Okay.

So maybe I over-reacted a bit by blocking EVERYONE from seeing the blog.

I have to say, I didn't realize that people really read it.

I will just have to be nicer when describing the people that look at my house. Or maybe I will just blog those things and save the posts to put up AFTER this house is closed. =-) Because, believe me, I have lots to say.

It occurred to me today that I don't say enough good things about my children on this blog. My kids are great. They're smart, loving, want to do the right thing (most of the time) and spunky. To say that I love them is a gross understatement.
Today I am just so darn proud of them.
It has been a transition to get used to Daddy's new job. Actually, the past month or so has been one transition after another - the house being renovated and going on the market, school starting, Junior passing away, Daddy starting in Walkersville and my new work schedule. They have been shuffled here and there during showings and while we were getting the house ready to sell. The kids have done an amazing job with rolling with the punches - they just go with it. I can't count the times where I have been on the verge of tears or just obviously overwhelmed and either Sam or Caroline has come up to me and hugged me or given me a stuffed animal to hug or told me, "It's alright, Mama - you have us to help you." That's pretty powerful coming from a 3 and 5 year old. It's enough to make me think that we might be doing okay at this parenting thing. There are other times when I just shake my head and say "What the f**k were we thinking?!?!?" - don't get me wrong - there are PLENTY of those moments - but that's a different story for a different day.
Today was just a great day for the kids. We all got up (after CJ and I stayed up and re-arranged furniture last night) and got ready for church without any yelling (or even much cajoling). We enjoyed mass. The kids participated well. I had total strangers come up to us after mass and comment on how well behaved the children were and ask what my secret was to managing all these kids by myself and could I bring their grandchildren to mass and teach them to behave?
Apparently they weren't at the mass on Friday morning when Nate's bottle ended up three pews ahead of us when he chucked it, his shoe ended up two pews ahead of us because he chucked it and his toy dinosaur was under the kneeler, where he chucked it (sense a pattern??). Nate then thought it would be fun to test the acoustics of the church during Monsignor's homily by howling and thought it would be even more fun to try to pull all the hair out of my head. I ended up with him screaming in the back of church while Sam sat through mass.
But I wasn't about to break it to them! I'm okay with them thinking that the Three Amigos behave like that every week!