In Service Day

It has been way to long since I have blogged, but today it was more of a necessity than a want. Today is a State Wide In Service Day, which means the kids are out of school. I decided that I would schedule all three of their hair cuts with my friend Adrianne. Then I thought I would take my oldest to get a new pair of shoes since he is growing like a weed. Then, in the back of my head I thought it would be nice if we all went out to lunch, and headed to Costco for a much needed trip before we went home.

Well all of that may seem like too much for one day, but I was confident my kids could handle it, after all they didn't have school today. I was not only in some sort of dream land, but way the Hell off my rocker!!!

The haircuts went great ,and they got to see their friends. Then it was off to the Van's outlet store. Ella and Ryan were chasing around the store, and after no success in getting them to stop I had them sit in a "time out". The workers at the store kept asking if I needed anything, to which I replied, "well my kids in daycare would be good". True story.

Then since it was buy one pair of shoes get one half off, I decided to see if any shoes fit Ella. Ryan just got a new pair the other day and didn't need them, however that didn't stop him begging and trying to get his shoes off to "just try them on". After it was apparent that the shoes Ella wanted were too big and she could barely walk in them, I decided to just get the one pair for Aubrey. Well surprise surprise, that didn't go over well for Ella who was starting to cry and beg for new shoes.

I kept apologizing for assaulting the clerks' ears and I said, and I quote, "this right here......this is birth control". They didn't have kids, and I'm sure were looking at me like "get it together lady", however they were very sweet and didn't judge......they probably did once I left, but still I appreciated that they were nice to my face! But I digress. So as we are leaving and Ella is now sobbing, and Ryan is crying because he wants to ride on the "ride" outside the store, I calmly tell them to just head to the car.

I try to explain to them that I wanted to take them to lunch and then Costco, but how that's NOT going to happen, they just hollered and sobbed louder. So I did what only a crazy wife can do and I called the husband! He said, "what is going on there". I explained that this is just my life and this is what it sounds like, and what freakin fun I was having!!! He said, "it sounds like it". I know he feels bad for me sometimes, but I think secretly he's very happy it's me and not him. So I asked him if he would be home at a reasonable hour so I could get to Costco later, because as he could hear, I was in no place to go right then.

Then my oldest son, who mysteriously is behaving himself, says, "mom, I feel sorry for you". And I said, "I feel sorry for me too Aubrey". So the rest of the way home the crying went on and I just turned the radio up and tried some Zen calming techniques.....like pretending I"m on an island somewhere, breathing deeply, trying to tell myself that they will grow up and move OUT one day.

I am proud of myself for how I handled it today, I didn't yell, fly off the handle, or drive off a bridge. I explained to them (once the crying got softer), that I was extremely disappointed in their behavior and that we would not be going out to lunch, but going home to eat lunch there and then it was to bed for Ella and Ryan. Ella doesn't nap anymore, but since she's up at all hours of the night and got up early this morning I knew she was tired.

So here I am blogging my day and it's not even half over yet! The good news is it's quiet in here and two of the three kids are in bed and my oldest is riding his bike! I'm living the dream I tell you, living the dream!

PS Yesterday after school, I took them to the Halloween store, where Ryan started crying, saying he was scared, and then Ella started in, so we waited in the foyer for the oldest to look around for five minutes. Then they wanted pizza for dinner to which I caved because I had a sewing class last night. While waiting for the pizza the kids were begging me for a quarter so they could play the pinball game and "win" a superball. I said no 10 times.......then a man walks in with his kid and promptly plunks not one, but two quarters in the machine. Aubrey crosses his arms, and has a fowl look on his face and says, "look mom, that guy just put in the money and the kid didn't even have to ask".....I busted up laughing and said "yes son I am a terrible mother"......hahaha. I guess all this blogging is helping me laugh at these ridiculous situations my kids put me in daily!!

The Reason I take my kids out in public

Today I had an epiphany. It was sometime during my trip to Kohl's with my three kids, that I realized the reason I take them out in public........to give me material to blog about.

My day started off normally, I dropped Aubrey & Ella off at school and headed to the grocery store. I had stayed up until 11pm the night before carefully making a shopping list. When I arrived at the store I had to use the bathroom, so Ryan and I walked all the way to the opposite corner of the store to the restroom. Then I realized I didn't have my grocery list, so all the way back to the car we go. No list to be found, so I decided to wing it and just get the damn groceries.

Ryan and I get home and unload groceries, but one of my bags has a leak. It was one of the boxes of vegetable broth, there was a small puncture hole, and it was leaking everywhere. So back to the store we go to get another one.........ugh! Then it's off to pick Ella up from Preschool. Then there is the usual, lunch, naps, laundry, all the things that remind me that "I'm living the dream". Then back to pick up Aubrey from school.

Since I wanted to get an outfit for my husbands Change of Command ceremony next week, I decide to just go for it and make a quick stop at Kohl's. I had a talk with all three kids before we even went into the store. I warned them that they had to behave because it was a nice store and "not Chuckie Cheese". Sometime during this "shopping experience" I realized I had made a big mistake.

I took away TV, and told them bedtime was to be at 7, and none of this stopped the screaming, bickering, climbing on the floor, well you get the idea. I'm sure I am the best ad for birth control that there is when I am out in public with my kids. Many of the women were glaring at me like I needed a visit from Supernanny, and tonight I have to agree!

Once we got home I realized that the sales lady forgot to take off the security tag that will spray ink all over my new blouse if I tamper with it.........so back to the torture chamber I go again tomorrow!

I did take away TV and the attached video is how creative they were without it. And I also had my oldest write 25 sentences when he got home stating that he would not act up in a store again! Ella had to go to her room, and they all went to bed at 7PM! No joke!

The last two months

Oh Blog how I've missed you. It has been so long since I've written. I guess that's just the cold hard reality of being an Army wife and mother of three. My husband was at yet, another "Army School" for 8 weeks. One would think that I would really need to blog during that period of time, but atlas I was so exhausted from the daily routine, school drop off/pickups, doctor appointments, snow days, home repairs dinner, bath, & bedtime, that there was really no energy left to write.

I'm sure I've missed many blogging opportunities during that 8 week period, like when my oldest son Aubrey threw himself on the lawn outside my parents house screaming about something that wasn't fair, and when I tried to grab his arm and guide him into the car, and he then screamed at the top of his lungs that I was hurting him. I'm sure all the neighbors had their hand on their phones to call 911.

