GUEST POST-- The Queen speaks her mind

I (Micah, the oldest knight-in-training) have monopolized these airwaves for far too long, especially going on and on about my fair children and other such subjects when I'm home maybe one-quarter of their day. The real heroine of the story gets to share her voice today on what mayhem I miss (or really, don't miss that much at all ;) while I'm gone. Without further ado, the lovely Queen speaks her mind:

Greetings all! One of the highlights of my night is relaying to my husband all that he has missed--the good, the boring, the funny--while he was at work. My need to share is part of my personality--I can't help it. Lately, it seems our days have been riddled with funny stories that weren't really funny at the time but became funny as I was telling them. They had been mothering challenges that I stared down and conquered or at least survived through. So Micah asked that I share a recent one with you. My original intent was to write about my adventures at the mall play area where Elijah and a little boy had a 'butt fight'--sticking their butts out to 'move' the other away from what they were playing with--until the other little boy left.

I had also planned to tell you about how Elijah, seeing the boy returning, decided to launch a preemptive strike, running out to his adversary only to clock him (with his body, of course- no hands) and then sit on him. I was prepared to explain that when said child cried, I reprimanded Elijah, making him say he was sorry and then we headed off to timeout all the while the little boy's father told him he needed to 'get tough' which made me giggle.

(Micah here: we're going to have to have an in-house chat about this one... after I picked myself off the floor because I was laughing so hard, I told Rach that that's exactly what I want Elijah to do in this situation... she's still unsold on the 'strike first' concept)

Then I thought about writing about my phone call to the insurance company during which Judah stuffed a leaf in his mouth and choked, gasping for air, then promptly threw it up (unchoking himself) only to then find Elijah had run not only into a parking lot but almost up to the street. No worries; I put the lady on hold (which looked like me stuffing the phone in my pocket), screamed at Elijah as I ran after him and carried him back kicking and screaming (literally) all the while with the lady still on the phone.

But none of that seems even worth telling compared to our afternoon today which could be called (with a Thanksgiving theme) "Thankful for Five" (pm that is).

For Elijah's first birthday awesome Auntie Laura gave Elijah a wagon. We're talking an all terrain, red, wooden, radio flyer wagon! Nothing but the best for her nephew! And we've been enjoying it since. Most afternoons that are not raining, I bundle up the boys and put them in the wagon for a little walk while we wait for daddy to get home (if you have kids you know all about the 'witching hour,' and this is how I personally try to get through it). Today began no differently than most of our afternoons.

`The boys were bundled and we were walking up and down the hills of Beverly and headed to the Beverly Common. It's a large grassy area not far from our house and we love it there cause Elijah can run around and run up some of the small hills on the side. Today, though, we arrived at the same time as a group of kids about Elijah's age from the Y daycare. Those kids had boundaries so I tried to give Elijah the same ones since he immediately began playing with them and tormenting them because he could leave the area and they couldn't. It wasn't long before two little girls spotted Judah in the wagon and decided to hold onto it. Before I knew it, I had about ten of the twelve kids all holding onto the wagon staring down a now very concerned little eight month old. So I decided to walk them. We walked around the grass a couple times and sang 'Wheels on the Bus' and then Elijah let go and started throwing dirt everywhere. It was at that point I told the children we were all done with the wagon.

Elijah ended up needing me to stop him since my verbal directions were not compelling enough, and I simply left Judah a foot behind me in the wagon when I went to do so. Only I turned back around to see four two-year-olds dragging Judah away in the wagon! I hurried after them and stopped them before they got far but in the meantime Elijah had taken off--fast-- well beyond any of the Y boundaries and out into the open grass. So I tried to take off after him but (knowing I could not leave Judah in the wagon for fear of little kids running away with him) I was stuck because I couldn't get the Y kids OFF THE WAGON- no matter how much I yelled at them or pulled the thing away. God was looking out for Elijah, though, because the Y teachers (whom I might add were only a couple feet away from us THE WHOLE TIME) thought Elijah was one of their children and went screaming after him, yelling at him for leaving and demanding he stop. Despite my trying to tell them as they ran past me to get him that he was mine and they needn't worry, I don't think the lady realized it wasn't one of her charges until she had picked him up. But (yay!) she brought him back to me and the other lady finally got the children off the wagon and we headed home -- or rather, we should have.

At this point, Elijah was crying because he didn't want to leave and Judah was still sitting there and it was only halfway into our 'witching hour' so I decided to keep at it. With both kids in the wagon, away from other kids, what could happen. A walk was far better than being home with them at this point. Things were going so well I even took a phone call. We didn't get far into the conversation (or walk for that matter) when I happened to notice Judah had decided to STAND UP in the wagon! We battled for a minute (I won) and I returned to the phone call to see that my phone had died. Now- it was time to actually go home. And we arrived, Elijah still crying that we were home and Judah rolling all over the wagon. But it was 5pm. Daddy pulled up and we were all happy! (Ok well Elijah yelled at Micah to go away and Judah seemed unfazed but I was happy!).

Some days like today, or really hours like that hour- because it all happened in just 1 of the 10 hours I was home with the kiddos by myself, it's easy to feel defeated and exhausted but I have found that if I can just hold on until 5, when Micah gets home, we'll laugh about it all together! Thank you, God, for five o'clock!