One of my best friends on earth and her family are coming from home to visit this week!  We are so excited to see them!  I'll never forget a couple of years ago when they came - on the night before their arrival, I went outside to pull weeds and garden to spruce things up a bit before they got here.  Here in North Carolina there are things called "fire ants" or "red ants" as some people call them.  I was born and raised in Ohio and had never seen or heard of these wonderful creatures.  There happened to be a huge mound of them hidden in our flower bed  and when I reached down to pull some weeds I unknowingly stepped right into the mound - barefoot of course.  They swarmed my feet and up to my shins.  Out of nowhere, seeming like all at once, an immediate sting shot through both feet and lower legs as I began to scream and run around the yard like a crazy person.  The neighbors must have thought I had lost my mind.  I tried to smack them off with my hands but they began to flood through my fingers and up my arms.  Having cartoon images flash in my mind where they always jump into a lake, I immediately ran into the house screaming and went straight for the shower.  Our four kids came running wondering what funny thing I was doing and my husband followed them in complete confusion.  I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as I turned the water on and the ants finally left my body.  The stinging remained in full force though.  I was covered in a burning sensation.  As I got out of the shower, the kids and my husband began to look at me strangely.  I began to itch.  My husband said, "Um, Honey, do you think we might want to head to the ER?"  I looked at him confused..."The emergency room?  For ants?!  I don't need to go to the ER for ants!  It just burns and it's itchy.  I got them all off so it'll be ok now."  The kids eyes got a little bigger and my husband calmly said, "I think we should head over to the ER just to make sure you're ok though.  I think you might be allergic to them." He had a look about him telling me he was trying not to scare the kids but he meant business.  All I kept thinking was...Ants?!  I'm not allergic to ants!  They're ANTS!  Then I turned and looked in the mirror.  My face was starting to swell, my lips were starting to swell, my eyes...sure I was itching all over, even where the ants hadn't been.  I had never had an allergic reaction in my entire life but this was crazy.  I looked back at Adam and shook my head and we were out the door.  By the time we got to the hospital I was itching even under my skin.  There are no words to the feeling of uncontrollable, unreachable itching that covered my body.  We ran into the ER and I knew it must be bad because the people in the waiting room reacted with a look of shock when they saw me.  I could almost see a mother cover her child's face.  The woman at the front desk called out for someone to take me back immediately.  (I could have been in labor with a broken arm and a knife stuck in my thigh and that never would have happened.)  Once I got back and Adam followed me filling out paperwork while trying to keep the four kids in check, the nurses got me into a gown.  Our son looked at me and said, "Mommy you have red all over you!"  I looked down at my body and it was covered.  Every square inch of me had welts and was swollen.  I saw myself in a small mirror over the sterile hospital sink and I literally looked like Will Smith from the movie "Hitch."  My eyes and lips were huge.  I looked over at Adam and just then, our curtain pulled open.  In walked possibly the most perfectly beautiful and most handsome doctor that ever walked the face of this earth.  Even Adam's jaw dropped open.  It was like music played as he entered the room.  A glow of light surrounded him.  He looked at me and immediately ordered an EpiPen and an IV with some magic in it and then wrote something down.  I looked back at Adam again and shook my head.  A nurse came in and as I lied in the bed, went to my left thigh and stabbed me with the EpiPen.  She began the IV which immediately began to take the fire away from under my skin.  I began to feel so tired and held Adam's hand while our kids sat and watched a cartoon.  Just then, Dr. Hottie floated back into the room and smiled saying, "Ok, it looks like everything will be fine now."  He talked with Adam about a few things and then left the room.  Adam came back to me and smiled.  He kissed me on the forehead and laughed saying, "No more gardening for you.  I'm glad you're ok."  I shut my eyes and smiled back. "Don't worry, I don't ever want to garden again."
    So tomorrow - we can't wait for our friends to get here from Ohio.  Today we will be busy with cleaning and getting groceries for our fun filled days ahead.  I am glad that my best friend knows me well enough and won't care that our flower bed will have weeds in it this year.  As exciting as all of that was, it will be just fine if we never see Dr. Hottie again. 