Ella (4) had a few moments of drama herself. If I asked her to pick up her toys, shoes, or clothes, she would proclaim (hand on hip), "why do I have to do everything?", to which I would reply "that's why I had so many kids, to do everything"!

My baby Ryan, now 2 1/2 is regularly cracking me up, but also regularly having all out stomping, screaming fits. He doesn't discriminate between home, and say the grocery store. If he wants to throw a fit, he's going to throw it. He now quotes his older brother and says "one more chance mommy". It's so darn cute but also so hard when the 2 year old says 8 year old things.

Yes, there were many lost blogging opportunities, but one thing is for sure. It's really hard to be the mom and dad and have some sense of normalcy. The kids really miss Wyatt when he is gone, but they are handling it like troopers. I have to acknowledge that they miss their dad, but also not let them use that as an excuse to get away with bad behavior.....a very tight rope to walk.

Through the good and the bad, I'm so very thankful for them. They make me laugh, they make me cry,they make me crazy and they drive me to drink, but mostly they make me smile! So here's to another week without the husband.........we can do it!
Go Army!

Afternoon at the Veterinary Office

Today started out as most of my days do, although a little early (6am). The kids were up, so off to the gym we go, I've really been trying to make it at least 3 days a week. Everything goes smoothly, but at 12:30 I have an appointment with my cousin, so that meant that Ella and Ryan would not have a nap today. I reason to myself that it will be okay because surely they will snooze on the drive home, or on the way to pick up Aubrey from school.

Well that did NOT happen, so I think to myself that I have time to swing by the house, pick up the dog and then pick up Aubrey. I've needed to get the dog in to get a shot for weeks and I can't seem to fit it in. So today of all days I think it will be a great idea to take all three kids to the Vet's office.

We get there and the kids are a little hyper, but not horrible. We have to wait for about 15 minutes and they ended up in time out, and lost some privileges. Then we go into the room with the Vet.....they were so loud and awful that I had to send Aubrey out with his baby brother Ryan. Before I sent them out I asked the veterinarian if he had any tranquilizers for the kids.....he laughed but I was only half kidding! I kept Ella in the room and tried unsuccessfully to have a conversation with the Vet. The dog was shaking, the kids were screaming......what the what???!!!!

Aubrey kept peeking in the room, and I could hear Ryan squealing in the waiting room, so I was about to loose it. In all fairness I have a reason for my madness; my husband is at an Army school for 9 weeks and that alone is making the kids a little nutty.....and me too.

So as I'm trying to hold the dog's leash, pay for the services and get out of there, my three little heathens are pulling sheets of paper off of the tablets that contain advertisements.....I've asked them to stop repeatedly but they keep on. So finally with my wallet open, my purse on the counter I hand Aubrey the car keys and tell him to take the kids to the car and I'll be there in a minute. I'm parked 5 feet from the door, so this should not be difficult. Ella starts shrieking and carrying on just outside the door and the vet says to me, "geez you need to go home and have a glass of wine"...to which I reply, "haha a glass,.....maybe a bottle". It was so embarrassing!

I get in the car and call my husband just so he can hear what he's missing. I know it's cruel but I need some support so if that means he needs to hear what I'm going through then so be it. If he were in a war zone I wouldn't do that, but damn he's just out of state!

The worst part of your kids completely loosing their shit, is that it makes you seem like the worst parent in the world. My kids have done this before, but it has been a while since I've been so embarrassed that I could just crawl under my car! A guy comes in the office while Ella is stomping her feet and screaming outside the door, and says something about the dog being so well behaved. I then told him that I would trade in the kids for pets if I could. He tells me that his 24 year old son has a dog and says that's the only kid he will ever have. He said that his wife doesn't like it, but that's the way it is. I say, "well, it sounds good to me, pets are very manageable". I tell the Vet and his assistant that I'm sorry for the assault on their ears and I leave totally mortified!

Ella and Ryan bawl all the way home, so I tune it out and let them know that there will be no TV tonight and that they will be in bed by 7. They all throw fits about that, and Ella later tells me she's so bored without TV. Isn't that just sad! Then she tries to play her Leapster and the batteries are dead. I laugh because I'm making dinner and I'm not about to change those batteries for her. Needless to say, we had dinner, baths, and they went to bed at 6:45PM! I also told the kids that we will be going back to the vet next week and they will be apologizing for their behavior. I don't know what else I can do.............except maybe drink more??.........What an afternoon.....this is NOT how I imagined my life.............

Trip from Hell

It's been a while since I've blogged, but we moved from Colorado to Oregon over Christmas break and believe me there hasn't been a dull moment since. This is the story about our "Trip from Hell".

The shortest version is this: We arrived at the Colorado Springs airport with my mom, my three kids, 6 pieces of luggage, two car seats and me, only to find out that our flight had been cancelled....I mean cancelled! Apparently there was some mechanical problem and we had to either fly out the next day or take a bus to Denver (hour and a half drive) and make our connection there. My husband and the dog had already left town in the car, so we really had nowhere to stay. It looked like bussing it to Denver was our only option.

We arrived in Denver with just over an hour to get to our gate, which as we know now, is NOT enough time. We were told they would be expecting us and help to expedite us, but that was a joke. So after fighting with the curb checker and waiting 45 minutes in line to get through security, it really got good.

We began to run to get to the tram, and then ran some more to get to our gate, which was the very last B gate. It seemed like we might not make it. I told mom to run with the kids, and I would run ahead and go tell someone to wait for us. I stopped at two different United Airline gates on the way, gasping for breath, and trying to tell them I needed help. One gate person looked at me and then ignored me. The next woman said she would call ahead, but they wouldn't hold the plane for me. I think as I left I said something like "@itch" under my breath. I just kept running and sweating, carrying the kids back packs and my own stuff. I think we must have went something like 2 miles to get from the security gate to our departure gate.

I saw the plane sitting there, but the door was closed. I ran up to the lady at the gate and asked if we could get on the plane. She looked up from her computer and said "the door is closed ma'am." So I said "well can you open it? I have my mom and three kids running here". She didn't answer me or even look up at me.

At this point I lost it, I just threw all my bags on the ground and sat down and cried. Now this might seem like an over reaction, however I had been in the middle of moving for over a week, we had been staying at (TLF) Temporary lodge Facility, and a crappy one at that, for a week. Six of us and the dog in a small hotel type room. There hadn't been much sleep during that week and now this!!! How unfair life can be!

