelled for Ethan to take him down and watch him so I could get dressed.  I came downstairs 15 minutes later to a completely trashed house with no one completely ready to go, Jane and Alex both in the bathroom with the door shut -- Jane playing with the soap in the sink and Alex putting who knows what in his mouth -- and needing to leave in the next 5 minutes.  

It was while I was trying to change the baby's diaper and get Jane changed out of her sopping wet dress that I first started to cry.  The kids -- to their credit -- seemed concerned and tried to step up their game to get us to church on time.  Unfortunately, none of that good behavior followed them and they were their usual loud and unruly selves as we filed into our pew near the front of the chapel minutes before church started.  More tears threatened to spill as I realized how loud they all were, how big a distraction we were to everyone around us, and how completely alone I was as Scott was sitting up on the stand to help bless the sacrament because he's the Young Men's president and we don't have a lot of young men.  I made it through half of sacrament meeting before retreating to the mother's room to feed Alex and then allowed myself to hide out there for the rest of the meeting because I just didn't think I'd be able to hold it together if I went back into the chapel.  

Why is this so hard? followed quickly by I just can't do this! is what I thought during many a moment throughout the morning.  I was in a defeated and despairing state of mind.  And then towards the end of church things began to turn around.  I recognize it as a tender mercy of the Lord that I was able to sit in Relief Society today and actually pay attention without having the baby there as a distraction.  The lesson was on Elder Nelson's talk Thanks Be to God, and as I sat there I was struck {once again} with how incredibly important gratitude really is.  And how many things I have to be grateful for even in the midst of difficult trials.  I was touched by comments from the good sisters in my ward and from conversations afterwards with friends.  My heart was touched and humbled as the afternoon wore on to see how NOT forgotten I was by the Lord.  In another tender mercy we came home to a message on our answering machine from our sweet neighbor whose grandkids had just gotten back in town and really wanted the older ones to come down and visit.  With Jane napping and Alex fed and happy Scott and I were able to spend a peaceful afternoon together.  After the week we've had this was truly a blessing.  The blessings continued to roll when a friend from church called to invite us over for dinner and the cherry on top was when Ethan and Grace went off to spend the night with their neighbor friends leaving us to an entire NIGHT of peace and quiet and no fights at bedtime.  

And even though Scott had to spend some of that time at a Youth fireside at the bishop's house, our happiness continued at home when I convinced Sophie and Jane that we could have a "sleepover" here and painted nails, played games, and ate chocolate chips out of fancy cups.  My cup is truly running over.  I am reminded once again of this scripture:

And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.  (Mosiah 24:14)

I know the Lord visits us in our afflictions.  He loves us.  We are never truly alone.  I am so grateful for so many things, but most especially for that knowledge.  My cup runneth over.

Flashback Friday -- Numbers

Today's flashback is a bit of a memory fragment from my childhood school days.  Does anyone else remember playing hand games?  Like "Numbers"?  Was this just a Lusher thing?  Or was it wide-spread?  I have no idea. All I know is that I spent many a minute waiting in line for lunch, or assemblies, or to go outside for recess playing "Numbers" with my friends.  It's a complicated hand clapping game for two people that is way too difficult to try and explain, but when I introduced it to Ethan earlier this week in an attempt to get him to calm down and stop bugging everyone around him, he latched on with his usual tenacity.  It's taken him a while to get the hang of it, and the still shots  don't quite do it justice, but let the record show that I am passing the torch of knowledge on to the next generation of school children.  Hahahahahahaha.

 {look at that concentration -- tongue out and everything!  hahahaha.}

 {after the first mess-up.}

{and finally getting the hang of it.}

Essence of Ethan

Me: {To Ethan after he hit Alex in the face.  On purpose.}  Can you please try to work on controlling your impulses?

Ethan:  What will you give me if I do?

Me:  A big hug.

Ethan:  You are the worst at giving prizes.

 

He'll be here all summer ladies and gentleman!

Do Not Jump on the Couch {!!!}

 

 

 "I could have told you that," thought Alex.

When Jane went to sleep last night at 11:30 and then woke up this morning at 5:40, I knew we were in for an awesome day.  Especially since Grace was ALSO up at 5:40 and got her TV viewing off to a super early start this morning with a little Wizards of Waverly Place on Netflix.  I was pleasantly surprised, however, when I managed to put Jane down for a nap at the same time as Alex around 10.  And I was even MORE pleasantly surprised when the kids actually got their chores done while she napped and I was able to get a few things done for myself.  You know like showering and getting dressed for the day.  Hahahaha.  Jane ended up napping for 3 1/2 hours and by the time she woke up she was in a delightful mood.  It was at that point that I thought we were home free for the rest of the day!

