A smurf in the house

Fridays' are always crazy around our house, especially when I know that Connor is going to his dad's house for the weekend. We have to eat lunch and take our nap early so I can " try" to get it all together to head toward our meeting place in town. Ok , this Friday was going pretty well, it had not occurred to me yet that this was 5th weekend and Connor wasn't going until Saturday night , so I was busily getting the kids fed and ready for nap. As usual I sent Connor to the bathroom before he went to lay down while I changed the little boys diapers. Hmmm usually I get nervous when I don't hear Owen for a while , but he sure was in there for a while ! OK , little boys are down , I'll go check and see what is taking so long right... UGH ! I swing open the door and see the " deer in the headlights" look as he slammed his self against the bathroom wall. Then I see why, Brent's deodorant is twisted all the way out and oozing all over everything, GREAT!

Me- " Wow, look at that! I wonder who might have done something like that , it's sooo wasteful. It wasn't you was it?"

Connor-" Nope , I didn't do it , I promise!"

Me- " Well if you didn't do it I wonder who did? Did you see what happened?"

Connor- " Yes , I did. You see , a smurf came up out of that toilet , walked across the room and did it. I was so scared that I was just waiting for him to go away. You scared him Mom , thanks, I could have been in here for a while."

Me ( In true disbelief that Connor , the truthful one, has finally learned how to lie) - " Are you kidding me ?! Well what is that blue stuff on your hands ? It sure does smell good . Are you sure that it wasn't you?"

Connor- " Nope, that stuff is just smurf juice ."

Warning to all parents - Please check all of your toilets for smurfs ! Apparently there are millions of the little guys popping up out of bathrooms and committing mayhem everywhere. You deodorant is no longer safe!

The mind of a 4 year old ... enough said:-D

Homeless in Pinecrest

Last year after Brent's Nana died we decided to renovate her house ( nice word for run down trailer) and live there while saving for a house. Well , as soon as it was all done and the money was " saved" by doing the work ourselves with the help of Daddy , Brent lost his job ... again. It is no secret that these are hard times for a lot of people and there are plenty of others that have lost their jobs over the past two years, but OYE! So , what I'm getting at is there hasn't been a whole lot of "saving" for the new house going on. Well, last week , just as Mom and I were finally getting things really organized the way I wanted them , it happened. The floor started to sink in all over different parts of the house.You have GOT to be kidding me! OK , so we called the insurance company and the sent a inspector and adjuster out to check things out. Well , the verdict is that the house is worth pushing over and that's about it. There has been a leak in the roof pouring water down the center wall and ruining the floors. We couldn't see any evidence of this leak because we put dropped ceilings in to cover up old water damage. Even better news... there is mold everywhere. Brent and I lost a whole clothes closet worth of clothes( thank God he has enough to cloth himself and a third world country:-D ) .So here we are... at my parents house again! There really must be a limit as to how many times you have to move back in with your parents . Almost 30, 26 and three kids , living with good ole Mom and Dad. Does it sound pitiful yet? The good news is think Brent found us somewhere to go that might allow us to eat and pay rent! We will know in the next few days the details . PRAY! This is me , depressed , tired and homeless in Pinecrest.

Teeth!

After having the two older boys you would think that I would know what to expect with Mr. Noah. I think it must be because his body type is so much different ( Mama's nice way of saying he isn't as porky as the other two!) . Now don't get me wrong , he is getting on up there in size , he is just shaped totally different. Taller and more able to handle the weight :-) Anyhoo , moving on... He has been acting really agitated for the past few day and wasn't sure why until, OUCH! He bit me !! Now normally at this point it shouldn't hurt that bad except he has TEETH. What?! How in the world did I not notice this was happening ? Oh yeah , I have two other kids , but still it's a little sad. The worst part about it is , I don't remember when Owen got his ! It must have been early because at the ripe old age of 19 months old he has almost as many teeth as I do.

He is growing up already! Before long he will be eating solids , and drinking out of a sippy cup. I don't know if I should be sad or excited . The question still continues... will there be Franklin # 6 or is our quiver full? I'm not sure .

