It was a Date that will live in Infamy...

(...in more infamous ways than I had anticipated. )

For friday Dec. 7th Pearl Harbor Day, I had a great homeschool day planned. (yes, this is a very late post due to technichal difficulties.) I really wanted to recognize and remember Pearl Harbor Day as a very significant day in American history so I had planned to read to the kids about the history of it, Roosevelt's famous quote, watch some of the very well done battle scenes in the recent Pearl Harbor movie, and whatever else I could fit in. I had a big day planned.
I awoke and just couldn't resist running out back to snap a photo of these beautiful deer munching our rose bushes in the glorious morning sunrise. Apparently my two year old Owen couldn't resist locking his barefoot mother outside to scamper around in her pajamas on the icy ground trying to get back in. But fortunately...
...the four year old Essie had awoken to rescue me. Brian had been gone all week in Virginia on business and at this point I was hanging on by a thread, missing him, wanting to get in a good day of school and have the house looking and smelling very nice for him when he got home. First there was getting locked out, then there was that clogged toilet flooding... but fortunately for me again...
The little man of the house had a few good tricks up his sleeves. ;) Well...then there was this... and it was cute and funny with the sugar...but no, not today...
So why do I stand around taking pictures of these catastrophes, you ask? Well, it is a good way to let the frustration deflate and to see the future humor in what feels overwhelming at the time.
There was no cute name for it today...only messes...and messed up schedules...
Why do I even pretend to follow the Super Baby food diet. I don't. (said in Eeyore voice)
Sigh...more baths...more baths...always...baths...

And laundry...I had almost managed to have it all done by the time he got home...hmmm...I'm remembering Brian's last business trip and remembering this could be worse. No one is in the ER... yet...
RASCAL BABIES!!!!
I was in a hurry... I gave her an extra dose of water for the mischief...
But she LOOOOOOVES WATER as much as sugar and cocoa mix!

Mmmmmmm....
Is that a little look of remorse watching Gemma deal with the aftermath?
(sigh)...sometimes my Gemma makes Cinderella herself seem dowdy This was the real trouble maker so I made her take over the job instead of Gemma. Too bad it was such a fun punishment...
So at this point, dinner is VERY late, there have been NUMEROUS unanticipated interruptions throughout the day, hardly any schoolwork has been done, there is MORE laundry instead of less, the smells and appearance throughout the house (not to mention Mommy!) are not what I imagined my hard working husband coming home to... I am at this point doing mere "damage control".....when... I smell smoke. I run downstairs and the most acrid, cancerous smelling smoke you can imagine is billowing out of my kitchen. Essie... (yes, Essie again...) has decided to nuke some almonds in a plastic bowl in the microwave (none of which, btw, she is ever allowed to do. Not the microwave, not the almonds, not the plastic bowl....). The plastic bowl is now melting and full of blackened almonds. I stop the microwave, rush the kids outside out of the terrible fumes and run back in to get the smoking microwave mess out of my house.

How could one little bowl of nuts make such a big mess?

Long story short, we ended up having to open up every door and window, leave for several hours because of the smell, and get whoppers for dinner. I knew by the smell of my sweater that we had our work cut out for us. We came home, wiped down walls, cupboards, lit candles, made brownies and anything else we could do to get rid of the smell. The microwave was too far gone to salvage. (sigh)

Brian's flight was delayed (which actually helped) and we somehow managed to have clean kids (and wife), a beautiful house, a little time to watch the battle scenes in Pearl Harbor and remember with thankfulness all the brave men who died serving our country are still doing so.

By the sheer miraculous mercies of God, by the time Brian got home, somehow there were brownies right out of the oven and a very happy homecoming (with only the faintest smell of burnt plastic).

The Real McSteamy...
This is my McSteamy...saturday morning, making lattes for all his little ladies...snow falling in the background. ...... Boy does he ever steam my milk.