A Memorial Day Post: Not About Memorial Day

As instructed by my bossy friend Carla, I am writing a birthday post.  Sort of.  You see, from February to May it is "Celebrate All the Things" season.  In that span of time this year we have had:

5 birthdays

1 actual birth

Easter

1 First Communion

Mother's Day

1 Baptism

 

For those of you keeping score at home, this equates to 7,000 parties, cakes, presents, and different times I have to clean my house for guests.  And that doesn't count any celebrations for anyone outside of our immediate family.  In fact, 4 out of 6 of us right now are at a birthday party for my Godson, who was at our house yesterday for a baptism and last weekend for a birthday.  You'd think we'd all be tired of each other by now.  But no, because we are party animals...that's what they call us.  Which leads me to...

 The Great Toy Clean Out of 2014!

A party animal family of 6 is bound to have a lot of stuff, I get that.  But it is out of control.  I have been reading a few articles about toy rotation, and simple living, and the like.  Usually I read these and immediately go to Target to buy stuff to organize all the stuff.  Maybe I am not getting the point. 

Anyway, I finally decided enough is enough.  I can't keep the house clean with all the toys strewn everywhere.  And strewing (that's a word) is the kids' number one fun activity of all time.  Here's how things go on the daily:

  

If you look closely, you'll see that none of the four children pictured are actually playing with a toy.  Mostly they just strew.  And then play with a dirty sock they found on the stairs and three Shakespeare's Pizza cups.  Oh, and the couch cushions.  Which makes me crazy.

So, because I am tired of them wandering around aimlessly and because I am tired of cleaning up aimfully, I have started The Great Toy Clean Out of 2014!  I am in the process of taking every toy out of every place in the house and storing them/organizing them/selling them/donating them/begging people to take them.  The kids each have one mediumish sized box to use for toys.  They selected the ones they want for the next week, along with five stuffed animals, and everything else gets put away until next Sunday when they can switch what is in their box.  My hope is this will help them to be more creative and less overwhelmed by all the stuff.  

Happy summer, kids!  I took all your toys away...I'm sure they'll thank me one day.  Yep, they'll thank me right into a nursing home.

Which leads me to...

Giant Chinese Hornets

If we are friends on Facebook, which is everyone reading this blog, you might know that we have been overtaken by yellow jackets.  They are in our house and I don't know why or how!  Just when everything is going along swimmingly, kids aren't killing each other, baby is sleeping, cleaning is getting done, boom! yellow jacket!  What the what?!  Three in the basement so far, one in the kitchen, one in the living room, and one in the garage!  

I called two exterminating companies, and apparently, they have not been much help.  The first company I called (whose name I won't mention but rhymes with "Eve's Vest Control") asked me very patronizingly if they were really yellow jackets--maybe I was seeing honey bees or wasps, the bug man told me.  Look.  I know I don't have a degree in insect identification, but I'm pretty sure I can look up a picture on the interwebs and verify my suspicions before I call the exterminator.  Or maybe they were ladybugs?  I'm so confused!

So...the second company sent a guy out who walked the property looking for a nest but was unsuccessful.  He did a general outside and inside treatment.  Later that afternoon, dead YJ in the basement.  Good.  Today, as I was implementing The Great Toy Clean Out of 2014, boom!  Live yellow jacket in the basement!  For the love of God, why?!  Where are they living?  How are they in my basement which has no exits and only two tiny windows that are never opened?!  Why does it never happen when my husband is home?!  It was crawling around on my phone, so I just abandoned the phone, grabbed the baby and ran upstairs.  And I left it there, because I am traumatized.  Unfortunately, an hour later when the rest of the family came home, it was no where to be found.  What a good mom I am.  In my defense, I had an unfortunate babysitting incident involving the little demons (the yellow jackets, not the kids) at a young age and I am forever scarred.  So my stinging insect killing skills are very sub par. 

Right now, I am forcing my husband to stay in the basement until we locate the devil bug because three of our kids sleep down there and it houses the playroom and laundry and I am a chicken.  I can just picture them lurking around corners and in laundry piles, waiting to get me.  I can't live like this!

Anybody want to have 6 gingers over for a sleepover?