a few extras

We had a few extra kiddos around here this weekend ....

an extra 5 year old to join our pair of littles.

and an extra 10 year old, to join our big sister duo.

We all headed off to soccer practice Saturday morning, with the unique distinction of having MORE girls than boys in our home!

Matt and I even went on a date the second night they were here (bonus of having plenty of big girls around - the friend who helped with the kids said "so easy" and there was lots of competitive high-speed card game playing after the young bunch went to bed!)

Then Monday, oh Monday.  In any given week Monday is often the most challenging.  The toll of a play and rest filled weekend makes its mark: piles of laundry, an empty refrigerator, the awkwardness of re-entering the school routine.

But as our school year gets weeks under its belt Mondays are calming considerably.  thank goodness.

Yesterday late afternoon I had the little guys working hard at their chopping skills.  Banana and lettuce are standard for the cutting board beginners around here.  And neither of these guys has advanced past the bread knife ;)

I tried for a photo angle that eliminated most of the background clutter but, alas, I was foiled in all directions.

We increased the chaos a notch when everyone wanted to join the calzone making fun.

I got floury fingerprints on my phone snapping these shots, but I thought it was worth it ;)

I make a conscious effort to stop what I'm doing, walk to the door and greet Matt when I hear him come in from work.  But this was one of those nights I wasn't able to leave the home-made chaos without risking calzone disaster.  Thankfully he's an understanding kind of guy.

And while the calzones baked we crazy-cleaned the living areas and I wiped and swept up the mess and dinner was yummy, and I always enjoy a meal more when the living room is picked up first.  Something about my need to control clutter :)

Then after dinner my left eye (which was already irritating me) got redder and redder and the gunk factor increased.  I self-diagnosed pink eye a little after 10pm.  And there are perks to living in a country with lots of meds available OTC.  A quick text message to a nurse-trained friend and I was at the pharmacy a little after 8 buying eye drops.  My eye already feels much better, and I'm so hoping that we manage to keep the pink eye curtailed to only me, or maybe just a few of us?