Lost & Found...

Sunday morning, while the hubby was fixing his delicious breakfast omelets and I supervised the sausage sizzling in a pan, we opened the back door and enjoyed the cool breeze and gentle rain. It wasn't long, however before the aroma gave us away and we were surrounded by our hungry kids... all except for Emilee.

After calling her name several times and receiving no response, we dispatched a search team to hunt for her in the house... No Emilee!

We sent the search team to inspect in the back yard... No Emilee!

We even resorted to using a highly sensitive scent tracking dog (who lead us straight to the sausage)... No Emilee!

I was starting to get worried, LOUDLY calling her name, and then quietly listening for the giggles that would expose her hiding place... No Giggles! No Emilee!

Where could she be? She was just right here and now... nowhere!

NOT in the back yard.

NOT in the house.

Certainly NOT in the front yard (because the doors were still locked.)

But found her we did, wandering around the FRONT yard, picking weeds to feed the horses.

When asked HOW she got into the front yard, she pointed to a section of chain link fence and happily exclaimed,

"I climbed over it!"

Then her Daddy asked,

"But Emilee, didn't you hear us CALLING you?"

(pretty sure the neighbors did)

To which she replied, with an exasperated sigh as she rolled her eyes,

"Dad, I didn't have a phone!"

Note to Santa: please bring us a cell phone - for our 5 year old - who climbs fences.

Back to School Blues...

Today I kissed the kids goodbye

and sent them out the door

(to hitch a ride with the neighbor)

In the excitement of the BIG moment

I forgot to take pictures

of the first day of school

the new clothes, the bright eyes, the smiling faces

(the kids looked pretty good, too)

After closing the door and securing the lock

(at least until 3:30 pm)

I reviewed my long list of "things to do"

and decided to start with

#3: read a book - in pjs - on couch

which quickly turned into

#7: take a nap

After an hour my wide-awake conscience

simply couldn't stand the surrounding environment

so I rolled off the couch

and begin removing all traces of summer from the vicinity

This was no easy task

considering the Kindergartner

who has to wait another week

for her first day of school

who...

slept in a little longer than usual

and woke up in a "water" bed

and while trying to rectify the situation

somehow missed the toilet

and promptly pooped on the bathroom rug

then decided to compensate for her accident

and help clean the already pristine windows & mirrors

using an entire bottle of windex and roll of paper towels

and ending up in the kitchen

poured sticky pop on the kitchen floor

while trying to fill up a cup

and after being banished to the back yard,

pulled everything out of the outside toy box

and scattered it across the yard

but stopped when she came to a bottle of sidewalk paint

and used it to paint her legs blue

while wearing a brand new school outfit

and then painted anything within reach

including the little girl next door

who had come over to keep the Kindergartner out of trouble

then ran and hid in the garden behind the carrots

and decided to pull them out of the ground

then fed them to the horses (that bite)

who gave her a scare and knocked her off her feet

that made her come looking for a bandaid

but stopped when she found the mailbox keys

and ran up the street to collect the mail

then skipped back home scattering a trail of said mail...

FINALLY, the clock reached 3:30 pm,

the school kids came home

and with a sigh...

I unlocked the door and let them in

and after the kisses and excited chatter

they ran outsided to reunite with friends

BUT not before they handed me a pile of "PARENTAL" homework

So... I sat down and started another "to do list"

for next Thursday

when the 1st day of school comes again

and I watch the Kindergartner skip off with the others

#1 take pictures of the kids

#2 hug & kiss them goodbye
#3 securely lock all the doors

#4 go back to bed