Yesterday, it was Mopsy (2).  Today, Buster (5).  Thank goodness, Mopsy's didn't go over 102.5 yesterday. 

I'm not sure I have enough cool mist humidifiers to go around!  I have two, but a family of our size could probably use three.

Last night I didn't get to blog.  I spent the whole evening cleaning up the house.  The upstairs was totally destroyed, so that took a couple of hours.  We got all the toys put away, the floor cleared and vacuumed, and the laundry basket emptied and put away.  DH vacuumed the downstairs.  I'm having to switch around toy containers and found one that would work well for all their new Lincoln logs.  Nevetheless, I think a trip to Wal-Mart (or maybe Lowe's?) is in order for new containers.  They have a lot of Lincoln logs now, and more coming from an auntie, probably.  No question now, all five can build houses at the same time.

I've been feeling a bit grouchy lately over my duties at home.  I need to snap out of it and start practicing some gratitude.  Some of it is because of sickness, I'm sure, and having to dig out from that.  Some days the work seems so endless.

Am I trying to overcome nature with nurture by making my little slobs over into orderly people?  Truth be told, their daddy and I are not super-orderly by nature.  We go in spurts, but we are not consistently organized.  But, disorganized as I may be, I am always astounded at how quickly and thoroughly my daughters (daughters!) can destroy their room.  Boys, you can kinda understand.  But I always figured girls would be easier.  It's not just toys, either.  It's little bits of heaven-knows-what shredded up and distributed across the floor so that the place is literally trashed.  I know their Aunt J. just helped them clean their room on Christmas Day, and even vacuumed it.  Where does this detritus come from??? 

I confess, their room-cleaning usually winds up with my fussing at them because they move so incredibly slowly.  They are cleaning the whole time, they are just doing it very inefficiently.  It takes them so long, they get tired and start arguing with each other, which slows things down even more.  I try to make assignments ("you get the lincoln logs, and you get the dinosaurs") but it doesn't seem to help them focus and apply some energy.  Suggestions, anyone?

Anyway, it's clean now.  For a few hours, at any rate.

We enjoyed more stories from Aunt A's second book (written in 1989) last night.  Chicken specifically requested it.  My great-grandmother had thirteen children, ten of whom survived to adulthood, and Aunt A told about the birth of each one.  I pointed out the child who became my mother's father, their great-grandfather, who died long before they were born (I never really knew him myself). 

I could tell Bug was disturbed when we learned that three of their babies died.  She kept asking me why babies died.  (Her twin sister died in utero, and I think that makes her more sensitive to infant death.)  I didn't get metaphysical, just told her that back then, they didn't have the medicines or medical knowledge that we do now.  I had already explained to them at an earlier point how immunizations have improved the health and survival rates of children.  If it comes up again, though, I will explain (as I have before) that illness and death are among the sad effects of sin entering the world, and that is why God hates sin so much, because he loves us and knows how badly it harms and grieves us.

Yesterday I also got my driver's license renewed.  It wasn't too bad.  Although the place was crowded, they had a system in place whereby they entered your wait number and had you proceed to various counters as your number came up on the screen.  Not a bad arrangement.  Twenty bucks later, I have a brand new license with a brand new goofy picture.  (That very-pregnant, just-survived-a-hailstorm look.)  I'm serious, it started hailing the minute I drove up at the place.

So anyways, I think I've thought up something else to do at work today.  Rearranging the archives by date and type of publication!  Wish me luck.

Later!