White House Easter Egg Roll

When the lottery opened up for the White House Egg Roll, I eagerly submitted our names.  I knew that it was a big event, but I didn’t realize that people from all over the country attempt to attend.  Needless to say, we did not get lucky.

Then, a week before Easter, Thomas was listening to our weekly recorded message from the kids’ school when the principal made a special announcement; their school was one of 4 in the county selected to receive tickets to the Easter Egg Roll!  Quantities were limited and interested parties were directed to call “Mary” on Tuesday morning (this was on a Friday).  When Tuesday rolled around, I started calling every 15 minutes, beginning at 630.  Thomas left a message with his cell phone number—we were trying to cover our bases.  If it wasn’t Spring Break, I would have gone down to the school board offices, but there was no way I was going to stand in line by myself with the 4 kids.  By 915, I had called at least a dozen times with no luck.  Then, Thomas called me:  Mary had returned his call and our name had made it onto the wait list!  He was told that they weren’t sure how many tickets they would get, or even if they would actually get any.  She said if he didn’t hear back by 3:30 then we weren’t getting tickets.  3:30 came and went and we thought all hope was lost.  Then, on Wednesday, she called again and said we needed to come pick up or tickets.  So, me and the kids went and got them.  The county had been given 200 tickets and we were 6 of the lucky recipients.

In preparation, I read a few blogs of people who had been, searching for tips.  One person had been a few times in recent years.  Her advice, which she gave in a very authoritative manner, suggested that if you didn’t have a specific list of things you needed to accomplish, then show up at your start time, or 15 minutes later and skip the line.  She stated that it would be crowded inside, but that the slowest line is the one to get in.  Since we were bringing Luke and wanted to minimize the number of times he would need to be fed, we decided to take her advice.  Bad decision… nee terrible decision.  But, I am getting ahead of myself.

On Easter Monday, we were set and ready.  It is amazing how much more time it takes to get out the door when one is traveling with a baby, but we departed on time and reached the metro station on schedule.  It was Luke’s first time riding the train.  However, he wasn’t impressed, choosing to spend the whole ride eating.

Luke's first train ride, his stroller is kind of blocking the shot.

The closest stop is Federal Triangle, but we decided not to switch trains and departed at the Archives.  From there, it was about a mile walk to the White House Ellipse.  Then, we had to walk another 0.5 mile to find the line.  The kids and I all used the port-a-potties, which is a good thing because the line was endless.  And, the worst part was we kept thinking it was over, only to find there was another line to stand in.  We got there at 1210 (our ticket time was 12:15-2:15) and it was 1:15 before we were actually inside.  We spent an hour walking and waiting (on top of the walk from the metro).  The kids were really grouchy. 

If you look way off into the distance, you can see the White House.  This was sort of the line to get into the line to get into the line to get onto the lawn.

Approximately an hour after the last picture.  We are still walking in line (but, almost there).

And, we're in!  

Once we were finally inside, the crowds were pretty daunting.  There were literally thousands of people.  We were expecting huge crowds, but it was even more than we had imagined.  The area in front of the stage was packed and the lines for all the events were extremely long.  We decided to do the seminal Egg Roll first and then go from there.  I got in the line for the roll and Thomas and the kids got in line to meet Sophia and then met up with me.

There were lots of Disney characters walking around.  Their handlers had Walt Disney World name tags, so they were the real deal.

The line for the Egg Roll seemed really long, but it moved extremely quickly. This is the closest we got to the White House (and, it was very close).  We saw the balcony that the President speaks from and learned from one of the volunteers that it looks directly to the Jefferson Memorial, so that the current President is looking into Thomas Jefferson's eyes when he steps outside.  It felt very historical to be standing right in front of the White House and being part of a centuries-old tradition.  I love that our children have joined the throngs of other children, who for over a century have rolled an egg on the South lawn. That experience alone made all of the frustration worthwhile!