It was round two of physical therapy.  Our son Christian had his second appointment for rehab on his foot.  This time though, I was mentally prepared.  Not for the therapy, but for our three younger ones that had to wait with me during the therapy.  During Christians last PT session, our three younger kids spent the beginning of the hour annoying each other (and everyone else) in the waiting room.  I ended up taking them out of the office to venture through the building which had shops, a swimming pool, a cafe and many other things to do.  I had to get them away from the quiet space of the waiting room where others sat, read books and one woman even knitted.  I watched her knit for a total of five seconds as my three year old sat on my foot and pulled at my clothes.  I wondered what it would be like to sit and be able to do that...to be able to do ANYTHING for that matter in peace and quiet that wasn't at 10:00 at night when the house was finally still.  Then it happened.
     During this second therapy session, as I prepared to try again to teach our three, four and seven year old to sit quietly and patiently in a waiting room, the woman at the front desk whispered, "Why don't you take them to the child center?"  The what?  "The child center...it's right down the hall and it's free for family members of patients."  I turned to look at the kids as they all three tried to fit on the same chair - one hanging upside down, and said to them, "Let's go!" 
    When we walked in, their eyes lit up.  There were centers, toys, games...on and on of pure kid awesomeness.  A cute girl stood at the front desk and asked me to sign them in.  No one else was in the room, no kids, parents, just her.  I wrote their names and ages on a clipboard and we all walked into the wonderland.  The twenty-something said, "Oh, you can't come in...sorry!"  I watched as the kids took off for a bee line to an airplane and said, "Oh!  But can I be here and then leave if another child shows up?  We only have about 30 or 40 minutes until my older son is done with his physical therapy."  She smiled and shook her head..."No, Sorry, no one but children and staff."  My thoughts divided.  I'm so used to being with them constantly...but on the other hand...are you KIDDING ME?!  At least thirty minutes to take a breath?
    I told the girl that I would be right outside in the hallway if she needed anything.  There were a group of chairs and a couch in the hall outside of the child center, so I sat.  I just...sat.  At first I didn't know what to do.  My mind became flooded with what I 'could' do or what I 'should' be doing.  I started wondering about the kids, if my husband was having a good day at work, bills, did I give the cat food this morning...on and on until it hit me.  I am sitting, on a couch, in a hall with absolutely nothing to do.  I couldn't go anywhere because the girl at the front desk said that I had to stay in the facility.  I couldn't do anything because I had nothing with me.   A smile came across me.  The three younger kids were having fun playing, our older son was working on his foot and all was well. 
    Why don't I take time to do this?  Even when the kids are busy playing or when they're in bed and we get some "down - time," we bombard ourselves with tv, computers, the phone...it's constant.  There's a continual flow of input and it's next to impossible to shut it all off.  I don't remember the last time, if ever, that I just sat and did nothing for thirty minutes in my life.  It was actually hard to do.  It made me realize that it's important every once in a while though - to just stop and breathe.
    When the time came, I went back in to get the kids.  They complained about wanting to stay and play longer and we were off to get Christian in physical therapy.  Reality set in as the five of us stood at the front desk to make the next appointment while the two middle boys put each other in a headlock.  While I pulled them apart I turned to see the same woman, sitting in the waiting room again while knitting in her seat.  She smiled at me and I smiled back.  I got it.  Not that I'll be able to pick up knitting anytime soon but I understand now how important it is to sit and be calm and quiet, peaceful even, for just a little.  In this crazy and wonderful thing called life, it's good to stop every once in awhile and enjoy the sound of silence.    

The All-American pastime came to an end last night.  Our two older boys were on the same baseball team - and on a strangely cool and breezy night, the season ended.  It was just about the best time any kid could have hoped for. The players on the team grew together while they were led and guided by a coach and his assistants who were all but saints. 
   One of the neatest things of the season was to watch and see how each of the kids had such different personalities...there was the comedian, the slugger, the shy one, the wild one...all so different but when the boys were in the dugout or on the field, it was something to behold.   
    It really is a timeless tradition.  For decades now there's just something about the crack of the bat and the cheers from the crowd that is undeniable.  The funny thing is - I don't think I'll ever see a professional game from this point on without seeing the grown players as somebody's baby boy not long before.
    When the game was over, the coach gave his final words and we said our good-byes.  I think we all walked away from the field with that bittersweet feeling.  We're already looking forward to next year to get the gang back together again.  It was a great season with an even greater group of kids.        