So my 8 year old finally caught up with me and saw me crying and said, "umm mom, are we going to get on another flight?"
All I could muster was "I don't know son". I really felt exhausted, stressed and sweaty from running to get to a plane that wouldn't let us on!

So then we had to wait in a line to get re-routed to another flight. People all stare at you like you've done something wrong, maybe just overslept and missed your flight.....ummmm HELLOOOOO the airlines screwed up again, I wanted to scream!

After fighting with the lady for several minutes to get us out sooner than 10pm that night (it was noon at this point), she finally moved us to another airline (Frontier) at 6pm. So what to do with 3 kids in the airport for 6 hours?? We'd already been trying to fly for the past 4 hours, and had been on a bus for 1.5 hours...hmmm. Oh yes the one saving grace, the USO club. Since my husband is in the Army, and the great people at the USO volunteer their time, there is a wonderful place in all major airports called the USO that we can go to even when my husband is not traveling with us, as long as you have a military ID card.

So we spent 4 hours there. They have a kids area, video games, free sandwich's, and much much more. Not to say I wouldn't have rather been on a plane home, but it helped us out for sure. We saw people come and go but we apparently stayed for an entire shift. The kids didn't have naps, and this was all starting to really wear on them, so we decided to go wander the airport for the next 2 hours before wheels up.

We walked, ate some more food, I met a wonderful young soldier on his first enlistment in the Army and we chatted for a long time. He was so happy to be a soldier, he said "I can't believe I get paid to do this job". Ella played with her dolls right next to him and sang many of her "original" songs. After a few kid meltdowns, I apologized but assured him it was great birth control for him. He said "I'm in no hurry to have kids ma'am", so I thought, "my work here is done". Hehehe!

We finally boarded the flight and with some crying, fussing, and exhaustion made it home to Portland. Ah home we thought, now things will be alright. Right? Wrong!

We went to the United desk to locate our luggage that should have arrived hours prior, only to find that our bags were in Eugene (2 hours away). I looked like a deer in the headlights...........my mom put her hand on her hip and said "This is ridiculous, this is the worst flight I have ever been on........etc. etc. etc". Finally I looked at my children right outside the door rolling around on the nasty airport floor, the baby flinging his blankie up in the air, and I said, "mom, I don't have time for this", Then I asked the man "what do we need to do now". I had to go two blocks to the other side of baggage claim to file a claim with Frontier. They were not the ones who lost our luggage, but the ones responsible for it anyway because they flew us home. Exasperated, I decided to soldier up and tell mom to go get the kids in the car (my dad was waiting outside), and I would file the claim.

In the midst of landing my poor husband with horrible timing, called to see where we were. I think I might have said some things I shouldn't have, like "if you ever ask me to move again, I will leave you", and "I hate you right now", and a few other things until I recognized that just because he drove 12 hours and got to Idaho before we landed in Portland 12 hours after we started, for what should have been a 2.5 hour trip, I shouldn't take it out on him. I believe that's when I told him I would call him later. Sorry hubs!

Needless to say, Frontier was wonderful, they took the information and gave me some travel toothbrushes and said they would deliver the luggage the next day. So with one more diaper in my purse, no clothes or PJ's for the kids, we put my mom's T-Shirts on them, put them to bed. I did the only thing I could do. Pour myself a glass of wine and sit on the couch and laugh! This was only the beginning, the movers hadn't shown up with our stuff yet....................

Time to Move

It has been quite a while since I've last blogged but today the mood hit me to take a few minutes out of my day and write. Because we are an Army family it's no surprise, we're moving!

This current tour we are on was only supposed to be for 2 years so we knew it was short term. We have only been here a year and a half, but that's typical. It's okay with us this time because we get to go back to Oregon where we have a home, family and friends. So for that we are so thankful and excited.

Whenever you get to a new place it seems like it takes at least a year for it to feel like home. You move, have some great family time because you don't know a soul, and then you start to create a life. I think this process is sped up some for military people because we don't have time to take friendships slow, we have to embrace each other and make the best life we can, while we can.

Every time we have moved, I have had mixed feelings. We are always ready for the next adventure, but it's hard to leave our new friends. Now that we have three kids, it's even harder. The kids have one set of grandparents in Oregon so they are really excited to be near them again, but I don't think it's sunk in yet, that they will miss their friends here.

For me there are days I'm so thrilled I can't stand it, and then I think of some of the wonderful people we have met here in Colorado, and I am a little saddened. I guess you always miss your military family, but the truth is that they will eventually move also, and they understand.

The ones that tear at your heart are the friends that are not military. They have a life in this community and they have let us into it. For me there is some guilt, and sadness about it all. I know that my oldest son's friends will miss him, and he will miss them too.

It's a blessing to have such wonderful people who embrace you and your kids for the time you are here. We will stay in touch with as many of our friends as possible and look forward to our new adventure back in Oregon!

Now let the madness of moving begin!

And I was just thinking I had nothing to blog about!

Honest to God, yesterday I was just thinking that I hadn't blogged in a while because I hadn't had anything really nuts happen to me. Well I jinxed myself because today, while not my worst day ever, it was just shitty! I had some drama at my son's school this morning with his teacher. She is strict and some of the parents wanted to talk with her about it, but it was tense and not comfortable this morning. Then it was on to the principal's office to take up concerns with her, so needless to say I was mentally spent by 8am.

Then after going back home with Ella and Ryan, I tried unsuccessfully for a half hour to get them dressed, so we could walk the dog and go to the park. A poopy diaper and a very crabby 4 year old stood in my way! After our walk I really wanted to load the kids up and go to Target to get a few things, but both kids are crying about Lord knows what. So I decide to feed them and put them down for a nap!

Ryan only slept a little over an hour and he woke up the same way he went down.......crying! That went on for another hour or so. In the mean time Ella woke up and came downstairs. She had a foul look on her face so I tried to give her a hug and she immediately started bawling. When I asked her what the problem was, she screamed that Ryan had made a mess of her dolls and she just cleaned them up. Now this is funny because Ella doesn't clean up anything, she is very good at acting busy while her older brother does all the work.

Then the repeated requests for candy, and gum keep coming at me. She knows I'll say "NO" and then she can cry some more. AHHHHHH! Then I load the two crying kids in the car and head out to get Aubrey from school.