This is the view looking out from the White House.  In the distance, you can see the Jefferson Memorial.

And, looking toward the White House.

Jack did his so quick, I couldn't get a picture, so I sent him back to pretend he was rolling :)

After that, Thomas took the kids through the "Eggtivity Zone" zone while I fed Luke.  Again, the line appeared long, but moved very quickly.  

There were professional athletes in the zone, including Matt Lawrence of the Ravens

Thomas took over the feeding (only Luke's second bottle ever) while I took the kids to do one of the posed pictures.  

They had 4 or 5 wooden cutouts, the lines for these were also a bit long, so we just did one.

We walked around a bit more and listened to the group performing (whose name I can’t remember, but whose song I have heard many times on the radio).  Another trip to the port-a-potty and we were on our way.  We had also read that the line to get out could take a while.  Since it was only 10 minutes until our allotted time ended, we decided it was a good time to leave.  We got in line, which thankfully moved very quickly, collected our Peeps, an ice cream treat and souvenir wooden egg.  Here are a couple more pictures, one looking toward the White House and one the Washington Monument.  Note, there are people everywhere!

Then, it was back to the metro.  We stopped off at Chevy’s for a late lunch/early dinner.

All in all, it was a fantastic day and an experience I would highly recommend.  We all had a fabulous time and would love to do it again!  

If anyone has googled and reached this blog looking for tips (and managed to read this far) here is my advice:  

1) Get there early.  We had friends who got there an hour and 15 minutes before the allotted time and got in very quickly.  They ended up only waiting 15 minutes longer than us and had an extra hour of time to enjoy the event.  We would have liked to do the basketball/tennis activity and played on the President's court.  We also missed the story being read by Jim Carrey, which would have been fun. 

2) Don’t be intimidated by long lines.  There were many people who walked by the line for the roll and decided it was too long.  They run this event like a finally tuned machine and the lines move quickly (well, not the one to get in, but I have already belabored that point). 

3) The rules say no food/drink.  We had no trouble with our diaper bag and the snacks it contained.  Before the final line to get in, there was a water and juice box station.  Some people were walking around with bananas and apples, but we never saw where to get them.  Don’t go expecting to be fed. 

4) Do go expecting a crowd.  This is a national event.  There were people from every state represented (and lots of students from DC).  The two families in front of us in line to take our lawn picture were both from California.  

Easter: A Week-Long Extravaganza

When I was kid, Easter was pretty fun.  We'd color eggs; the Easter bunny would hide candy filled eggs around the house (if my dad did the hiding, we would be finding them all the way until summer).  We'd go to church, have a nice dinner and consider ourselves lucky.  There might even be a trip to the mall to see the Easter Bunny.  Now, Easter is an event.  There are community sponsored activities, school activities, friends-based fun, and of course, the home celebration.  I am certainly not complaining, I like a good holiday as much as much as the next guy and we took advantage of everything we could.

For us, Easter began last Saturday at the St. Mary's County sponsored egg hunt.  I took the kids last year while Thomas was deployed and it was nice to go as a complete family this year.  It was Luke's first big outing and Thomas and I were a bit nervous.  But, he essentially spent the whole time sleeping, waking up only to eat.  The kids had two big memories from last year: face painting and hoping to find the special egg during the hunt. This year, we got there shortly after the gates opened and it was already very crowded. Because face-painting was a priority, we decided to do that first.  There were about 10 kids in front of us and 3 people painting.  It ended up being about a 30 minute wait.  The painters were true professionals and their designs were impressive.  Kara had a dog face, Jack and Anna chose to have their arms done.  By the time we were done, the face painting line was out the door.  I imagine the wait at that point would be hours. However, the finished product was awesome!

We walked around a little and let the kids try their hands at tennis.  I don't think we'll be signing anyone up for lessons anytime soon.