I was wrong.  The witching hour approached as it always does {around 5} and everything fell to pieces shortly thereafter.  Alex was at his fussiest and the others were at their fighting-est all while I tried to get dinner ready to go.  After telling Grace to clean up her chores for a good 45 minutes {she had the family room} she had FINALLY just begun to listen when Scott got home from work.  Unfortunately, she didn't listen quick enough with fixing the couch cushions and Jane, our flying monkey, took a swan dive off the edge and into the corner of the computer desk splitting her cheek open right under her eye.

Thankfully Scott was home to help with the crises and we got her cleaned her up, taped up, and iced up almost right away.  A few minutes later she seemed fine enough and by the time we were done eating dinner she was right back to her newest obsession -- coloring with markers. 

To be honest, I'm still wondering if she might actually need a stitch or two, but for now the tape seems to be doing the trick.  Not doing the trick?  That 3 1/2 hour nap she took today.  Because right now we are right back to where we were last night around this time -- Jane is still awake and probably won't fall asleep until after 11.  I'm hoping tomorrow will be kinder.

Flashback Friday -- How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Today's flashback is sub-titled "How I Spent My Summer Vacation."  Which has been pretty much the same way my whole entire life -- READING.  Hahahaha.  {Those who know me well should not be surprised by this at all.}  For pretty much my whole life I've been a voracious reader.  I remember the first time I read an entire chapter book in one sitting: I had stayed up WAY too late {something that would become a recurring theme over the years} and I know I drove my sister Emily nuts for keeping the light on so long when she was trying to go to sleep {also a recurring theme}.  I was in the first grade and I had just finished reading Kristy's Great Idea -- the first book in the Baby-sitter's Club series.

One summer that stands out in particular was the summer of 2001 {aka The BEST Summer EVER.}  In addition to not really working and spending a lot of time at the pool, my roommates {Heidi and Natalie.  Hashtag Best Friends Forever.  Hahahahaha.} and I  took to raiding the juvenile literature section of BYU's library and checking out stacks of books at a time.  It was so awesome.  I guess I've always had a fondness for Young Adult fiction.  So, in honor of that not so long ago summer, HERE is what has been on OUR summer reading list this year in the junior division.

First off, let me just say that it KILLS me, absolutely KILLS me, that my children have done everything in their power this summer to do away with quiet reading time and assure me that they don't really like to read anymore.  Devastating, let me tell ya.  While quiet reading time during the day has not really worked out at all, we have managed to get through quite a few books at bed time.  Mostly because Grace has been holding us hostage these days with the request of "just one more chapter" every night when trying to get them to go to sleep.  She's far too lazy to read the books on her own -- even though she probably could read quite a few of the ones we've read -- and insists that she won't be able to fall asleep unless WE read to her.  It's become a problem.  Hahaha.  Among the books that she has really enjoyed are the Jake Drake series by Andrew Clements (sorry there's no picture) which we found at the library.  Ethan also seemed to be intrigued by them and was a bit upset when I brought them back before he had a chance to read through them.  The book I'm currently reading to Grace is THIS:



We are both enjoying it.  There is a bit of {middle school} lovey dovey stuff going on in it and I think that Grace secretly REALLY enjoys it while outwardly being embarrassed by it when I tease her.  I've had to resist from teasing her too much because there were a few days when she wouldn't even let me read the book anymore because she was so embarrassed.  Hahahaha.  I can't WAIT until she's a teenager.  The thing I'm liking the most about the book so far is the fantastic vocabulary.  And since vocabulary is my THANG, as they say, I'm really digging it.  Hahahaha.  Going right along with the actual story in importance is the cover art (in my opinion).  I personally find this cover rather interesting looking and found it very enlightening to hear Grace's opinion as well --  her take is that she really likes Juliet's hair except for that poof on top.  So there you go.

Jane has almost moved on from her Mary Englebreit's Mother Goose obsession and has begun requesting the Gosling books more and more often.  I find these little board books adorable and the illustrations delightful.  Precisely my type of children's book!

Ethan has been a bit of a challenge this summer in that he refuses to read pretty much ever.  I'm worried that his Harry Potter reading kick from last summer may have burned him out on reading anything for a good little while.  Aside from those Jake Drake books that he started to pick up and the occasional Encyclopedia Brown book sprinkled here and there, he hasn't really read much of anything.  I keep trying to get him into THIS book, but he's not biting.  Apparently he doesn't care for my recommendations.

