When does "normalcy" start??

Recently one of my girlfriends told me that she was ready for her wedding to be over and ready for her "normal" life to start. I did a double take and said "please tell me when THAT starts ..."
I am truly hoping the last few weeks are not what "normal" looks like.
I am a summer-loving girl. I really can't think of anything I like about winter ... maybe getting snowed in at Mom and Dad's that one time and making all kinds of yummy food .......um, yeah that's about it. I'm annoyed by all the extra clothes, the sicklings, the traffic, the weather watches, hate it. But yesterday my life took on a whole new sense of abnormal ... maybe this day re-cap will make you smile, because it does have some humor- if it wasn't your day.

The events that took place are in no way fabricated ... this is truly truly how it was.

Starting at 7:00 a.m.
I got up and went to get Avery up. It was a Tuesday on which we go to Moms 'n More and it is probably one of the highlights of my week. I just absolutely love it. When I brought Av in I realized she had bumps all over her face and arms and a couple on her chest. No fever, but bumps. Was this chicken pox?? I was trying to remember whether or not she got that vaccine when Dalton's horrendous cough came over the monitor. He did have fever and he had those sick little pitiful red eyes that just break your heart.
7:15 Aaron tells me I shouldn't go to Moms 'n More (thanks babe).
7:30 Aaron leaves for the day to lounge in his desk chair, talk to people on the phone and play on a computer (this is what I'm thinking at this point, I'm sure it's not that great, but at this point, that seems heavenly)

8:00 Fix Avery pancakes and juice try to get her to eat something. Dalton on the other hand had no interest in food or drink. Which is pretty crazy for him.
8:30 I decide to call the doc and see if I can get them in. Of course by 8:30 there entire day is booked ............... ridiculous. (another reason I love winter).
9:15 Dalton lays down for a nap ... but is coughing so hard he barely sleeps.
10ish I put Av down for a nap. Her screaming wakes Dalton up and he is super upset.
Over the next hour I pick up the house, check e-mail, drink my coffeemate with a splash of coffee and try to get Dalton back down. Then I hear Avery fussing. I go into her room and she has taken off her diaper and left the biggest ... "surprise" I've ever seen. I strip down the sheets and bedding and chunk it into the washer. While I'm doing this she wakes Dalton up... wonderful.
I start roasting some chicken for Paula Deen's Chicken Noodle Soup ... (recipe to follow, it was the highlight of my day.)
Avery runs around doing her tiny tornado routine, emptying every basket, drawer, cabinet she can.
About noon my kitchen was a danger zone because the soup has about 50 ingred... but so worth it. I had left a lighter on the stove top bc I had lit a candle. It wasn't on a burner, jsut the surface. With the soup boiling, the lighter EXPLODED in the kitchen ... yes EXPLODED. Shards of plastic went every which way imaginable and I was shaking for about 5 minutes. Thankfully Avery was still as active as ever and so I was distracted from my attempt to burn down our house.
She unscrewed her juice cup filled to the brim of cran-grape juice and dumped it on the floor making her own little juice pond to jump and play in
......................................................................................................................................................................................
I am not making this up.
There were little juice footprints all over the hardwoods and tile.... thank goodness we don't have carpet.
Finally I think about 2 I decided to take them out on the porch. It had been raining but it wasn't now. We live in an older home and the door knob definitely needs to be replaced. It has a habit of coming off track and locking you out. Well the door was open and Dalton and I were swinging on the porch swing. Avery was kinda coming in and out. Well of course on one such trip she slammed the door shut locking us all out. I was not patient or peaceful about this episode.
I ran socked feet through the muddy walkway to the side door ... locked. Tried the pool door ... locked. However earlier I had cracked a window. So Dalton and I took the screen off and climbed through the door. If Avery had had sheets or even a mattress pad on her bed I would have put her right to bed. However I had stripped them earlier and just couldn't put her on the bare mattress.
I fed Dalton some soup and he loved it and then I laid him down and got Avery dressed. It always makes me feel better if Avery is at least all ready, no matter what I look like. Right after doing this I was cleaning the kitchen and I'm not really sure what happened. I think she fell out of the highchair she climbed into and fell out giving herself quite a shiner.
AAGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was not my best day. All of this stress has given me the most painful ulcer in my mouth that now I can't even speak ... Horrendous.
Had to share.

Paula Deen Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients
Stock:
1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) fryer chicken, cut up
3 1/2 quarts water
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 bay leaves
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Soup:
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced celery, with leafy green tops
2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup cooking sherry
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan, optional
3/4 cup heavy cream, optional
Seasoning salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Crusty French bread, for serving
Directions
For the stock: add all ingredients to a soup pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have approximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin, and cartilage. Set chicken aside.
For the soup: bring stock back to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper. Enjoy along with a nice hot crusty loaf of French bread.

It is quite the cure all ... even for a day like mine. :)
Rebekah