Reunited and it feels so good!

What happens when you mix 8 adults, 5 kids and a backwoods mountain home together? Hub's Sibling Family Reunion (or HSFR for short!). Hub's older sister had the idea to get all the "kids" together for a fun weekend in the mountains. Unfortunately, the weekend the other siblings could go was the weekend AFTER my high school reunion. Because of travel and the cost of the reunion, we didn't think we'd be able to go, but the ball was dropped on the reunion and so was the cost, so we grabbed our moonshine and headed to Tennessee!

I'll admit, I was a little apprehensive. I'm a control freak, and like to do the planning, but Hub's older sister handled everything. No one had actually SEEN the house we rented and after comparing virtual tours to actual houses while house hunting, I was a wee bit worried. Also, the thought of all those people (and kids!) in one place for an extended weekend scared me more than a wee bit.

We met up with two of the siblings "downtown" and made our way toward the house. It should come as no shock that Madge had no idea where we were (and even if she did, I refused to listen. I'm still convinced she wanted us to drive off a mountain. She's out to get me!), so we were following the rental company's directions which included, "Turn left at the blue house on the corner," and "take the dirt road all the way back."

The first part of the drive was lovely. The mountains were gorgeous, the leaves were changing, the kids were pretty happy. However, after turning left at the blue house, I could hear the Dueling Banjos from Deliverance playing in my head. I locked the doors and told Hubs I was glad that we were driving in during the daylight hours.

And then, the house! It was....not like the pictures. At. All. And there was a creepy stone slab that I was convinced was some sort of burial ground. BIL's wife and I got out to look around and discovered that there was another dirt road that extended beyond the dirt road we were on. We told the boys to drive on and we'd walk. Down a hill and around a curve, and there it was! Like a beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert! I still felt like it would be a great setting for a scary movie and was convinced some mad man was going to cross the stream and cut off all our heads while we slept, but kept it to myself and tried to enjoy the weekend.

And can I just say that we had a GREAT time. All the kids got along, there was this giant outdoor pavillion where the boys could go drink beer and build a fire, the girls could stay in the main house with the wii and the kids. The weather was gross enough that we didn't want to go anywhere, but not so gross that we didn't go out and enjoy walking in the stream. The house was very newly refurbished, and even though there was quite a few of us, we weren't on top of each other all the time.

And the best part? All the girls there. SIL (mother of three), me (mother of two), SIL (elementary school teacher) and other SIL (nurse). So basically 4 women who are completely in sync with taking care of other people. One would be entertaining the kids while another would be cooking while another was sweeping the floor and another washing towels. It was like a ballet. At one point, I said, "You know. I'm thinking I could get really into the idea of sister-wives." BIL asked what I was talking about. "You know. Like on Big Love. All the sister-wives working together. This is really nice. EVERYTHING gets done and there's no nagging, reminding, begging or complaining. We all just know what needs to be done and we do it!" Then BIL reminded me of one tiny little complication. "Yeah but who ELSE would want to be married to Hubs?!" Touche, bro. Touche.

To infinity, and beyond!

I am walking out of the door to take Strip to movie #2, Toy Story double feature in 3D!  Woo hoo!!  She has no idea, and wants to be surprised as to where we are going, so she'll figure it out when we get there.

However, now I'm thinking I should have told her, because I'm betting that when I tell her what we're going to see, she'll say, "But we just watched that at Ma's!"  And I'm worried she'll hate the 3d part.....

Oh well.  I'm sure the glasses won't fit her anyway, and who doesn't love seeing a favorite movie in the theatre?! This should be interesting!

Ballet Drama, Part II

Because I'm now chillin at the dance studio, I tried chatting it up with one of the moms (who does speak English).  She asked which one was mine, and I pointed Strip out.  She pointed  out a tiny blond as hers and my first thought was, "I wonder how old she is."  Strip is a jolly blond giant, so I forget what "normal" kids her age look like.  Mom asked me how old she was and I told her her birthdate.  She said her kiddo was GOING TO BE 4 the end of October.  Wow.  The majority of the kids in this class are already 4/turning 5, so I braced myself for the inevitable phrase, "She's just really advanced," which came out about 7 seconds later. 

Well this last week, something went down during the bean bag dance and the advanced kid CHUNKED her beanbag into the mirror and lost it.  The teacher handled it really well, but I was kind of curious what happened.  When we got in the car, I asked Strip if anything happened in class and she said no.  I told her I heard someone crying and asked what that was about.  

Strip:  Oh yeah.  They yellow haired kid?

Me:   Yeah, what was up with that?

Strip:  She threw her bean bag across the room really hard and hit the mirror.  Then she started yelling at the teacher and she had to sit in time out, but she got to do tap with us so it was fine.

