Practice Run

Our friend is leaving town for a whole week to do some work in Phoenix, leaving behind his awesome wife and crazy little Lizard to fend for themselves. They called me up on Saturday to see if I could let Lizzy play with my kids while they went to a movie. Look at that picture and tell me you would have said no...Yeah, I couldn't either.

The only hiccup...Janet got a call from her sister and needed to go out of town on Saturday to help out, so it was just the kids and me (of course Jena was there to fill her new role as a Sheppard-dog). I thought to myself "No problem, The Lizard will just run around and play with the older kids and I can get my last assignment for school finished up". You know how things like a budget always look SO good on paper, but never quite work out in the real world? Yeah I didn't work on my assignment.
This was a GREAT reminder of what we went through with our little rug-rats (that is Jaylucifer not Janet above). This morning Janet asked me casually if I remembered what it was like to have 5 kids under 4 years old and I truly believe that I have repressed those memories. I think I was in survival mode, just living day by day and trying not to kill ANYONE (it was also pre-Seminar days). Now that my kids are older, help out more, are more fun to play with, and actually turn my jokes right back on me I have just forgotten the tough times of 3 years ago.

I had a BLAST with Lizzy, as did my kids, but it reminded me that the bottom of the tree doesn't get decorations, cupboards and drawers need locks, silence is NOT a good thing, and don't let the toddler hand you the glass dishes when loading the dishwasher. This little princess was so much fun, she had this guttural laugh like a dirty french-man, made farting noises like her dad (immediately followed by afore-mentioned laugh), played with everything in the house from Teddy bears and blocks, lids and cups from the lower drawers, and Jena's food dish (Personally I think this was her favorite).

She eats cookies like her daddy...by the fistful, and LOVES Elmo's World. The best part of the day was when I put on an Elmo's World video for Lizzy, and before I knew it ALL of my kids were sitting down with her watching it while they munched on some home made cookies. All in all it was a fabulous afternoon with a house full of kids VS. the Dad. The only casualty of the afternoon was my school work, but that is what Mondays are for right?

Thanks Jon and Sarah for letting me bond...it was great!