the 5th of july

We noticed recently that some of our ever-green shrubs
seemed to be dying...then last night I noticed
Bag Worms ALL over them...eating away.
The nerve.

The shrubs were clearly history.
And big boys being boys (and pyromaniacs) wanted nothing more
than to light them on fire.

They lit up like the 5th of July.

.Because it was the 5th of July.

The younger kids watched in awe from the upstairs window.
I'm very sure that this seals the deal
that we will no longer ever be approved to adopt again.
Ever.

It looks way worse than it was.
But the kids were thrilled at the excitement.

Then the pyros got the idea to use their left-over fireworks
to finish the job.

Don't you worry...
we had a professional fire-fighter on the sidelines.
Safety first.

That was enough excitement for one day.
Let me tell you.


And today I took Isaiah-man down to Children's Mercy Hospital.
Poor lil' fella has a hear murmur that our doctor wanted
to run past a pediatric cardiologist.
After three agonizing hours,
an ultrasound showed that everything is fine.
I'm so thankful!
But I must tell you that I had more meltdowns than my two
little kiddos that were with me.
Especially when I couldn't get my big ol' family 'burban into
the only parking space I found after pacing the parking garage for
what seemed like hours.
Lucy even said,

"Mommy, are you going to cry?"

Then we finally found a spot.
And wouldn't you know it, I forgot where that spot was after our appointment.
We searched and searched.
Finally found it.
Again, my kiddos were amazingly calm.
I could learn something from them.

Anyhoo...
Isaiah loves our chickens with all his healthy heart.
I changed the subject suddenly...did you notice?
And when I gave him a sack of
old hot dog buns to throw out at them, he could hardly
believe his good fortune.

Although things started out a tad shaky when he saw
one of his beloved friends eat a butterbye (butterfly),
actually it was a moth.
We'll deal with the details later.

Petrified, I tell you.
But he quickly got back to work and fed those chickens
like nobody's business.

And was stinkin' cute in the process.

Then Lucy came on the scene.
I think the look on her face says it all.
Let's just slap the label, Control Freak on her, and call it a day.

And speaking of Ms. CF,
it's her job to feed Zeke.
Though it ain't easy.
He's a feisty one.
Jobs are carefully calculated around here
and assigned according to personalities.

It's all about strategy.

I'm outta here!

And so am I.

Bye, ya'll!!