Boy, what a week this has been.  This was the busiest and longest 4 day week I've ever had in my life.  It's true!  It actually started a week ago, on Friday the 22nd.  We spent the entire weekend either with people over, or at someone else's house.  No relaxation for me!

Monday was the first day I actually got to do some chores.  We did have some friends from out of town stop by for about an hour before they headed back home.  They had some personal business here.  I was happy to see them but I hate to admit, I was happy to see them go.  I still had to clean my house in anticipation for my parents' arrival.  We had invited them to come up and watch the baby last week since the sitter was unavailable.

So my parents arrived and we were so grateful for their time spent here.  Of course, following their example from when I was a child, when we invite them up, Luis and I give up our room.  This meant we had to find alternate beds.  We do not have a guest room so I slept on the floor in the baby's room while Luis shared a bunk bed with the older boys'.  I think this may have been the root of my back problems right there.  The first night I apparently didn't have enough air in the inflatable mattress. 

The second night they were here, two of my boys fell through the ceiling into the family room from the attic.  Thankfully no one was hurt but boy they sure learned their lessons.  Ceilings weren't meant to be danced or walked on, I don't care what Lionel Richie says! 

Next comes the planning for our vacation in July/Aug where we will go to Luis' country of origin, Nicaragua.  We are taking all four boys and it requires passports for all four.  Jacob's needed to be renewed but since he's under 16, he had to apply for a new one.  Luis brought home some applications that he picked up from the post office.  On Wednesday night, I got busy filling them out.  I accidently signed Caleb's before reading that you have to do that in person.  So I was out one application.  Thursday after work, I stood for 15 minutes in line getting another application.  That evening, I spent the time needed to make sure they were all filled out properly.  Luis worked hard to take their pictures with a white sheet drop.  We printed them and cut them out.  Then I stapled them in the place on the app where it said to.

So Friday we realized that two of our boys would be going home with grandma and grandpa on Saturday and that we only had 8 weeks before our trip.  The turn around time for these applications is 4 to 6 weeks.  The week after next, Jacob will be gone.  We decided the best thing would to get them over with.  The thing is, each parent has to be present with the child to submit the applications.  And not all post offices accept these.  We knew that the location in North Kansas City accepted them.  So we decided to do this Friday afternoon.  I got home at 4:00, my usual time, we piled everyone into the car and arrived at the post office at 4:20.  We went to stand in line when we saw a sign on the wall that said they stop accepting passport applications at 4:00.  We tried to plead our case but they would not listen.

So we went back home.  Meanwhile, Luis had a speaking engagement in Holt, MO (about a 30 minute drive) at 6:00.  We looked on the internet to see if we could identify another post office close to us with their hours.  We saw that there was one in the Metro North Mall, about 2 miles from us, and they were open until 5:30.  It was almost 5:00 by then.  So again, we raced to the car, this time with Luis driving separately as he would need to leave for Holt from there.  We got to the mall, not knowing where the USPS was located.  Using the maps they have posted we found the place and rushed as quickly as we could.  I was carrying the baby the whole time and this started to aggrevate my back.  We got in there, and again waited 15 minutes.  Their was only one employee available and he was working on another application when we got there.  Finally it was our turn and it was already 5:20.  He took one look at the pictures and said they should not have been stapled because only one goes there, the other gets placed on the inside.  He also said that three of the pictures had faces too big so they wouldn't pass anyway.  He said the USPS downtown (literally one block from where I work) took applications on Saturdays.

Disappointed again, we went home and checked online to make sure the downlown location would be open and it was true, until 3:30.  We decided we would go to CVS Pharmacy around the corner from us to have the boys' pictures taken in the morning.  I wasn't going to waste any more time on those.  My dad could only stay in town until noon on Sat since he had to be back by a certain time.  Luis had to speak again in Holt that morning and couldn't be downtown until 11:30.  Our window of margin was getting narrower by the second.  So Saturday morning, Luis had to return to Holt for his last commitment.  I took the boys to CVS around 9:00.  The pictures had to be taken a few times, especially for little Pablo who didn't have a clue what taking a picture meant.  We waited over an hour and their equipment was down.  Out of desperate measures, I had asked if the memory could be taken to another CVS store to be printed.  The manager said he needed to go to another one and could do that.  So then I asked as I looked at my watch, I asked if I could just stop by that other store to pick them up since we didn't have time to wait for him to come back.  They agreed.

The boys and I rushed home, got my parents, loaded the car with the boys' suitcase and headed south.  We stopped by this other CVS store and they were just finishing up.  They didn't charge me since I had to wait!  Boy was I grateful!  We got into downtown and there was a huge rock festival just blocks from the place we were headed.  So we got slowed down with traffic.  Finally reaching our destination, I was so relieved to see that there was not a line.  I made sure I had everything I needed and thank God, I had all my ducks in a row.  Luis showed up just in time and we darted to the counter just in time to beat another couple coming with passport applications.  We finished the process at about 12:15 and my parents left with the other two.

Now my body is suffering from the stress of it all.  I came home from church, took some analgesics and hit the bed.  My back will be bothering me this week but I'm just so glad to have gotten that out of the way.

So, being the mother of four boys, I have put up with a lot of dirt....I mean the real kind that comes in on the bottom of their shoes, stained on their jeans, and caked under their finger nails.  Even Pablo at 8 months somehow manages to get dirt between his little fingers and toes and he's not even crawling yet!

Last night I decided that I was going to have child #3 and #4 soak their hands.  Since they shower and no longer take long baths, they don't always remove the dirt and grime.  So one at a time, I started with child #3, who had the dirtiest hands.  I had him soak for 10 minutes and to my amazement, once they were clean and I had the chance to look them over, I discovered that he had warts all over one of his hands.  One finger had three different clumps.  I felt like a bad mommy for not noticing this earlier.

Anyone have some suggestions of getting rid of them?  Child #1 had plantar warts on the bottom of his feet when he was around this age (6 -7) and I took him to a doctor who used something to freeze them.  Does anyone know if they do this to hands?

For the past few weeks, my husband/pastor has been preaching on the ten commandments.  He started this lesson on a Wednesday night for the children's ministry and had them memorize the list.  Then he decided to start a sermon series since so many of us adults and adolescents easily forget the importance behind each one.  Today he spoke about the third commandment of not using the Lord's name in vain.  This brought a family discussion afterwards of what was appropriate to say and in what context did a word or phrase become derogatory.  I think it has opened the eyes of my boys to realize how offensive some of the common phrases we use are.  Not necessarily to people as the level of acceptability to society has decreased substantially since I was a kid.  It's amazing what people can get away with saying in public now a days.  But our words are so offensive to God and He is the one whom we Christians must please. 

A verse that I have used repeatedly with my boys is Ephesians 4:29: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

I know that we are all guilty of letting an unpleasant word slip here and there, myself included.  But as a Christian who often gets placed in a glass house, I want to challenge you to build each other up with words of praise and encouragement.  Too many times we let insults fly without thinking of how it will impact the one receiving it.  I will try my best to hold my tongue when I know that my words will be received in a hurtful way.  There is a difference between exhorting a brethern with love and putting someone down.

I pray that each one of you may have a blessed week.  I'm sure ready for the flowers to bloom and birds to cherp.