From there, we took a snack break.  For some reason, ice cream from a truck always seems so much tastier.  As a funny side-note, I saw the doctor who delivered Luke, Luke's pediatrician, and my dentist.  We didn't see anyone else we knew.  Crazy that the 3 we did see were all medical professionals.  If only my PCM had been present, we would have had the quadfecta!

Luke woke up hungry, so Thomas fed him his very first bottle (which he didn't seem to mind) while I took the other three to look at the ambulance and other vehicles set up.

His salute needs work.

Finally, it was time for the Easter egg hunt.  The girls were in the same age-category and went first.  They were disappointed when neither one of them found the special egg (spoiler alert--neither did Jack).  They each found a good number of eggs and then it was Jack's turn.  Jack got a bit cheated.  The man was still giving instructions, when a few kids rushed the field.  The guy told them it wasn't time to go back, but instead, more kids ran out.  Jack, who followed the directions and waited, lost valuable time and collected about half the number of eggs as the girls.

Monday, we went to a play group with friends.  The kids had a great time at the park and Luke again slept the whole time.  We had a potluck lunch, followed by another Easter egg hunt. For some reason, I did not take any pictures.

Then, we had a lull in celebrating until the weekend.  Saturday, we took the kids to the park.  Then, we came home and made Rice Krispy Easter Eggs and colored eggs.

Finally, we made it to Easter. The Easter Bunny hid the eggs the kids colored and left them a note saying if they could find all of their eggs, a surprise would magically appear.  They were very excited and quickly got to work. The note also said that they couldn't help each other and if they saw someone else's egg, they had to leave it alone.  This was obviously very difficult for them, but somehow they managed.  Then, nothing happened. We tried closing our eyes and counting to ten, still nothing.  The kids decided that maybe the surprise had appeared outside (a brand new car!) or somewhere else in the house, so everyone took off to look.  Th ared!  We all ran upstairs and each kid had a basket on their bed.

Now, they are happily coloring and munching on treats while I write the blog and Thomas exercises. Tomorrow, we have our final Easter event--a trip to the White House Easter Egg Roll!  Stay tuned for even more pictures!

All About Luke

The rest of the stay in the hospital was relatively uneventful.  The kids came up the same day he was born (we cleared with the doctors that J & A had been on the antibiotics for strep long enough).  They were very enthusiastic about meeting and holding Luke.

Our first family photo.  The kids are wearing their big brother and big sister shirts.

Because we had someone to stay with the kids (thank you Marta!), Thomas was able to stay with me at the hospital.  Since this was my 3rd c-section, I had learned a few tricks of the trade and made myself get up and walk around really quickly. I think that helped speed my recovery and we were out of the hospital in 48 hours. The kids, especially Anna, were actually a bit disappointed when we came home early.  For whatever reason, they loved visiting the hospital.  On the second day, Thomas took them to get food from the snack bar (pizza and hamburgers) and Anna talked about it for the next week.

Luke is now almost 3 weeks old.  The kids still love holding him and giving him lots of attention. Unfortunately, Kara had a cold that has morphed into some sort of stomach bug and she is very upset that we won't let her touch the baby.  They all want to take pictures to school and they all say they are very happy to have a baby brother.  Kara has even asked if we could just have one more, so that she could get a baby sister.

It has been a bit difficult for the adults (well, at least for me, I assume for Thomas too) getting used to having a baby again, but Luke has a wonderful temperament and is generally easy going, so long as his belly is full. Having one baby at a time is definitely the way to go! We are a lot less dazed, which means we get to enjoy him a lot more (not that we didn't enjoy the others, but some of those days were about pure survival). Thomas took vacation this week and has handled taking care of the older kids and the household tasks. Basically, all I have had to do is feed Luke, which is kind of a full time job at this point.

Our awesome friends did a meal train for us and let me just say how much I have loved that!  It has been incredibly awesome to have delicious food delivered to our door every night.  We have even had a couple of 5/5ers (meaning everyone loved the dinner, an extremely rare occurrence in our house, at least when it is me making the meals)!  It will be interesting to see how things go as we settle more into our regular routine. Regardless, it has been wonderful to just sort of ease into things.