Me:  Oh.  Hmm.  Why did she throw her bean bag across the room?

Strip:  I don't know.  I'm not her, how am I supposed to know why she does something?

Touche.

My little thinker is also really annoyed with the song "Tomorrow" from Annie.  

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, Tomorrow!  Strip's thought:  That doesn't make any sense.  How can she love tomorrow, today?  She doesn't even know what is going to happen yet!

I was right.

It did get messy.

Our first stop ended up being Costco, because I needed a couple of things, and you can get lunch there for $1.49.  After our hot dog, Costco samples and getting our necessities,  I asked Nugget if he needed to go to the bathroom.  Yes!  And he was still dry!  Hooray!  After a sucessful trip to the public bathroom, the toilet wouldn't flush.  Awesome.  There happened to be a Costco employee in there who heard us attempting to flush and started screaming, "You have to hold it up for 5 seconds, then push in and down!"  After trying to flush for the 18th time, I pushed the kids and giant cart out of the bathroom and tried one more time.

Success!  Followed by a wooshing sound.  Followed by water pouring out of the toilet.  Awesome.  The employee was standing right there, and all I could think to say was, "I promise he just peed!"  So the first time out in big boy underwear and we flood the Costco ladies room.  Great!

We ran the rest of our errands, and I needed to stop by the library but didn't think to make him go before we left the mall.  Two minutes before we got to the library, I hear, "Oh!  I pee pee!"  Oh no.  "Did you pee pee, or do you need to pee pee?"  "I need to pee pee.  Mater's dry."  Awesome!  We'll be there before you can sing Wheels on the Bus.  Unfortunately, it takes very little to excited a 2 year-old, so when we rounded the corner and Nugget caught sight of the  library, I hear, "SUE!!!  LOOK!!  Lie-berry!  Look Sue!! Flag!!  SUE....uh ohhhhhh.  Mater wet.  Oh no Mater, oh no."

Sure enough, Mater was wet, so we just cranked the car and headed home to hose off.  Oh well!  It was a good try!

This could get ugly.

Or messy.  Or both.

Today, we had a stay at home day planned.  Then I remembered 6 errands I needed to run, so we've started our day.  Because the original plan for today involved NOTHING, I had Nugget all hyped up to wear big boy underwear all.day.long.  And now that we are going out and about, he's decided he wants to wear "queen pants," today (and that would be MCqueen, not girlie undies).

The first stop is the fabric store, which coincidentally is the first place Strip went diaper-free.  She was very successful her first trip out, so we'll see how Nugget does.  I have back up clothes packed, but it's also raining cats and dogs, so if we do have an oops, maybe people will thing he sat in a puddle?

Potty training is the best!

Ballet Drama

Strip has ballet one night a week.  I've been lucky that Hubs has been getting home early on those nights, so I don't have to take Nugget with me.  There is a large window where you can look in a watch the class, but I don't like to stand there where she can see me because I want her concentrating on the class.  So, I convinced myself to have a little "me" time and go to B&N to do a little reading.  I wandered down to the book store, found a book and a comfy chair, then have this overwhelming feeling that Strip was going to get kidnapped.  It's a dance studio, not a hospital or school, so really, anyone could just walk in and grab her.  

After trying to read for about 20 minutes (unsuccessfully), I went back to the studio and peeked in the window.  Strip is pretty easy to spot because she's one of 3 blondies in her class, but I didn't see her.  I peeked down to see if she was sitting on the wall putting on her tap shoes, but nope.  The door was cracked, so I peeked my head in the room to see if she was sitting in a blind spot.  Nope.  Scanned the room again, and nothing.  That's when I almost wet my pants.  I didn't want to run in the room screaming like an idiot so I glanced around the moms group.  The two I recognized are fluent in Russian, so that was a no-go.  I power walked up to the front desk to ask the volunteer where my baby was, but she was talking to a new mom out prices and class times, so I sprinted to the bathroom, where she was, happily washing her hands with the teacher's aid.

UGH!  I will now be visiting the library before ballet and never letting her out of my sight!

The five words no mother wants to hear from her 2 y.o.

"Mommy, look!  I up high!"

Yes, Nugget has a bunk bed.  It's a twin over full, and he sleeps in the full, bottom part.  The ladder is tucked away under the bed, so he's not tempted to climb to the top bunk and flip off of it.  He really had not shown much interest in the top bunk, but when he would ask, "I go up dear?"  I would just tell him no and that he had to be 5 to sleep up there.   "Oh.  I two."  Yup.

Until yesterday.  I was organizing their closets (again) and had gone into Strip's room to put away some things for next season when I hear the 5 above mentioned words.  Sure enough, I walk into his room and he is on the top bunk, no ladder needed.  I foresee a trip to the er and a cast in our future.  At least swimming season is over...