This morning I thought that I'd get up early and watch a little TV while folding clothes and drinking coffee before church. Instead, I got:

• a clingy, crying 3 year old who had been woken up way too early by loud siblings,
• a note on the board that said "Riley had the tv remote in his room and he should be punished!!!".
• Riley complaining that Brittney came into his room in the middle of the night and started hitting him because she thought he stole the remote. Which, upon further investigation, it turned out Sophia had taken into his room and he wasn't even aware of it because she did it after he was already asleep.
• Brittney had taken the "lost" remote into her room and locked her door when she went to bed. So this morning, I had to knock on her door and wake up the world's crabbiest 14 year old in order to get it.
• When I finally had the remote in my hands, I discovered someone had taken a scissors and cut off a majority of the buttons. The worst part is, I'm not even sure who to blame! Disgruntled 14 year old Brittney could have easily done it last night when she was mad. Tired & crabby 11 year old Riley might have done it impulsively yesterday and now doesn't want to get in trouble. Taylor might have done it just because she was bored - she'd definitely lie about it. Zeke could have done it if he found some scissors and wanted to see what he could cut (although I think it would have taken more dexterity then he has to cut the tiny buttons). Anthony could have done it just because he's so impulsive (but he wouldn't lie about it - he would just say "I did it but it's not my fault!") Even cute little Sophia could have done it. She's pretty good with scissors when she wants to be. In the past, I've found lots of Barbie hair that she and Taylor decided to trim.

I think that's why I haven't been blogging much. Yes, I've been busy. But the reality is that I don't want to complain too much and that's what I feel like doing lately.

Although I did have a great day on Friday when I let myself relax for a while. I didn't have to work so I drove to Sioux Falls and spent an hour in the morning with my therapist, who is amazing. Then I came back to Brookings and spent most of the afternoon having coffee with my mom and a great friend. We got to Chocolatte at 2pm and I didn't leave until almost 5pm! Then I went home, got supper ready for the kids and had an impromptu visit from Sophia's mommy Rachel, Ben and their friend. As soon as they left, I headed to a friend's house for a 'whine and wine party'. It wasn't really a party; someone just called it that and the name stuck. We had all had a rough life week and decided we needed to just sit around and chat. I couldn't have asked for a better ending to the week!
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