Luke is very strong, he could hold up his head the day he was born.

Now, more about Luke.

Things Luke likes:
-eating (he had gained over a pound by his two week checkup!)
-showers
-his brother and sisters
-being held
-being outside (as long as motion is kept constant)
-music
-being spoken to in a British accent (at least Thomas thinks he likes this and uses this as an excuse to talk in one. Constantly. Every day.)

Things Luke does not like:
-baths
-the hours between 6:30-10pm
-pacifiers
-being kept in bed after 5am
-tummy time

Luke's Birth Story

Because I had two previous c-sections, we knew that Luke was going to be born the same way.  We were allowed to choose any day during his 39th week for the birth.  The doctor I wanted was only on call on Monday, March 17th, so that became the day. At first, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of giving birth on Saint Patrick's Day.  I had planned to give him my maiden name as a middle name, but we decided that if he did come on the 17th, we would give him the middle name "Patrick."  Then, I started to get attached to the idea of a (pseudo) "holiday" birthday. There were a few days where I had some contractions and I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but it was nice to always have an end date in mind (I really feel for those women who end up giving birth at 41+ weeks!).

The week leading to March 17th was not the best for us.  On Wednesday, Jack woke up saying his throat hurt.  He acted fine and he didn't have a temperature, so we decided to just keep an eye on him.  We knew strep was running rampant at his school, but he didn't seem to exhibit any of the tell-tale signs.  On Thursday, he said it was still hurting, so we kept him home from school again. He spent the day yelling at Kara and otherwise acting fine, so we decided he would go to school on Friday.  However, just before dinner we noticed he had a rash.  Thomas took him to urgent care and he tested positive for strep.  So, he got to spend another day at home.  Meanwhile, Thomas and I were trying to get last minute things done around the house. I finished the laundry (of which there always seemed to be "just one more load"), while Thomas put together the pack-n-play, swing, bouncy chair, etc.  Saturday, we picked up my friend Marta from the airport.  It was a relief to have Marta there and to have not gone into labor yet.  We have great friends and neighbors who I know would have watched the kids in an emergency, but it was good not to have to worry about it anymore. When we got home from the airport, Anna tearfully announced that her throat was hurting.  Marta and I took her to Urgent Care where she also tested positive for strep.  

The last loads of laundry.

Meanwhile, the forecast for Monday was predicting a snow storm with 4-6 inches of snow!  At my pre-op appointment the hospital staff had said that if a helicopter couldn't land, they would postpone my c-section. This was obviously a big worry for me.  I checked the forecast constantly and it just got worse and worse.  I was up all night Sunday, waiting for the call from the hospital postponing the surgery, but it never came (although, the snow did).

Thomas and I left for the hospital at 510 Monday morning.   It was crazy to think that the next time I walked in my house, it would be with a baby!  The drive took about twice as long as normal, thanks to falling snow and icy roads.  Since the hospital is so close, we still made it (almost) on time.  When we got there, they hooked me up to the monitors and inserted my IV.  I have great veins and never have an issue giving blood.  However, IVs don't generally go so well. And, I think the person who did it was in training.  Regardless, she "blew" the veins in my right hand, so they had someone else come in and do it on the left.  Fortunately, that person got it on the first try.  However, I wasn't sure we were off to a good start.  

