My Week

 I have solo parented this week and it has been L O N G. I have a particular daughter that does not handle her father being gone and immediately becomes contrary and argumentative. I haven't sat down at the computer all week, but I did count 10 drop offs and pick ups of children on Wednesday alone. Our evening activities are primarily Mondays and Wednesdays, but they add a lot to my schedule when JD is away. 

The beginning of the week brought Elijah's first lost top tooth. Selah's are loose also and I'd love it if they come out before his grows in; that would be a cute picture.

 It was an exciting Wednesday for Elijah because his MMA uniform came in. He is now working on earning his first belt.

  
Last weekend was an appliance nightmare of sorts. We have two washer and dryers and recently spent over $500 fixing one. The "fix" lasted only days and we have just lived without it because I haven't taken the time to find out which replacement will able to stack with the still working dryer. BUT, as Murphy dictates, the second washer went out at the end of last week. With 13 people living in the house and JD preparing to go out of town for the week, having at least one working washer became weekend priority number one. 

I decided to go the thrifty route and find a set on Craigslist. I found a set that was at a moving sale Saturday morning, but the lady told me that a few other people were on their way. Whipping out my Black Friday spirit, I threw a plan into action. JD, who was already in town, headed to the ATM and raced over to secure the appliances while James and I figured out how to hook up the trailer, still in my morning sweats, and raced off to haul them away. 
 

 Of course, just replacing the washer and dryer would have been too simple for my complicated life, so I inquired about the fridge that she also had advertised. It was an awesome price and we have needed to replace our third downstairs fridge. The fridge turned out to be exactly the same as the one in our kitchen, except her children had not broken the shelf and door that mine did, and the ice maker still worked. So, we installed it in the kitchen, moved the kitchen fridge to the mud room, then had moved the mud room fridge downstairs. So, instead of just moving one fridge, we had to unload, move and reload three fridges. JD also had to remove the doors on the latter two to get them in the areas they needed. 

JD also installed the one new washer and fixed the second. Since he had to fly out on Sunday, while we thankfully had two working washers, the extra appliances were left in various places. Tomorrow will resolve the broken washer parked by the pool table and the extra dryer next to the school table. 

With messes like this, I'm just focusing on being thankful to be an American and have food to feed my children and clothes that require washing!