Sophie, on the other hand, just might be my big reader.  She's usually up for any kind of book I throw at her, even if they're really long.  So far this summer we've read The Hundred Dresses and have just now started one of the American Girl books.  Forget that it's almost 100 degrees outside, Sophie's in the mood for a little Christmas in July.  Hahahaha.

As for ME, I have been reading up a storm this summer and you're welcome to be my friend on Goodreads if you're interested in seeing any of my reviews.  As for my KIDS, I wish the older ones were a bit more enthusiastic about Quiet Reading time, but I do think that deep down inside they have it in them.  Perhaps it will surface by next summer.  Hahahaha.  To close, though, here are some pictures of Grace getting into her part as "Wemberly" during an impromptu rehearsal we had the other day of a Reader's Theater I found online for Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes {another one of my FAVORITE children's authors.}  That Grace -- she's a creative one! 

Wemberly is a mouse who always worries and when she does she rubs her bunny Petal's ears. 

Priceless.

Birthday Boy Redux

Here's the sad but true story of the finally-got-around-to-having birthday celebration for son number one.  After post-poning for a week and a half, Ethan finally made us commit to having his "party" on Saturday.  Please keep in mind that this is not a "Friend Party" year and therefore the only people who would be there were US.  After my early morning semi-successful long run on Saturday, I came home to Ethan and Scott bonding over American Ninja Warrior.  Knowing that I had a hair appointment that evening at 5, I tried to convince him to switch his celebration to Sunday so that we'd have more time to enjoy it but he would have none of it.  So, after getting the first of MANY loads of laundry started for the day, I tried to convince the girls to come with me to Wal-mart so we could pick out Ethan's presents while Alex was asleep.  I was -- once again -- only semi-successful.  Grace decided she wanted to stay and watch TV and just whispered in my ear what she wanted me to pick out for him on her behalf.  Jane looked like she needed a nap herself, so it fell on Sophie to represent for the family in picking out the rest of the gifts.  

We stopped off at the library first -- probably not the best of ideas in retrospect as we were there almost half an hour and used up pretty much all of Sophie's cooperative behavior -- and then went on over to Wal-mart for what should have been a quick little pit stop.  It was not.  And Sophie was hungry and therefore cranky.  I don't think she had eaten lunch before we left.  After freaking out and melting down about all KINDS of things, we finally got out of there with presents from everyone in the family as well as some ice cream and root beer for a little treat.  {I had thankfully convinced him he didn't need cake, too, since I had already treated him that morning by making the No Bakes he wanted all week long for his breakfast.  Don't judge.  Hahaha.} 

Once I was home, Scott had to run off to do errands of his own for church and unknowingly took all of Ethan's presents along for the ride.  By the time he got back it was after 4 and I had to leave in about half an hour or be late to go and get my hair did.  Scott suggested that the presents didn't need to be wrapped at all and Ethan heartily backed up this idea.  I, however, was flabbergasted and appalled.  Not wrap presents???  Unheard of.  Wrapping presents is one of my most favorite activities of all time.  Due to the serious time constraints, though, the duo managed to convince me that shopping bags would do the trick.  Seriously appalling.  As we gathered in the living room to sing Happy Birthday to Ethan -- who could barely contain his excitement -- it was gratifying to hear Grace's consternation about the unwrapped presents as well.  "Don't worry," I told her -- "When it's time for YOUR birthday I will make sure your presents are wrapped!"  

"The kids" {meaning I} did a fantastic job of choosing Ethan's presents this year.  He was quite excited about all of them.  From Scott and myself, Ethan received Phase 10 Twist -- one of his favorites from his Games Galore class at summer school.  Before we left for Wal-mart, Grace whispered in my ear to buy him a 1000 piece puzzle with donuts on it for her, but there were none to be found.  Instead I chose a 200 piece puzzle with Diary of a Wimpy Kid pictures on it, which I think is probably a bit more doable for him anyway.  Sophie's gift -- at my suggestion -- was a bucket of Legos.  And not the tiny kind, the Duplos kind.  Believe it or not, this was possibly the biggest hit of all.  The inspiration for the present came after seeing all of them fight over our one bucket of Legos while they were "playing" last week.  He was super stoked to have his own.  And rest assured that it has already caused many an outburst since he's had it.  Just imagine phrases such as "That's it -- YOU'RE DEAD!!!!" and "I'm going to kill you!!!" being shouted about as Jane {and others} have tried to play with his Legos, too.