Daddy's Home

Sunday morning is usually our only down day with Daddy. So , imagine my surprise during nap time on Saturday , in walks Daddy! Apparently it was raining so hard they could work past noon , but who cares why , Daddy was home at 1 o'clock! You would have thought someone had handed me a brick of gold. It was the perfect Saturday afternoon , all five Franklin's taking a rainy day nap and when the kids woke up... " Daddy!!!! " Dog pile in the middle of the bed , where they played for just about the rest of the afternoon until it was time for church. These really are the days . A lot of frustration can come from having three boys 4 years and under , but days like this make it all worth while! To see them love their Daddy and the joy on his face to hear the running feet down the hallway when the saw his truck in the driveway... I've truly never been more satisfied and thankful with my life then I am right now . A wonderful church life , good family and friends , healthy kids and bar none the best hubbie I could have ever asked for.

The Boxcar Franklins

For a while now we have made the habit of reading to Connor and Own at night. They love it , and I think it is great for Connor's , sometimes overactive, imagination. Right now we are reading The Boxcar Children series that I had when I was growing up. He loves it and it brings back great memories of Mom reading the same books to us until we learned to read by ourselves. Last night we finished the first book and in the end of the last chapter there is a picture of the boxcar that Henry , Jessie , Violet and Benny have been living in . Most of you know that we live in a double wide right now so it's really wasn't such a stretch when Connor looks up at me and says " Hey we are the Boxcar Franklin's , we live in a boxcar! "The things that go through a child mind are amazing to me . Wouldn't you know he has had the best time this morning already playing boxcar children in his bedroom. Maybe we will be able to afford a house before he gets old enough to be mortified at our " Boxcar" :-D

How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

Connor wants a dog. Not just any dog, of course, a bulldog. This all got started last fall during football season when Brent said " Connor, look at that cool dog!" We were watch the UGA game and there was a cute shot of the team mascot "uga". That was the end of it for Connor .We have tried to show him pictures of other breads but no he likes "the uga dog". Do you know what those things cost ?! I found out this week that $1000 is getting a "deal" on an English bulldog. Most of the time it's more like $2000. Are you serious , it's a DOG! ( sorry Aunt Devrun , no offense to Belle)

" Connor" I said." Uga dogs cost a lot of money , I don't know if Daddy will want to pay that much for a dog. Maybe we can find another kind of dog."

Connor , looking very pitiful says " Mom , you don't understand, I Neeeeeeeeed this dog! I've named him Brutus and everything! Please tell Daddy I've been a good boy today and he can have all the money in my piggy bank!"

I say " I'll tell him , but maybe we better look at other kinds of dogs just in case he says no."

Now , I really don't want a dog in the house , but Brent keeps telling me he has had too many dog come up with some kind of skin disease from living outside here. Sure, like I believe that ! He wants the dog in the house just as bad as the kids do. So we are limited to smaller dogs, you know , like that gold plated bulldog . I have always wanted a German Shepherd , but that's not coming in the house , so that's out. Brent doesn't want any " yip yip" dogs that bark like crazy over everything . Otherwise known as " a girl dog". So , that's out. I don't want anything that is going to shed white hair all over my house . So , that's a whole bunch more that are out.

After all of the looking petfinder.com we finally found something that I think we can all live with.I'm not thrilled at the dog being in the house , but if I'm going to have to give in ( I have decided that I would have let any dog in the house after Brent and Connor worked on me for awhile) This is a pretty good compromise . The best part about it is they don't cost anything like $1000!

It looks like the Basset Hound is the winner! It meets most of my requirements for having a dog in the house , and Brent has always wanted one. I'm thinking that was his plan from the beginning! Anyway , we are going to try to get one for Christmas , so any name submissions are welcome. Connor swears it has to be a boy , but we need some name choices for a girl just in case :-D

Lucy Elizabeth

" Mama" says Connor" We haven't had a baby in your belly in a long time. Can we have Lucy now??"WHAT?!?!! Is it like dog years for kids or something ?!?! Noah is not 4 months old yet , and here we go again !! I looked at him very calmly and said " It might be another boy you know. It's up to God what kind of baby we have not Mommy". Surely he will accept this and move on because he has already made it clear he doesn't want another brother . He " has too many of those " already. Nope, instead he says " Um God told me that we would have Lucy this time. So could you just go get her and put her in your belly please?". Me- " Connor , where do you think babies come from ? I can't just go get one!". Connor- " Whats the matter ? Are they too expensive? I think you can get them at Wal-mart for less money". Me- " Yes they are too expensive and no you cannot get them at Wal-mart. Mommy doesn't want to get another baby in her belly right now." Connor - " Grandmommy says we don't always get what we want." Ok , so here comes the question, When do you draw the line and punish them for having something to say to EVERYTHING or laugh because of how smart they are and they are just thinking like a child. I don't know the answer to that either. All I do know is NO MORE BABIES! Not right now anyway.