Things were running a few minutes behind, due to an emergency in the ER.  But, I got taken back to the operating room shortly after 730.  My OB had asked me what kind of music I wanted and I told her country.  She came in and turned on her IPod and the anesthesiologist (note of pride--I got that right without spell check!) got to work. Unfortunately, my back wasn't bending the way he wanted it to and he couldn't get the spinal in. He said my bones were not giving him any space.  It took almost 20 minutes and I was afraid I was going to need general anesthesia.  After a few painful sticks (which left a HUGE square bruise on my back), he finally got it to work. Apparently, I got the nice, patient doctor--for which I was VERY grateful. He was very chatty and conscious of my pain levels. As soon as I mentioned feeling nauseous, he inserted something that quickly took the nausea away.  One funny moment is that while the doctor was trying to get the spinal to work, the song "Before he Cheats" was playing and my OB and the nurses were kind of singing along and then discussing how they would never carve their name into the seats, because it was clear evidence against her.  I didn't particularly like that song before, but now it will be forever seared into my memory of giving birth to Luke (I wish it could have been some sweet, sentimental song, but oh well!).

Finally, Thomas was allowed to come in and the surgery began.  It was both frightening and exciting to be laying there knowing that in just a few short minutes I would meet my son for the very first time.  The emotions of wondering if he was going to be okay were overwhelming.  I didn't mention this to anyone, but I had tested positive for a down syndrome marker and even though the chances were still remote, it was something that crossed my mind.  It had been a stressful few days and it was almost surreal to be at the point where the birth was imminent.

When they took him out, at 0822, the first cry was amazing! Unfortunately, with a c-section, you don't get to hold the baby right away.  Instead, the doctor showed him to us and then handed him off to the pediatrician. He scored a 9/9 on his Apgar and finally Thomas was allowed to hold him. He was 7lb, 10z, 20 inches long and incredibly beautiful!  I know parents are biased, but I believe he is among the cutest babies I have ever seen  :)  Both Thomas and I cried and it was a very sweet moment.  I was flooded with love for this tiny being and the intensity took me by surprise.  Even though Luke is our fourth child and I was kind of thinking the birth would be predictable, it was not.  It was amazing and wonderful and joyful.  In fact, I was almost sad that we had decided against more children, because it meant I would never experience that wonderful flood of emotions again. 

Thomas went with Luke to the nursery while they put me back together.  

Wearing his special St. Patrick's Day hat

This next part may be too much information, but the tubal ligation did not go very easily.  Apparently, I had a ton of scar tissue, which they had to cut away. Then, they couldn't find one of my ovaries.  This led to a lot of tugging and uncomfortable sensations (not at all painful, just strange).  What was supposed to be a 5-minute procedure became much longer and more complicated.  Ultimately, they they think they found it (waiting for pathology report to confirm) and they were able to stitch me back up.  The doctor reported that all of the scar tissue meant that it would not be wise for me to try and have another child anyway, so we had made the right decision.

Finally, I was taken to the recovery room.  Similar to what happened with Kara, my blood pressure got really low and I was very light-headed.  Fortunately, Luke and Thomas were not kept away too long and I was able to nurse.  I was thrilled to be reunited with my family and again overwhelmed by the emotions of love and gratitude for this wonderful child.

Thomas has worn this shirt for the birth of each of our children.

I'll write about our stay in the hospital, including the kids' first visit, and our first few days at home in my next blogs.

The Little Things

I often write about the big and/or exciting things that happen in our house, but today, I want to focus on the minutiae.  This has been a pretty low key weekend for us, but I am going to touch on the highlights.

Thomas was off on Friday and I decided to surprise Jack and Anna by going to their school for lunch.  I got there as Anna's class was walking into the cafeteria and she was thrilled to see me.  She held my hand and proudly told me about how the lunch line worked and what we could chose from.  We sat down with Jack, who was equally excited.  Anna's class left first and when Jack's class left, he wanted me to come stand in line with him.  Like Anna, he wanted to hold my hand and he hugged and kissed me goodbye, twice in fact. Then, he waved as he walked backward down the hall.

