Until I Can Organize Thought Processes....some pics!

Carolina Rain

I've  begun 5 different posts all delving deeply into where we are, none of which are finished...may never truly be. So, for now, I will stick with pictures until I can wrap my head around where we are, embracing what is, and learning to give in to the pain, rather than fight it. Much like labor. Fighting it only proves to make it that much more painful and difficult. When submission to pain is finally learned and achieved the process goes much faster and is, ironically, less painful than fighting it to the very end.  So, I see many early morning revelries upon us, as I seek to write my way through it all. For after all, the only journey is the journey within....and this is proving to be quite the journey.

Until I can finish even one of the many posts I have going here's some of the fun of life at the current moment.

At exactly 4 months old he now holds 2nd place in teeth breaking records. What I had convinced myself was symptoms of the Hanta virus presenting in two of our children was merely two tiny teeth that finally broke through 2 days ago. I am so entirely not the paranoid parent but surviving on very little sleep for long periods of time does entirely crapped out things to the brain. I have never in my life been so glad to see two tiny teeth come through!  We celebrated!

 So, it's a little dark but this would be what 10 sick kids look like. 

And the missing one. He wisely chose to sit when he heard footsteps in hallway. 

Since I never exactly wanted 4 indoor cats to begin with, 3 promptly went back to where they came from and the remaining one has not seen fit to catch anything. At this point the mice are proving to be bigger than she is. So...we celebrated FINALLY getting our 1st sticky trap catch. We are now averaging 2 a morning. How much I love tons of little boys that live to awake every morning and run to basement to do trap checks....and are quite certain Christmas has come when they discover the catches of the day.

 Our Dr Suess worthy stack of decaying boxes. I will eventually get to them once again to toss what lies within and salvage what is salvageable. But, for now, at least they're stacked....kinda....and are out of the flood areas. We recently survived our 3rd flood below....and boxes were in the only area that does not see water! 

The heavy ones that can no longer bear any weight at all. 

Happy, monkey chewing, clothes folding buddy. 

Tiny baby mouse! It was horrifically cute and fluffy before Aubrey saw fit to try and drown it. 

Feels like home....except it's green.

And we have the first of many cases of pink eye! It's still going. 

And puking!

What a cart looks like when you have 11 sick kids and have irrationally planned a 1700 mile trip west and spontaneously gone to Walmart to shop for needed travel items. This First Aid kit was supposed to get us home. Kinda funny now. 3 bottles of anti-diarrhea, 2 cans of Lysol, 2 bottles of Benadryl, fever meds, upper respiratory meds, 5 bottles of hand sanitizer, 22 hours worth of Gatorade and vSaltine crackers, q-tips for pink eye use, cleaner for the puke that will inevitably miss a trash can, 10 bathroom size trash cans....and Oreos for the 22 hour, straight-through, nonstop drive I was planning on accomplishing. Who could go wrong with that????

2 days after stitches came out he takes a nose dive into desk drawer. This time a butterfly bandage did the job.

I'm kinda in love with the backwards, inside out, pink heart, size 3T panties.

 Crazy, wild Baby A....

When half have already been disbursed, kids are loaded and ready to go!

I think he's telling me he's ready to potty train. 

To wage the inside house war. All the wood flecks are where it chewed up the bottom of the door facing trying to get out. They certainly are destructive little turds. I just laughed.

There is undoubtedly a bright side to finally catching some of them. Kids finally get to have some gun fun again! Early morning target practice. 

Just to drive, dream and escape it all.....

1823 restored log cabin original to site. I'd call it home.

Sweet falling rain..

Open pastures...where the sun rises and sets....chickens lay eggs, dairy goats produce babies and milk, horses graze, cattle roam, gardens grow vegetables, and fruit trees produce apples, peaches and plums. Where little boys and a wild haired tiny girl run free, boys fish, ride bikes, husband and children hunt and trek to river that lies beyond woods. Where life here could be.....