Five Kids and a Mouse

I never thought I would have 5 children, but for the next few days that is what I will find living in my house.  The reasons for these extra two kids are not important but the lessons I will learn from this experience are invaluable.  I am learning that I have to be flexible when I have 5 kids.  Schedules just fly out the window despite your best intentions.  Happy meals are worth their weight in gold especially when three of the five kids have ballgames on the same night.  There is not enough hot water for 5 baths, a load of laundry and a sink full of dirty dishes.  But the most important thing I am learning is that you have to laugh, and laugh often.  And so we did tonight when a mouse got in the house.  It wasn't the cute and lovable mouse you see in the image to the left. Instead it was a small, gray, fast, scurrying mouse that ran through the kitchen and into the dining room thanks to the man that left the garage door open.  And yes I was on the kitchen counter screaming at someone to get the mouse and shut the garage door.  But what was even better was the sight of three boys sharing a chair as they stood in it to avoid the mouse (or get a better view as one of them put it). The heroes of this story:  the two girls that are living in this house and the man who let the mouse in to begin with (he didn't really have a choice. It was after all his fault).  But I had to laugh because I am sure we did make a funny sight.  Settling everyone down after our experience was not an easy task but all finally did go to sleep (Thomas made sure all his pillows were safe in his bed so the mouse wouldn't get them).  But I know there will be a fond memory of tonight and this time that we are blessed to have together.