I no more go two blocks and the MP's (military police) pull me over. I'm thinking they have the wrong person because I wasn't speeding! The officer asks if I know why he's pulled me over, to which I reply "no". He goes on to explain that I rolled through the stop sign before turning. He then tells me that the guy behind me was clocked at 37 MPH in a 30 MPH zone but that since I turned in front of him and ran the stop sign (which I didn't), that he had to pull me over instead.

Are you freaking kidding me! I started to laugh a little because this is just the story of my day. I'm thinking that a speeder should get pulled over before me. Then he proceeds to look at my military ID, driver's license, and registration, and berate me for pulling out in front of that truck that was 2 blocks away, and putting my kids in danger etc.
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I mean I've been driving for like 21 years and I've never had a ticket before! And furthermore I wasn't putting my kids in danger, I mean the guy driving 37MPH in a residential was putting kids in danger!

Okay so I calmly breathe and after all this mental abuse he lets me go with a "verbal warning", more like a "verbal lashing". So that does it, the perfect end to my perfect day.....and it was only 2pm. I still had to get Aubrey from school, help him with his homework, make dinner, get them all out the door by 4:45 to get to Ella's dance class, get to Target and get home to bathe Ryan. OMG I'm so tired I could almost fall asleep writing this. Oh and I didn't mention that Ella was such a crab because she was up half the night telling me she couldn't sleep and then crying on and on.

Who's idea was this to have so many kids anyway???? I for one, thought it sounded great over margaritas! But when tucking the little beasts in, I looked at them all and thanked God that they are healthy, smart, loving, and all mine!

What the what?

Talk about a reality check, my husband and I spent 5 days in Austin Texas for a National Guard Convention this past week and had a fabulous time. It's a work trip for my husband but for me it's all fun! So imagine my surprise when the morning after we arrive back home, I wake to find the laundry room full of poop!

Our miniature poodle and rescue dog, Hailey has a tad bit of a stomach problem. My diagnosis is that she has irritable bowel syndrome. None the less, about once a month or so she has a blow out for no apparent reason. I've had her to the vet and they've done tests and given her antibiotics, but they have found nothing wrong with her. So after spending most of my morning cleaning the mess up, while trying to get my oldest ready to go to school, Hailey goes poop all over the patio outside.....I sigh and think to myself "welcome home".

Then our oldest son screams, "Ryan has poop on his blanket", I say "what?", and then I see my husband picking Ryan up to give him a hug and I scream, "ahh put him down". Out of Ryan's diaper is a boat load of crap, literally. So Ryan's bed sheets were trashed, and there was poop on the stairs. My husband was about to head out the door to work and he says, "so I'm going to go to work......I have a feeling this is going to be a shitty day" and he laughed. I, on the other hand didn't find the humor in it!

So after all the doggie clean up, now my 2 year old needs a major clean up and I have to leave in 5 minutes to get Aubrey to school. The only saving grace is that my mom is still in town and she was able to finish up the clean up so I could hit the road and we barely made it before the bell rang. Whew! what a day and it's only 7:15am!

Then after I get Aubrey to school my mom and I, Ella and Ryan all head off to the post office, Payless Shoes, TJ MAx, and Target to get a new dog bed, tutu, tights, tap shoes, & ballet shoes for Ella's class tonight. So many errands to do and I debit something at the post office and realize that I can't remember my pin number. I'm dead serious, I absolutely couldn't remember it! I think there is something seriously wrong with me that I can't remember a pin number I've used for years. So after many hours of frustration with myself, my pin number finally came to me.

So the day ended by feeding the dog white rice for dinner which is supposed to help stop her up, taking Ella to her dance class with my mom and the other two, and wondering if this is what motherhood is all about? OMG I'll never make it! And then I reminded myself that this is an opportunity to BLOG!

New wife to the Army Life?

I met a great lady about a month ago at my kids Tae Kwon Do class. She had seen my husband in his Army uniform, so she knew I was military. One day, as she says, she got up the nerve to talk to me. She is painfully shy and had seen me for several weeks before striking up a conversation.

She is a mother of 4 children, all ages 6 and under. She is 41 years old and her husband just joined the Army a year ago. After he went through basic training he went to AIT (army school), and then they got stationed here in Colorado. Two months after they arrived, he was deployed to Iraq for a year.

By the time she introduced herself to me she had been here 4 months and really had no idea what is available to her, or anything at all about the Army. Talk about culture shock! When I married my husband, he had been in the Army for 6 years already. I knew nothing, but at least he did and we didn't have any children yet so it was just me I had to worry about whenever we moved. She not only is in a strange place, but she has 4 kids knows nothing about this strange life we call The Army.

So after briefly talking to her, I asked her for her phone number and email and I told her I was going to get her some more information. I spent about a week emailing back and forth and that gave her a good start. The Army has several helpful programs for new families: You can request a sponsor when you get to a new duty station. It is the sponsors job to come over and meet you, and give you lots of information about the area, and the Army Post you are living on.

There are also Family Readiness Groups (FRG). The FRG is extremely important especially when your husband is deployed because they are your link to what is going on in country (Iraq in this case). They hold monthly meetings and it is a good way to meet others in your spouses unit. Sometimes the FRG gets a bad rap for being a gossip center, but I have always found it comforting to be in touch with them. I was a coordinator when my husband was in Iraq and again when he came home. It's a volunteer job and needless to say not all FRG's are created equal but I'm a big supporter of them.

Then I let her know about militaryonesource.com, which is the place to go. They are 24/7 organization put in place by the Federal Government since the wars started. It is free to all military families and they can be of great help. They do everything from giving you a packet of information on the area you are moving, to getting you free counseling sessions if you or your kids need it. They also now have online classes for the military spouse which help teach you about the Army, including the world of acronyms!

There is federal funding available for spouses to get certification/training in portable careers. I believe it's up to $4000 in schooling. Many sports/activity programs for kids, including a hourly daycare center. That comes in really handy if you have a doctors appointment or you just need to go rest for two hours. When your husband is deployed you really need some alone time!

As I was helping my new friend navigate this new world, she was starting to feel better about the entire thing. She had no idea who her FRG person was and no one had contacted her,(that's not supposed to happen). So after about 2 weeks of not getting anywhere with that, I made a call to my husband and asked for his help. He found out who her husbands Battalion Commander was and emailed him to let him know about the situation. She received several calls by the next day. The Army takes these programs very seriously, and if someone falls through the cracks it will be rectified immediately. The commanders are all evaluated on their FRG programs, so it's a big deal.

