In My Washing Machine are Many Things

I would think the world was ending if I ever switched loads of laundry and I didn't find any rocks, twigs, Legos, Polly Pocket clothes, dollar bills, gum, notes, nails, screws, bolts, washers, Nintendo DS game cartridges, Magnetix, wrappers, pencils, lip gloss, student IDs, disposable diapers, baseball cards, coins, candy, or misc. garbage I've picked up off the floor intending to throw away.

This is what I found today...

Fruit snacks. No one had them in their pocket. I asked the kids and they all insisted it wasn't them. They just magically appeared. Funny how that works, huh?

I just hope I got them all before I put these clothes in the dryer or I'm going to have one nasty, sticky mess. I'm kind of afraid to look.

And on an unrelated note, I found these pictures on the internal memory of my camera. I'm not sure how old they are or which one of the kids decided to dress up Brooklyn like this...

Yep, I encourage the baby to look like a psycho killer, zombie, pirate wrapped in Ace bandages with bad hair.

Diapers Only Hold so Much Before They.....

Hey there! I knew you guys would like the supper swapping idea! I hope those of you who give it a try are successful and gain a little extra time and a little less stress at the dinner table. I know Trish has answered a lot of your questions in the comments. Just scroll through them quickly until you see the really loooooong comments. Those are from Trish. I'll try and reprint them in a post later this week so they're more easily accessible. Remember the contest will run until midnight on Friday and if you leave a comment on yesterday's You Mean I Only Have to Cook One Night? post, I'll enter your name in a drawing for one of Trish's books, The Great American Supper Swap.

A camera crew from ABC is coming over tomorrow to film and interview me for World News with Charles Gibson. Tonight I really should be cleaning. Or thinking of clever things to say to the reporter. Or perhaps getting some sleep. Or losing 50 pounds. Or begging my children to behave tomorrow morning. Instead I'll be cleaning out my washing machine. I know, you're thinking 'what a strange thing to do when she's going to be on national t.v.' Cleaning out my washing machine wasn't my first choice of activities, however I inadvertently washed a diaper. I'm not talking about the cloth kind either. I'm talking about a disposable, super-mega absorbent, nighttime, pull-up kind of diaper. SpongeBob couldn't hold as much liquid as this thing did. Then, much like all good things, it had to end. It exploded. In my washer. It left behind a trail of sticky gel-like material and fluffy diaper particles all over every article of clothing in the machine. Despite the fact that I'll run the washing machine fifty times, I'll be finding this gel stuck to surfaces in my house for months to come.

Car Shopping & Laundry

This is what Baby did while I was packing up the camper today.
Just hanging out in the sink with my toothbrush. What's the problem?

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There comes a time when, after having a child or two, you decide to turn in your dream car for a minivan. Well, we've long since passed that stage and are now thinking of turning in our minivan for a bus. OK, well maybe not a bus, but a really big van. Right now I have two bench seats in my van. Each bench holds two children in car seats and one child squished between the seats. I have only one sliding door and let me tell ya, I could be in the circus with the contortion act I do every day trying to get the kids all buckled into their car seats.

So, we went to a car dealer yesterday to take a look at a ten passenger van we'd seen advertised. Since this dealer was over an hour away, we called first to confirm that they still had this particular van in stock. We were assured that they did indeed have it. Guess what. They didn't have it. The salesman insisted he could find us another car that we'd love and led us to a Mustang. Ummm hello? Do you not see the parade of kids behind us? Maybe we could put a few kids in the trunk? Although it would undoubtedly be a quieter ride that way, I don't think it's especially legal.

CAR SALESMAN: Oh, no problem. I understand. I have another car that will work. (as he leads us over to a Ford Freestyle)

ME: This only has six seats.

CAR SALESMAN: Yes.

ME: Can you count?

CAR SALESMAN: Huh?

ME: There are EIGHT of us. See? Eight. A vehicle that seats six passengers won't really work for us. Do you understand?

CAR SALESMAN: Ohhhh (still looking completely dumbfounded)

Needless to say, we did not purchase a new vehicle yesterday.

OK, I'm off to finish up some laundry. Speaking of - it absolutely cracks me up when my sister or my mom says something like, "I have to do laundry today." Today? Today??? That always makes me fall over laughing. I do an average of three loads a day. Every day. I don't mind doing laundry. Really, laundry rates way higher than changing poopy diapers, cleaning the toilet that my sons can't hit to save their lives, and, God forbid, cleaning up vomit. The only thing that makes me insane is when my children take their nice, clean, freshly folded laundry and instead of putting it away in their drawers and closets, they plop it on their floor. It sits there a few days only to be thrown back into the hamper when, after I've threatened their very lives, they clean their rooms. Not that I don't just adore being their maid, but something about washing perfectly clean clothes before they're even worn makes the blood vessels in my head explode.

Sorry, I digress. Now, I'm going to finish folding the laundry for my kids to throw on their floors. Have a wonderful night!