"Jane" chose the card game Rook for him and "Alex" picked out a puzzle stow and go mat which apparently doesn't really work.    That's always fun.  In the midst of all the celebrating, I barely had time to snap a few pictures, scarf down a PBJ, and feed the baby before leaving for my appointment.  I'm told that the Root Beer Floats were enjoyed by all, though, and by the time I got home -- in the POURING rain -- everyone was sound asleep.  Hahahahaha.  Yeah right.  These are MY children we're talking about.  Nonetheless, everyone was at least in BED, and we only entertained a couple of downstairs visits from Sophie before everyone really did fall asleep.  All-in-all a rather successful birthday celebration, don't you think?  Hahaha.  Fortunately Ethan was happy with it and that is ALL that matters.  He's not always so easy to please.  Thankfully, the next 3 birthdays on the horizon {Scott, Alex, and Jane} will only be family celebrations as well and I won't have to work up any kind of "Friend Party" until Grace turns 8 in November!  I am already gearing myself up for that one as Grace has been drawing up her list of invites and all the activities she wants to do with them for a couple of months now.  {There is a reason I can't handle doing "real" parties for each kid's birthday!!!}

To end, here is a video Ethan wanted Grace to take this afternoon.  Enjoy!

Vacation Fast Facts

We are back and FINALLY all caught up on sleep!  {For the most part.}  For a reader's digest version of the rest of our trip, here is all you need to know:

• None of the kids packed toothbrushes.  We discovered this little tidbit about half-way into our drive to Indiana during the following conversation:  Me -- "Kids did you pack toothbrushes?"  Kids -- "NO!  We never do!  We're on vacation!"  Me -- "What???  You don't take a vacation from brushing your teeth!!!  Just so you know -- normal people take their toothbrushes with them on vacation!"  

• A lot of "Just Dance 3" on the Wii was played.

•  Jane wore the same (increasingly dirty) white t-shirt the whole entire trip.  She was fine with switching out the bottoms from the collection of clothes that Grace packed for her, but she did NOT want to part with that shirt.  She also spent the vast majority of her vacation moving from electronic device to electronic device.  From iPad to Kindle Fire to iTouch and back again.

• I actually packed my running gear and went running one of the mornings I was there.  Don't be too impressed, though, because I only ended up running for a couple of miles due to the heat and my tiredness.  Actually, DO be impressed!  I ran without my ipod {which got left at home on accident} AND it was hot AND I was tired!  That is rather impressive if I do say so myself.  Hahahaha.
  

•  Fireworks were viewed down by the lake.   

•  Sam discovered that Alex really likes being pushed around in this little toy dump truck.  It was hilarious.  Not so hilarious was when I came down to the basement about 15 minutes before the picture was taken to hear him SCREAMING and crying in his pack n' play at 11:30 at night.  After scarfing down a banana and snuggling a bit with his mother, he calmed down enough for a ride in the truck. 

• Sophie packed exactly 2 outfits for the entire trip that she fished out of the dirty clothes before leaving home.   Apparently she had NOTHING clean.  Except for underwear.  {Thank goodness.}  Hahahahaha.

• And the kids enjoyed our last day at the cousins by going down to the "Marina" in their neighborhood.  After seeing my kids in their life jackets contrasting with all their cousins who could swim, I have decided it's high time for my kids to learn!  Maybe if we spend enough time at the pool for the next few weeks they'll get enough practice in before the summer is over.

This feels like a very disjointed and incoherent recap, but that was that.  Fun was had by all and there were many tears shed when it was time to go as is always the case.  It's nice to live near enough to family that we can drive to see them.  Flying is most definitely cost-prohibitive at this point.  :(

Once we got home it was back to the daily grind and I experienced my first dose of REAL summer now that summer school is over and ALL the kids are home all day long.  The kids have done their best to break me over the last few days, but I have done my best to stay zen.  And it has kind of worked.  Some of the time.  Hahahaha.  We got back on Wednesday evening {on the 4th of July} and I managed to squeeze in the last few workouts needed to complete my Ironman Triathlon on Thursday and Friday.  {Go me.}   Other than that, nothing much else exciting has happened unless you count LOTS of interrupted sleep thanks to Jane, a random fever popping up with Grace, crankiness (possibly caused by teething?) from the lover boy, and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of laundry.  There's no place like home!  Hahahaha.

Sophie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

It was a bad day.  {For Sophie.}  She got left behind at the ice cream parlor, she almost split her head open on a banister, and she finished her evening off by throwing up after eating something she was allergic to.  Wednesday's child is full of woe even on a Tuesday.  Poor little lamb.