I guess what I learned from this experience is that I have become so used to the Army lifestyle that I know where to go to get an answer that I don't have, but I've been reminded that it's a scary world for a new military spouse. It truly is a different world. Once you're in it, you don't realize that no one outside the military knows what you are talking about. I used to tell my husband to "speak English" when we were first married and that's exactly how my friend feels.

I have also realized that I love the Army and all it has to offer. There are really tough times and lots of sacrifice for sure, but overall I love it. It's not for everyone, but I feel great about helping someone get to know the great things the Army has to offer, and really does have a lot to offer families. So let's all try and help out our new families, because we all had to go through that transition at some point, and it's much easier with help! I had great people along the way help me and I want to pay it forward!

What a day

Today started out how many of my mornings have been starting lately. I wake up to let the dog out, and she has had diarrhea all over the mud room. I feel bad that the dog is not well, but I'm thinking she has irritable bowel syndrome because we've had the dog for 8 months or so and she does this a few times a month. My husband tries to be helpful and pour me a cup of coffee but by the time I can drink it it's cold. He does get the kids cereal so I can tend to the poop patrol.

Today I had had it, so after an hour of cleaning up poop and neglecting my children, I bathe the dog and I'm off to the vet. On the way to the vet we pass a garage sale and I spot a bookshelf. I do a u-turn and head back. I have been looking for a small bookshelf for months and there is one for $10 and in decent shape.....score!! Then back in the car to and to the vet.

We drop her off and head to Target to get a few things. Well, two pretzels, and 3 apple juices later the kids are still acting terrible. I bribe them to behave and tell them they can go look at the toy section if they behave. So after I shop we go to the toy section, which is never good. They keep telling me what they want to buy (as if they have any money) and I keep repeating "you are not getting anything today, just looking". Apparently their hearing has gone bad because that didn't stop the constant begging. Ugh, we leave and go home.

Then we get here get settled and the vet called and said the dog could be picked up. Well a long morning, and $98 later, the dog has nothing wrong with her. They want me to give her antibiotics for a week just in case, but she seems fine. So I make the executive decision to change the dogs food to Purina's Lamb & Rice. It was good enough for our German Shepherd for 12 years, and it will be good enough for our miniature poodle. We've been feeding her this expensive overpriced stuff because she was eating that when we got her, but enough is enough! I think she has IBS and I'm taking matters into my own hands.

After this post I'm off to do more laundry, and attempt to clean up the play room, get the kids to Tae Kwon Do, and make dinner........ have I mentioned that I really want a maid!!!

When a Soldier Cries

I was on my way to visit one of my oldest and dearest friends who now lives in New Jersey. My husband took 5 days leave from work, and I was off to have a vacation from my crazy life and jump into my friends very exciting life for a week. So you can imagine my spirits were soaring as I'm waiting near my gate at the airport.

I saw several soldiers in uniform sitting with their wives. This means they are most likely headed back to a deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan somewhere. If they were on vacation with their wives, they wouldn't be in uniform. So in a moment I was taken back to my husbands 18 month deployment to Iraq in 2003-2005.

Being an Army wife, you feel connected to all of the other wives and family members of soldiers. It's hard to explain the connection, but you can actually look at them saying goodbye to their soldier, and you feel their pain. The soldiers board the plane first. And as I'm standing there watching the women hug their soldiers goodbye, I can hardly stand it. Here I am off to get a vacation from my family, and they have to say goodbye to theirs. It's a mixture of guilt, sadness, and sympathy.

After the soldiers give their boarding passes to the attendant, they turn around for one last look and wave. It's hard to see a soldier cry. They are tough, so to see them so fragile, so human makes everyone in the airport cry.

I am starting to tear up and I have to look away. I see the women crying as they turn to leave the airport. One woman had a toddler with her, and I wanted to run up and hug her. I almost did, but I thought I might really freak her out, or start to have my own PTSD moment and send her over the edge. I stood their silently looking at her and wanting to hug her and make it better for her.

One of the many sad things about having your soldier in a war zone, is that no one can make you feel better about that. Friends can try and offer support, and try to understand what you're going through, but when all is quiet at the dinner hour, and you are home alone, or with your children, you are just a lonely worried Army wife and mother.

I had a fantastic time on my vacation to New York, but I spent much of the time in the city reflecting on why we are in these wars in the first place. Being in New York City where it all started on United States soil, and seeing the affects it is still having on the families of the Military puts everything in my life in perspective. Hats off to our soldiers, and the families who love them!

This stuff really does happen to me!

Today has been a busy one. Every mother knows what it's like have a list a mile long, so my day started something like this.
I got Aubrey to a basketball camp at 9am, Ella's swim lessons at 9:50am, then down to Aubrey's school to get scrip for his uniforms. They were out of scrip....bummer......but they have a table of giveaways (clothes that other kids have outgrown) and I got a few items....score! Then we stop at the consignment shop I sell my tutu's at, and I find out I've sold all but one,....score! Then we go home, cram in lunch, get back in the car to go pick up Aubrey from camp at 1pm.

Oh I'm tired just writing this. Then Aubrey starts to tell me about the coach lady that made them do push ups on their elbows and knees because some kids were throwing their food around. He said "she called them suicide push ups", and then I told him that that meant you kill yourself, to which he replied "I know, she's trying to kill us". And then I replied, "son, then that would be murder".

He's tired because he went to bed too late last night but that's just not right. I mean this is NOT basic training here, this is a camp I paid money for so that my kid could have fun, and instead he's been traumatized. I try not to loose it because Ella and Ryan are so tired they're melting down too. We get home and I put the younger two down for a nap, and try and talk to Aubrey. He says he doesn't want to go back and then he gets invited to a neighbors house and he's out of here.

Then it's back in the car to a cub scout picnic at 5pm. Wyatt has to work late so I think to myself, "self this will be fun". We get there and haul all four chairs, sippy cups, my purse, and the kids and we get set up. They have a great time playing in the sand, and on the toys, and then they have a water balloon fight. Then the clouds start looking foreboding but hey there is pizza and watermelon and the kids are having fun. It starts to rain lightly so we continue to eat. Then it starts lightening, thundering, and pouring. And as if it couldn't get any worse the wind started kicking. We are all soaking wet and the car is so far away. So the 20 of us try and huddle under this pavilion that is quite small.