From there I went to Kara's class.  Thomas had put her on the bus after I left for lunch and she was hoping that she would get to go to the cafeteria to buy her pizza, so that she could wave to me.  Usually, their teacher goes to buy their lunch and they eat in the classroom, but on rare occasion, they get to go with her. I knew she was really hoping to be able to wave at me and I didn't want to leave without seeing her.  So, I walked into her class and she gave me a huge smile and hug.  Then, she brought me over to her table (after getting permission from her teacher) and showed me her journal.  She was making a picture of "a snowman in the dark."  She just had to add the finishing touches (two rockets).  I stayed for a few minutes with her and left when her lunch came.  I am actually not sure on the rules for Pre-K and I didn't want to overstay my welcome.

Saturday, we took the kids out early to look for bikes.  Jack and Anna have both outgrown theirs and with the weather finally warming up, it seemed like a good time to purchase.  Kara has also outgrown her bike, but we told her she could use Anna's until she learned to ride without training wheels and then we'd get her a new one.  She had a wonderful attitude about this and I was very proud of how she handled the situation. Unfortunately, despite stops at Walmart, K-Mart, and Target, we didn't find any bikes in the right size. There still isn't a very large selection (although bathing suits were out in force).  After a conciliatory lunch at Chick-Fil-A, we came home and then Thomas took the kids to the park for 2 glorious hours.  When they came home, they rushed to find me so that they could tell me all about it.  Jack had played basketball with Thomas, Kara and Thomas played tag, and Anna and Jack both told me about a new friend they made.  They proclaimed it a great day!

At one point today, everyone was playing nicely in their rooms when I walked upstairs to get something. The girls asked me to come in and play with them, which I did.  We played a new card game and then I put together something for them.  I was only in there for probably 30 minutes, but it was very pleasant to spend time with kids who were getting along.  When I came downstairs, Jack was asking Thomas to read a book to him. Thomas always stops what he's doing when one of the kids asks him to read, and today was no exception. So, he and Jack snuggled on the couch and Thomas read Horton Hears a Who.

We had pizza for lunch and now the kids are watching "Annie."  Normally, we don't watch tv during the day, except for Sunday mornings, when we typically let them crawl into bed with us.  Since we changed the clocks today, we didn't have time for cartoons, so we told them they could watch a movie later.

As I was reflecting on the past couple of days, I couldn't help but think about how much I love having kids this age.  I love that they want to spend time with us, that they are unabashed in their affection and that the highlight of their day is going to the park with their father.  I love that Kara calls herself my little shadow and proclaims me her best friend.  I love how Anna fights to snuggle with us on the couch, and that Jack gives so many spontaneous hugs and kisses.  Even when we aren't celebrating some big occasion or going somewhere special, our day to day life is so often full of love and peace and I want to focus more on this then the fighting and irritations that would inevitably occur in any house with 3 small kids. I know I don't express my gratitude often enough or focus on the positives as frequently as I should.  In simple terms: I love my husband, I love my children, I love my life.

New Furniture & Nesting

We are down to the final days (11!) before we can expect Luke to enter this world and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.  I am not sure if one can be actually be a "bit" overwhelmed, but I am having difficultly finding the right adjective.  Sensitive might be another appropriate term.  Although, perhaps not in the traditional sense. Things that normally bother me slightly, like the dust on the baseboards in the kids' bathroom have taken on a new level of importance.  So, I spent the past few days cleaning and organizing the kids' bedrooms, bathroom and playroom. However, I am getting ahead of myself.  Let me start with the new furniture.

