A step back, A bonfire, and a roll in cow manure.....

Phew. Today was a long day. Woke up late so we had to pile all 5 boys into the van and drive the older two off to school. Which was a stress-fest in and of itself and reminded me WHY I am thankful to be a work-at-home mum! Shoe hunts and jacket wars and who-gets-to-sit-by-a-window battles had me completly obolishing my no-yelling vow before we ever even got out of the driveway. My eldest, Zane, is quite a particular and sensitive soul. Which means pure and total meltdowns if he doesnt get the seat he expects or if someone TOUCHES his cushion on the couch or if his blanket isn't JUST SO on the bed.....MY new tactic for dealing with this issue is to take him out of his comfort zone as often as possible. Little things like making him sit in a different seat than his everyday one at the dinner table. Because the fact is, in the REAL WORLD you can't always get what you want. (but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.)
Anyway, so I was already at the yelling (through gritted teeth, at that...very shining and mature moment for me) by 8 a.m. But the fact is, I had not had my obligatory two cups of joe this morning so the dragon was not at bay. (Translation: I am NOT a morning person.)
But onward and upward. I apologized for holloring and losing my cool. I brought Bailey in with us to catch a glimpse of the school as he is INSANELY excited to be in kindergarten next year. Its an adorable little school. So little in fact, that the kindergarten and first grade classrooms are housed in little trailers seperate from the school. Which I know SOUNDS white trash but is actually quite charming.  I got to meet Aidan's teacher who I just wanted to hug. I am not sure if this woman is magic or what, but between her and her assistant....they have achieved a miracle. Aidan used to wake up every morning adament he was NOT attending school, that he hated it. He would scream, cry, kick, refuse to get dressed......Do you know how much FUN it is to begin your day wrestling clothes and shoes and a coat on a screaming red-faced child who then promptly lies on the wet pavement when the bus pulls up so you can't send him to school anyway as he is now soaked?!? Well, trust me, its not as fun as it sounds. Anyway, this kid has done an about-face. he LOVES school. He loves learning. He picks up chapter books now and reads them at his own free will. His teachers have sent him home with hand me downs from their son, offered to buy him shoes when his sole fell off of his and looked like it had a flapping mouth that talked when he walked. And I recieved the kindest note  when Aidans daddy passed away. Anyway, so the school is fantastic. I long to be homeschooling again. I miss those days so very much. And its not looking like we will be back on that bandwagon this September which is just the pits. But with this tiny little country school as an alternative I have my peace.

So, dinner tonight. I spent the afternoon clearning out our firepit and restacking the rocks. Looks awesome. Then the boys and I tromped through the woods to gather firewood along with the three little girls next door. (whose mother never watches them so they are ALWAYS at my house and are practically my children at this rate...but I digress) We got a gorgeous blazing fire going and roasted up hotdogs (and dropped a few in the dirt. Those went to the dog.) Then it was on to marshmallows. My two ADHD kids (Zane and Bailey) shove theirs straight in the flame and light them on fire then blow them out and eat the blackened ball of sugar. Aidan dutifully crouched and held his over the fire just-so as he said he wanted it to be "golden."  (He wants to be a chef someday, so everything he cooks is a masterpiece.) I learned that Drezdyn prefers his marshmallows uncooked. Creed got more marshmallow on his face than in his mouth. Me? I was being my typical barefooted hippie self and managed to step on a burning ember (ouch!) and a dropped marshmallow. (yuck!)
Then here comes the dog at the  ending of our cookout....covered in green and brown disgustingness. UGH. Across the road is a cow pasture,. Which apparently Goliath the Great (our tiny little chihuahua) thought would be fun to run through, explore, and roll in lovely warm piles of cow poo......So, back inside for a nice doggy bath. I really really need a daughter. Even my pets are male and gross. Well, except for Prissy Missy the cat. But she is too much of a priss to hang with me.

 This is Goliath. Minus the cow poo. Dressed in his oh-so-tough-guy sweater.

And Prissy Missy. Being Prissy. Two of my furbabies. i will intro the other two at a later date.
Anyway, that was my day today. Minus all the boring monotonous housecleaning and such.