My poor sweet 23 month old Ryan is yelling, "done, done, all done". Ella is crying and hunkering by my legs and Aubrey is running around in the storm with his friends like maniacs. So we decide to run to the restrooms to hang out for a while until it passes. The bathroom has poop smeared all over the wall (I kid you not) and then a girl comes in to use it(it's a one stall), so needless to say we're back outside in the rain. Thank goodness for the kind people there to help me carry my chairs and Ella, while I'm carrying Ryan and the other chairs as we run through the mud and muck to the car.

Now it's drama central, there is crying, and "I'm cold", and all kinds of drama on the drive home. The radio says there is flash flooding going on in our area, no shit! I was driving through two feet of water much of the way home. Wyatt calls to tell me he is home and see if we are alright, to which I reply, "no we're not alright, we are soaking wet, the kids are crying and I've had it".

So we stripped everyone of their clothes and gave them all a bath and put them to bed, and now it's 8:30 and they are still getting out of bed saying their hungry! I swear motherhood is NOT for the weak! So I sit here on my computer enjoying a glass of wine and trying to laugh about all of this. After all I started this blog for therapy and today is one of those days I need therapy! Oh and we're out of milk so Wyatt went to the store...........HELP!

Our Family Trip to South Dakota

Well friends, my husband decided it would be a great idea to take a family trip to South Dakota, since we are only 8 hours away. And as he put it, "We probably won't be this close to Mt. Rushmore again." So even though I had nagging voices in my head saying "don't do it", we decided to proceed.

The trip there was relatively uneventful, we stopped often, had a picnic lunch somewhere in Wyoming, and overall the kids handled it pretty well. In two days we saw Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Rushmore Caves, Custer State Park, and a few other fun little places along the way.

Since we were touring around, the kids never got more than a 20 minute doze in the car, and they were up most nights until 9 or 10pm, so you can imagine that they were getting pretty tired. I decided to include in this post a few hilarious/exhausting moments:

1) We were driving along and Ella and Ryan took off their shoes in the car. Out of nowhere, Ella says "it smells like toe jam in here!". We busted out laughing!

2) Ryan waves at a helicopter and says "hi Gigi". It's so funny because my mom left a week and a half ago and he thinks she's still on an aircraft somewhere in the sky. Super cute for a kid that's not even two yet!

3) We are at a park when Ella runs to swing on her stomach, and goes over the swing and does a nose dive into some pea gravel. Needless to say she is scraped up on her nose, upper lip and chin. She is bawling and bleeding everywhere. We tell Aubrey (7) and Ryan (23 months) that we need to go because Ella is hurt. Aubrey says, "what, we've only been here like 5 minutes". That didn't go over very well since we were all exhausted, and Ella was hurt! So the next day I told Aubrey to look at his sisters face, and that's why we had to go home, to which he replied, "I hate myself for it". And he was serious, Hilarious!

4)The last night we were there we went to Mt. Rushmore for the night time ceremony which meant we didn't get back to the hotel until 10:30. Everyone was borderline delirious and Aubrey was acting so horrible. I finally told him to stop acting like a jerk. I know, I win mother of the year for that, but he was acting like one. So we all go to bed and I had forgotten all about that remark I made, but Aubrey didn't. He told me the next day that he forgave me for saying that. All I could do was laugh and explain that we all say things we don't mean sometimes. Talk about humility!

So that about covers it, we had a good time but came home exhausted. We have great pictures to prove to the kids that we did take them to South Dakota because I'm sure Aubrey is the only one who will remember it. So needless to say it will be a while before we willingly take another road trip, but I'm glad we did it!

A great husband

On June 30 2010, my sweet husband Wyatt had the day off. The movie Eclipse was coming out and, for those of you under a rock, it's the third installment in the Twlight Saga. Well you could say I'm slightly obsessed. I read the books a few years ago and now have seen all of the movies out so far.

Sorry, I digress. I wanted to go see the showing at midnight on eve of the 29th, but they were sold out so I bought tickets online for the 10am showing on the 30th. Wyatt had the day off and my mom was still in town, so I asked Wyatt to go with me. He not only said he would go with me, but waited in line for over an hour while we waited to get in to the theater.

Needless to say I was much more excited about the movie than Wyatt, but the point is, he went with me and didn't even complain. I love you husband!

Upon further reflection I have humored him a time or two. Take the time I was 8 months pregnant with my oldest, and living in South Carolina. He drug me to a Bad Company concert outside in August! I was battling hypertension, and my ankles were, well, cankles! While he was hooting and hollering I was sitting in a chair hot as heck and making lots of trips to the not so clean bathrooms. And then there was the time that we went to a Metallica concert because they gave free tickets to the military. Not only was I wearing ear plugs and still it was too loud, but all of the husbands there said, "oh my wife refused to come". Great!

So while I don't want to take away Wyatt's kudos for accompanying me to the movie Eclipse, I guess all is fair in love and war!

My daughter said what??

My mom is in town for a couple of weeks which is so fabulous! It's like having a wife, she cooks, she cleans, she changes diapers and plays with the kids. Yesterday my sweet, newly turned 4 year old daughter Ella was full of vinegar.

It seemed like it was going to be quite a day with Ella. She started off the day by getting frustrated that she couldn't cram 10 things into her small makeup case. She uttered this sentence, "I can't close the damn thing"! I told her that she couldn't say that word, and helped her fix the problem with the makeup case. Then my mom told me Ella couldn't open up something in the play room, so she said "what the Hell?". My mom told her that was a bad word, to which she replied "I didn't know Hell was a bad word".

We all went to Target yesterday afternoon and my mom bought each of the kids a $5 gift at Target, much to my dismay, but none the less. So on the drive home Ella kept teasing her brother with her doll, and poking him with it. After the 5th time of asking her to stop teasing Ryan, I grabbed the doll and tossed it on the floor by my mom's feet. Well, Ella was ticked after that and she decided to take her anger out on her Gigi (my mom).

Here is what happened next. Ella says out of nowhere, "Gigi, I hate your shirt". My mom didn't miss a beat, and said "oh thank you". Then Ella said, "no, I said I hate your shirt", and Gigi said again, "I know, thank you".

I was a little shocked at her nastiness to her Gigi and I asked her why she would say something like that and she said "Ryan told me to". Ryan is not quite two years old yet, and although he can say many words, he could never say that!

Then my mom said "Ella why would you say you hate my shirt"? to which Ella replied "because I hate you". At this point I had no words, it was clearly a case of her trying to shock us and it was kind of funny, but so inappropriate that I had to address it.