In order to not have to work when the baby is born, I spent a lot of time working in January and February.  I completed my two week AT and also stacked up on regular drill days. This was a bit of a burden on the family, particularly Thomas who ended up having to take a few sick days when childcare didn't go as planned, thanks to illnesses or snow days. However, we persevered.  After I do my two weeks (or whatever amount of time, depending on the year), Thomas and I typically make a big purchase, something we have been wanting, but couldn't really justify buying. Actually, if I am honest, it is usually me driving this ship.  My first year of "part time," I actually spent 3 months working and we bought Jack's bunk bed and new kitchen appliances; the second year it was a trip to Disney World; and this year it was a new couch. I have hated our couch since almost the day we bought it. It looks nice and is comfortable for a few minutes, but once you sit on it to watch a movie, you quickly realize that looks can be deceiving. As a result, I have spent the past 6 years hating that couch. Additionally, even with the accompanying chair and ottoman, it did not provide enough seating for our family of 5, at least not with the way the kids like to sprawl. So despite the fact that the old couch was fully functioning and not necessarily needing to be replaced, I really wanted a new one.  I used the pregnancy as an excuse, not that I needed one, and made Thomas join me at a furniture store.  We settled on a new sectional and patiently waited the 4 weeks the salesman told us it would take to get here. Then, we waited another 3.5.  Finally, the day arrived and our new couch was placed in our living room. The old couch was relegated to the office, where it can serve as a place for short sits and Thomas moved the chair and ottoman to a new reading corner in the master bedroom.  A pretty successful arrangement if I do say so myself!

Old couch in it's new home

New couch!

The very same day that the new couch arrived (and I can't believe the length of that paragraph I just devoted to a couch!), we had another furniture delivery.  Thomas' father wanted to buy us something nice for the baby.  However, after hand-me-downs from neighbors, the baby shower, and our own process of slowly stocking-up, there wasn't much we could thing of.  Then, he offered a bunk bed for the girls. Those who are unfortunate enough to be in the position of listening to my regular ramblings know that we have struggled with what to do with bedrooms when Luke comes home. The first few months aren't a problem, we'll keep him in with us (in a separate sleeping area), but the long-term presented a problem.  Jack is a little old to have to share a room with a baby.  Moving one of the girls in with Jack was a short-term solution, and Anna and Kara can be a bit of a volatile combination.  However, the girls indicated that they really wanted to share a room (of course, Jack also thinks it would be great to share a room with the baby), so when Thomas' dad offered the bunk bed, we decided it was definitely worth taking him up on.  He ordered it on a Tuesday, and it only took 4 days to get here.  So, now the girls are in one room.  It has only been 5 nights, but so far the arrangement is working out well. Thomas unassembled and reassembled Anna's old bed to create a guest room for two in Kara's old room (for when friends come up to help with the baby, after they leave, we will transition it to Luke's room) and we are one step closer to "ready."

Enough about furniture, onto the nesting. Lately, I can't stand how much of a mess the house is.  My kids just have way too many toys that seem to migrate from their designated areas. It drives me crazy! Additionally, all of a sudden I am noticing how dusty everything is. I am pretty good (although not great) at straightening up and keeping clutter at bay.  I vacuum and mop regularly.  Apparently, however, dusting is not my forte and all of a sudden when I walk into a room, it's all I can see (as a sidenote, the girls like to play "Love It or List It, based on the HGTV show, so we get regular opportunities to "tour" the house, pretending to be prospective buyers and oddly enough, I do tend to see things a bit more critically).  Anyway, I am slowly trying to get a handle on things.  This week, I tackled all the kid areas. I organized the playroom, moved all of Kara's toys out of her old room, and did a complete top to bottom cleaning in Jack's.  It's a start and it feels good to have accomplished something.  The office is my next big project.  The state of the bookshelves makes me cringe (my kids like to play "library" which means nothing on the shelves ever looks good) and again, the dust is a bit overpowering.  So, that will be my project next week.  Then, I need to do the master bathroom. Hopefully after that I will feel like my nesting urge has been satisfied.  In a perfect world, I would find a way to remove every single item, except maybe the toaster and knife block, from my kitchen counters. Even though others seem to successfully manage that, I fully recognize it is just not realistic for me. So, I will try and settle with organizing the office and getting the bathroom back in shape (this is another one I blame on the kids--all of the girls jewelry is mixed in with mine and their bath toys have taken over our tub and are now slowly taking over the shower).

Newly organized playroom, bins are labeled with words and pictures.

This may be the least interesting blog I have ever written.  But, I have come too far to turn back now.