While checking my e.mail this morning, I had a fitness newsletter that was titled..."Are You Obsessed with Your Workout?"  I had to laugh.  Yes.  Everyday, all I think about is going to the gym for two hours to meet up with my personal trainer and go over the latest and greatest circuit training techniques...all while wearing a cute little outfit and matching shoes.  Are you kidding?  The last time I saw a gym was a good eight years ago...so I guess that makes it about eight years now that I've had the running cycle in my head of, "I really need to get back to the gym."  The more I thought of this, I was reminded of yesterday. 
     Our eight year old son Christian, had an initial physical therapy appointment for rehab on his foot following surgery.  It was about an hour and fifteen minute session which left me in a big fun new environment with a three year old, four year old and seven year old.  Everything started out well enough.  The three kids sat in the waiting room with me for a good five minutes beautifully still.  I smiled with pride at the other people in the their seats.  That's when Ethan and Preston got started.  'poke' "Stop touching me." 'poke, poke" "MOM!  Preston won't stop touching me!"  Our four year old little "poker" started to giggle which made our three year old little girl start to giggle which made me fully aware of the rest of the waiting room putting their heads down with a smile trying to cover their amusement so not to encourage the behavior.  My whole five minutes of pride was quickly wiped away and I stood up to take the kids out of the waiting room so we wouldn't disturb everyone.  OK.  So this facility happens to be the Mac Daddy of all facilities with a ton of different things to explore.  We went upstairs, downstairs, in different stores, found a swimming pool, went outside and climbed a big wall of rocks, found a design in the floor shaped like the "yellow brick road" so of course we had to follow it.  On and on for about an hour, the three kids and I covered everything from inside to out, top to bottom.  It gets tricky when your three year old decides to run up a staircase while your four year old wants to run back outside again to see the lizard they just found.  It really is like herding cats.  They go everywhere.
     At the end of Christian's physical therapy session, I stood exhausted at the front desk to schedule his next appointment.  I guess all in all, I did get to go to the gym yesterday with not one but three personal trainers...fancy me.  Am I obsessed with my workout?  I guess you could say that.  I think during the next session though, I might bring some coloring books and some crayons. 

  Well, I take back what I said about Lauren being just like her brothers.  Sure - she cut her own hair to try to look like them, yes she begs us to play baseball with them even though she's too young to be on their team...but last night, something different happened.  We stood in disbelief as she somehow pulled her older brother Preston into the "land of pink" as my husband refers to it.
   As I was saying yesterday, when we came home with a baby girl after having three boys back to back, I went a little crazy with the pink.  I don't mean, we bought a pink car seat kind of crazy, I mean the kind of crazy pink that happens when the Easter Bunny and a Fairy Princess get together and decide to decorate - kind of crazy.  The whole room is dripping in pink.  It's even covered from wall to wall in a paint color called,  "Pixie Dust Pink."  (I swear my husband's eye still twitches to this day when he goes in her room.)  As happy as her cotton candy fluff of a bedroom makes me, it has never seemed to phase Lauren very much.  She will still go to her big brothers' rooms to play and hang out with their cars and trucks.  Last night, though, we heard giggling from behind her door.  When we took a peek inside, we found a whole pink foofy set up that she had put together on the floor.  She wanted to have a pretend camp out and have her older brother read a princess book to her while they laughed away.
   Who knows if she's going to start to go from trains and trucks to fairies and princesses - but it was something to see nonetheless.  Each one of the kids are SO different from the other and we marvel at - and cherish their uniqueness.  That's one of the greatest things we've learned from them...that everyone has their own style, even at such a young age. 
  We tiptoed away so they didn't see us and continued to listen to the new stories being told.  From "Woody and Buzz" to "Cinderella and Belle," as long as they're having fun and sharing memories, that's what matters most. 

"Excuse me?  Is that your little girl?"  We often hear this from time to time.  After having three boys in a row, the day we had a baby girl changed everything.  We were so excited to bring a little bundle of pink into our home.  Dresses, bows, you name it - we were giddy.  Imagine our surprise then when three years later, our little "Princess" doesn't know she's a girl yet.  She runs with the boys, plays with the boys and ACTS like the boys.  She is as wild as her big brothers.  We started to see the signs of this around her first birthday.  We took the kids to the park and began to watch as the other sweet baby girls sat by their parents or played in the sand.  Most of them didn't want to run, climb or jump...they sat beautifully.  Our daughter on the other hand was climbing Mt. Everest just to keep up with her brothers.  That was also around the first time we heard a gasp from a concerned parent looking around saying, "Whose little girl is that?!  She might fall!"  We knew at that moment - we were in for a long haul.
    I like that she's going to be tough and I'll have to admit- I'm pretty glad she can hold her own.  Even now as I sit, she's playing hide and seek with her brothers and she's smoking all three of them. 
    She IS starting to show signs of wanting to carry a baby doll and push them around in her stroller so we'll see how it goes.  One thing's for sure though, as of now, it looks like her dolls are all going to know how to throw a pretty mean football.