My mom then said "Ella, what you should do is say that you are sorry for being rude to Gigi". Ella then replied "I'm not going to say that". At this point I told her she was going to time out when we got home. After the time out I told her that it was NOT okay to talk to people like that and asked her what she should say to Gigi instead. She replied "tell her I'm sorry". I told her that was a good idea but she ignored the advice and didn't say anything. So after a few minutes I had to force her into it! AHHHH!

So we had quite a day yesterday. To follow up, she did get up this morning and tell Gigi that she didn't hate her shirt. What will the high school years bring? I guess one day I'll look back and laugh at all of this.....I hope.......oh and my mom just informed me that Aubrey said the other day he was half Italian and half Southern.....does it ever stop?

Tae Kwon Do

I haven't blogged in a while and it is NOT for lack of material but lack of time. There is so much I could talk about, our flights to and from Mississippi for our family reunion.....lots of material there. All the sicknesses we've had over the past two months, or all the craziness that surrounds our weeks, but I've decided to skip ahead of all that to this past Friday.

It was a busy day, Aubrey was in cub scout camp all week from 9-4 which sounds like heaven, but it's an hour and a half round trip drive, and that alone is painful when Ella and Ryan are so over it! The back story for Tae Kwon Do is that the kids have been taking lessons since April. You are supposed to attend class at least two times a week. Well, I went and lost my mind the day I signed them up and paid all that money. With baseball, cub scouts, summer camps, swim lessons etc. we don't have the time to get them there twice a week. So after cub scout camp all last week and baseball two nights that week I thought that we should try and get them there for Friday's class.

I make a, not so nutritious meal, get them dressed in their outfits, and have Wyatt come home from work early to get them there by 6:15. Some little voice in the back of my head told me to double check the schedule...........to what do my wondering eyes do appear?? The schedule says that on Fridays it starts at 5:35. At this point it's 5:40, so we missed that class! Ugh!

Then I decide to get them to the North school which is about a half and hour away on Saturday morning. I had it all planned out, Aubrey has a baseball game at the Air Academy, (same direction as the Tae Kwon Do center), so we get breakfast early and head out the door at 8:30am. We get there with extra clothes for everyone because it's raining, cold and nasty and Aubrey's baseball game starts at noon.

We pull in the parking lot and there is only one car. I figure something is wrong here because the lot should be full. Wyatt looks at the note on the door and it says there is no class today because there is a black belt spectacular event. I just sit there wondering if I should laugh or cry, all I can do is throw my hands up and say, "come on"! We are now on attempt number 2 to get them to class, my intentions are good and I just can't seem to make it happen!

We are a half an hour from home and three hours away from the start of Aubrey's game, and I have to pee. So my husband decides to makes lemonade out of the lemons. "Let's just go up to the air academy and tour the chapel". It's a good idea since we haven't seen it, and even though it's crappy weather I decide it's probably the best option.

So we end up touring it with the kids, stopping by Burger King (only option on base), and off to Aubrey's game to freeze our buns off! All in all it turned out pretty well, but I've discovered that with three kids, less is more. I really need to stop over extending us. I guess this frustration is just life and as long as we have three kids at home and are involved in activities, this is our life! So today I welcome it with open arms. I will take a day at a time, and today is My sweet Ella's 4th birthday and I will enjoy this day! Now we're off to swim lessons, home to make brownies, decorate, and then her party is here at 4.......it never ends! At least gigi ( my mom) is coming for a visit on Wednesday and I will have some extra help! woot woot!

Can this all happen to me you might wonder......YES it can!!

Today started off like most days, the rush of getting Ella and Aubrey ready for school and out the door. The dog jumped on Wyatt's leather chair and promptly puked. Luckily she missed the chair and it hit the floor. Ahhhh it's finally quiet.....relatively quiet because Ryan is hollering at me and I'm not sure what language he was speaking in, but "me no understand" so he continues to holler.

Never the less I decide to enjoy my cup of coffee which is by now cold. So I get a refill and prepare to sit down. I set the cup on the kitchen table and turn my back to get something, and Ryan reaches up to grab the handle and proceeds to dump it all out. I guess the silver lining is that I put so much cream in my coffee, it wasn't very hot so he didn't get burned but it made quite a mess. It dripped down in the cracks of the table, and all over the floor, wall, and chairs. Major sticky mess there, so I take a deep breath and tell Ryan "don't touch mommy's coffee it's HOT", and then clean it up.

Then among my errands I drop the dog off at doggy daycare so she can get used to this new place before we board her. After picking up Aubrey from school we swing by to pick the dog up for the day. She's excited to see us, but clearly Po'd that we left her there all day. We get home and the kids stay in the car so I can let the dog go outside before our play date in ten minutes.

I watch the dog to make sure she goes to the bathroom. I wait and wait and finally Hailey (the dog) squats, and squats, and squats some more. She never went but was trying to reach her bum, so I knew what I was in for. I go outside and see that the damn dog has managed to get smashed poop all over in her hair. OMG at this point I've got Ryan screaming in the car, a play date to be at in 5 minutes and crap all over the dogs bum!!! I have to give her back half a bath in the laundry room sink so I grab the gloves. I set the dog down for a brief moment and of course she hops on the blanket on the couch and taints that, so I grab that and throw it in the washer, and get the dog in the sink. At this point Aubrey comes in to investigate why we aren't leaving.

Then we go to my friends house to "relax" while the kids are playing. Hahaha, that is funny, the kids were so nuts today we didn't get much time....okay any time to talk. We were interrupted by crying, Ryan hollering at me while stuck at the top of their play structure, and Aubrey crying because he and his friend super soaked the girls and they were crying. It was a mess! My friend said it best when she said "well, we tried". There were 3 women including me, and 7 kids and we all agreed we need to go out next time.........without the kids!

Domestic goddess.....I say YES!

I know that all moms tend to be overachievers. Not because we necessarily want to be, but because we have to be! There are days that I'm more productive than others, but some days the only time I sit is to write this blog. This morning Ryan woke me up at 5 am, which is an improvement from the all nighters lately due to his ear infection.

So I'm up,....oh no cramps! Great! I look on the bright side that I can get it over with before our trip. I get everyone breakfast, , and Aubrey and Wyatt out the door. Then I realize that since I'm going to Costco today I really need to order some pictures online and pick them up. So with all of the bickering between Ella and Ryan, it takes a while. Then it's upstairs to get them dressed. I gather up all of the things we need just to leave the house, diaper, wipes, water for the kids, snacks, and keys........found em! Then I smell something not so good, so it's upstairs to take Ryan's shoes back off, and change the diaper. He is on antibiotics for his ear infection and that is apparently making for some soggy poop conditions....ahhhh!

