Snot, Vomit, and Maggots...Oh My!

I'm at my parent's house. I took this picture as Josiah and I walked onto the deck this morning to enjoy a cup of coffee. So peaceful...

The kids have gone fishing in the evening with my dad.


We've worked in the garden and visited the parks for an afternoon walk. We picked strawberries and visited the historical working farm. It's been great.

Except for the chaos that follows us everywhere we go. Chickens escaping from the coop and the madness required to catch them and return them to safety. The 'puppy' catching rodents, birds, and even fish.

By far our worst day was when we woke up to the guinea pig laying rather still in his cage. That ended with a shoebox burial. Then my nephew and Sally shut themselves into our newly purchased refrigerator. It was in the barn, waiting for the new house (we close at the end of August). It took the two of them only a few minutes to discover the "great hiding place" and shut themselves in. Thankfully, my nephew pushed the freezer door open and then let Sally out of the fridge. Seth immediately strapped the doors shut. Then scoured the rest of the area for other death traps and firmly warned the kids that they are NOT allowed in the barn without an adult. It was terrifying. It was also just after lunchtime and the day had much more in store for us. That evening, my dog tried to drown my sister's dog in the pond. My sister had to jump in and pull our long legged water dog off of her drowning, short legged bulldog. Neither of the dogs would look at each other for the rest of the day.

That day alone was exhausting. Our family is a swirling tornado of madness and if you get too close...we'll pull you into the storm. It comes in waves. We have calm times and times where wacky things happen. Those wacky things are included in the title, but I won't expound on all of them.

....Like the morning Josiah grabbed a game piece from the princess game Ella was playing and shoved it into his mouth. In one foul swoop Sally poked her finger into his mouth and jammed the piece down his windpipe so that he started choking. Thankfully, he gagged enough that the game piece came out--as he vomited.

Okay, I'll leave out the snot and maggot stories...