Here's how the incidents played themselves out today.  First up -- the outing.  Scott's parents got in town yesterday evening and this afternoon we decided to all go out for ice cream and then take the little kids over to a children's museum that was just a few doors down.  What a fun idea, right?  And it totally was fun except for that one major oversight.  I think the main problem here was that we were a BIG group and it's easy for chaos and confusion to reign in such a setting.  Even with Scott staying home to watch Alex and Jane who were napping, we still had a total of 13 people with us -- 9 of which were kids.  As I was checking out and paying for the candy that Sophie had eaten in place of ice cream {she was allergic to everything on the menu}, the older kids were leaving to go back home in a separate car and Scott's mom was taking the little ones down the street to the Kids Commons while Kristin and I were still at the register. 

















Well, as I made my way over to the children's museum, I spent a leisurely 5 or 10 minutes looking through books at a book fair that was set-up in the foyer while the rest of the kids had scattered off to play.  {It's a fairly small museum which makes it pretty easy to keep an eye on all of the kiddies.  A bit ironic, don't you think?}  At this point I heard a voice over the intercom asking if there was a Jessica in the building and would she please come to the front desk.  I was right there, so I went over and asked what was wrong and they asked me if I had a Sophie.  "Yes," I said very confusedly, to which the lady replied, "she's down at Zaharako's,"  and I was like "What, what, say what???"  Okay not really, but I WAS completely confused and had no idea what she could possibly be talking about because I thought for sure she had come over with the rest of the kids.  As I was {speed} walking to the door it dawned on me that Sophie had left the table to go to the bathroom toward the end of our jaunt there and it occurred to me that I hadn't seen her come back before everyone started getting up to go.  WHAT A TERRIBLE MOTHER I AM!!!!!!  As I walked in the ice cream parlor everyone was really nice and comforting and led me straight to the back where Sophie was sitting with a couple of workers coloring a picture and sipping a lemonade.  Thank goodness she was sharp enough to remember where we were going after ice cream because she didn't know my cell phone number to tell the workers.  {Not that I had it on me anyway because  I am a TERRIBLE mother.}

As we walked down to the Kids Commons I asked her for her version of the story.  Here it is.

Me {clinging tightly to her hand}:  Sophie, I am SO SORRY!!!!  Were you so scared??  What happened?  How did you know what to do?  You were so brave!!!! What did you do first?

Sophie:  When I came out of the bathroom I couldn't see anybody so I went outside.

Me:  You went outside???

Sophie:  Yeah, but I still couldn't see anybody so I went to see if the car was still there.

Me:  What????  Did you walk all the way to the car????  {It was about a block and half down the street.}

Sophie:  Yeah.  But I looked both ways before I crossed the street.

Me {clapping my hand over my mouth half laughing and half THIS CLOSE from breaking out into full hysteria and crying.}

Sophie {looking at me in alarm}:  What's wrong?

Me:  I'm just so glad you're okay!!!! What did you do next?  Did you go back to Zaharako's?

Sophie:  Yeah, and then a lady asked me if I lost my family. And they took me to the back and gave me some lemonade and let me color.

Me:  Wow!  I'm so glad you were okay!!!  That was so good that you remembered we were going to Kids Commons.  Were you scared?

Sophie:  Yeah.

And there you have it.  Luckily she DID have an awesome time once she was at the children's museum and -- as always -- made a few new friends while we were there.  Hopefully that is enough to counterbalance any terror she felt from being left behind!!

Her next big incident occured right before dinner and after she had taken a bath.  As she was getting dressed she slipped or tripped and ended up smacking her forehead on the corner of one of the square banisters at the top of the stairs.  Luckily the skin didn't break, and there was no actual blood spilt, but what she has instead is a bulging bruise with a purple line down the middle.  Now she has a matching mark for the scar on the other side of her forehead! 




She calmed down after a bit and kept an ice pack on her forehead until it was time to eat and then was so happy and excited to have spaghetti for dinner and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  Of course, it was just her luck that the angel food cake she ate caused some kind of reaction and she eventually threw everything up a little while later.  It is a bit odd, though, because even though she's allergic to eggs -- and angel  food cake IS mostly egg whites -- she's usually fine when it's baked in things.  And she's had strawberry shortcake several times.  It's usually what she chooses for her birthday cake each year.  The only thing that was different this time was that it was from the store rather than made at home from a box mix like we usually do.  So who knows!!! 

All in all it was a rough day for the super muppet!  The thing that is so great about Sophie, though, is that once she's happy again, she's COMPLETELY happy.  The rest of her evening has been great.  She's gone to see fireworks with the cousins, played games with everyone, and is currently involved in some elaborate scheme of make-believe with the others.  In the end, all's well that ends well!