Back downstairs, into the car, and off we go! Stop at Target to pick up a birthday present for Ella's friend's party on Saturday afternoon, black shorts for Aubrey for his track meet on Saturday morning, and off we go to Costco! Costco is the usual zoo, so I make a detour into the liquor store attached to Costco because I'm out of red wine and that is a crisis! Here in Colorado you can't buy wine at the grocery store, you have to go to a liquor store. Then Ella asks "mom is that all your getting"? I kind of laugh because I've got three bottles in my cart and maybe she expects me to buy more....

Then Costco here we come, pick up the pictures which are done early, whew! Then off to get the groceries, sample a few things, listen to some fussing from the kids, sample a few more foods, and check out! Then Ella starts in asking if she can skip the nap. Yesterday she went to the zoo on a field trip and then Tae Kwon Do last night after Wyatt pinched her leg in the car seat buckle and we had major screaming going on....needless to say she was exhausted last night and still is a bit tired today. I know my sweet Ella and when she's tired and you can"t tell her in a public place that she CANNOT skip the nap she starts to wail. So I simply say "we'll see" and change the subject. I saved the "You have to take a nap today" speech for once we got home.

On the drive home I call the husband to see if he wants me to pick him up for lunch, my secret plan being that he can help unload the massive amount of groceries I have in the car. Of course today of all days he can't because his co-worker is out of the office. "Fine" I say.

So the kids are running wild, the dog too and I'm unloading the groceries and trying to put them away, run out and pick up dog poop so the kids don't step in it, and get the kids lunch so we can get to the nap. Then I pick Ryan up out of the high chair and there are two brown butt prints on the chair, and I realize he's had diarrhea AGAIN and it's through the shorts and everywhere.....so off we go to change everything out again. Then change out the laundry for the 2nd time today, include the newest poopy items, pick up all of the million little pieces of paper strewn all over the house (Ella's new hobbie, paper everywhere). All of this before I have to head back to school to help coach track practice!

I realize that it's after one o'clock and I haven't had lunch, a shower, or anytime to myself. And then there's me already thinking of what I'll cook for dinner tonight, the baths I have to give the kids, the homework that Aubrey will have,.............and then one more thought is in my head.........Will I complete all of these tasks in time to watch the season finale of Grey's Anatomy and have a glass of wine tonight? I surely hope so because I am a domestic goddess!

Oh and the husband just walked into the house for lunch and said "where's my food woman"? He's kidding of course but if looks could kill!

The guitar recital

Tonight was Aubrey's ill fated guitar recital. So to do this story justice I must share with you, that this arts night/recital was scheduled to happen in April. So last month after shoveling in a frozen pizza, and getting everyone dressed up, in the car and down to the school, we arrive to find no one there? Wyatt jokingly asks if we have the right night. So Aubrey and I knock on the music teachers door and she says that it was rescheduled because of the snow storm north of us, and asked Aubrey if he heard the announcement on the loudspeaker after school. Okay I have a first grader, he rarely listens to me so I'm sure he missed that one. Instead of being mad we decided to take the kids out for ice cream which was fun, and later Aubrey said "mom, I'm glad it got canceled because if it didn't then we wouldn't have had ice cream". To which I replied "this is true son".

Fast forward to tonight. I pick Aubrey up from school and announce that we have to get home, have a snack and head to
Tae Kwon Do, and then off to the arts night recital. He says he has a stomach ache and can hardly move his stomach hurts so bad. So I ignore it and when we get home he uses the bathroom and then lays on the couch moaning and groaning. So needless to say we don't go to Tae Kwon Do.

I make pancakes for dinner because I haven't been to the grocery store yet and we're out of everything, then it's off to stop at the Class 6 (convenience store on base) and it's NOT so convenient. We have to pick up cookies for tonight (I had only remembered an hour before we had to leave) and the line is really long. So finally we're off to the school for the reschedule of arts night. Also known as "the ill fated guitar recital".

We get there and Aubrey is getting tuned up and ready to go, Wyatt, the kids and I are looking at the art in the hallway waiting for the musical part to begin. One of the teachers told me that Aubrey is going to be quite the musician because he headed back to the guitar room because "he didn't want to pop a string before the concert". She said he even had the lingo down.

So we are waiting in the gym for the show to begin and we watch the show choir, classical band, a soloist, and finally the guitar band comes out. I'm trying to keep Ryan from cracking his head on the bleachers and Wyatt says "Aubrey doesn't have his guitar". "What"? I reply. Then I see that he's sitting in a chair without his guitar. So as the music teacher is talking to the audience I head up to the gym floor to ask what is going on and she sees me. She then says "oh Aubrey let me get you my guitar". Aubrey mouths that his guitar is broken. I'm thinking he "popped a string" but then Wyatt says that the teacher would let him play with one broken string, so then I'm worried about the condition of the guitar.

A little back story on the guitar, Wyatt and I bought it at the school auction and then had to go trade it for a smaller one that he could play better and now three months later it was all for not.

Back to the story, so after the concert the music teacher came up to us and said that she wasn't in the music room at the time, but some parents were and she didn't know what happened exactly, but that the guitar was no longer with us. I'm in a bit of shock, but she explained that Aubrey was so upset. She told him he could play her guitar, and that helped, but he looked upset so I tried to remain calm.

Aubrey said that one of the older kids (he doesn't know their name) knocked his guitar off the table it was on, and then a little later he picked it up and then dropped it and the neck snapped off. So needless to say, Aubrey "hates himself" as he put it because he broke his guitar and now he can't take lessons. He was also very upset that the older kids laughed at him, he's so sensitive that it broke my heart.

So I am sad about the lost money, the broken guitar and my son's disappointment but at least he wants to play, so I'm trying to look on the bright side! For this is the life we have chosen to share with our three kids who break the hell out of all of our stuff!

Ground hog's day

You would have to read the previous post for this one to make sense, but this morning I woke up to a big poopy mess in the mud room from our lovely dog......again! Oh do I wish it was mothers day again so I could have avoided all of that. Our dog is not well although after cleaning up that mess, and giving her a bath she seems perfectly fine. I will pray tonight, and I will pray hard that she does not give me a toxic mess like that again I just can't take it! ugh!