A Week of Chaos, Catch-Up, and Puppy Mischief

It’s been a few days since I’ve made a post, and honestly… it feels like a whirlwind swallowed me whole. Things have been busy, hectic, loud, and full of little ears that suddenly forgot how to listen. Regression was expected with five kids in the house, but whew… it hits a whole lot harder than the usual two I’m used to wrangling. On top of it all, I’ve been sick with what I’m pretty sure is that stomach bug going around. Today I feel drained more than my normal “drained.” Yesterday’s all-day storm certainly didn’t help the energy levels either.

My morning pal

Despite the chaos, Astrid and I have fallen into our own little routine. We wake up together every morning—well, I roll out of bed, throw on clothes, and then go unlatch her kennel. She’s definitely still too young to sleep loose at night. I’ve already found chewed wires from the few seconds I took my eyes off her. And the toy stealing! Yesterday she smuggled a block into her bed and hid it like treasure. Today I caught her trying to drag the kids’ toy drill into her blankets. Her life motto right now seems to be: “If I can fit it in my mouth, it’s mine.”

We’ve slowly started introductions with the other dogs. Bingo and Astrid? Best friends. Chaos twins. Partners in crime.Jack & Sally? Not so much. She’s curious and polite, but they act like she’s a dinosaur. With her being such a big baby and them only around six months old, her size alone terrifies them—especially Jack, who has informed the entire world (very loudly) that the giant infant is simply too much for him.

Tonight I’m planning on introducing her to Lucifer. I haven’t been well enough the last two nights to do it, and it’s Lucifer’s turn on rotation again. She’s given me some hope that they can eventually be integrated together, but it’s going to take time, patience, and a whole lot of training.

This morning I’m moving way slower than usual. My stomach is in knots, but I still managed to get a load of dishes done and laundry into the wash—both things I’ve been struggling to keep up with since the number of little heads in this house nearly doubled. I told myself today was going to be a slow-moving day and everyone else could help make up the difference.

By 7:30 I had the kids’ TV time started, breakfast prepped, and the little ones eating. The day didn’t start out smooth—Andy came in and went straight to the wall for refusing to help clean the mess he helped make last night—but once everyone had food and quieted down, we settled into our schoolwork. We moved through our books and videos, then jumped into a science activity on surface tension with coins and water. After that, we read a pangolin book, played on the tablet for a bit, and got lunch into everyone. Once their bellies were full, the whole house finally fell into a peaceful nap.

After nap time, we made corn dolls and started our bicycle math packet. Before I knew it, it was dinner time again. Once everyone ate, it was wind-down time—TV, quiet, and the soft calm that only comes in the evenings.

While the house settled into stillness, I started tomorrow’s dinner.

Tomorrow is the day.

The day of dread.

The day of cooking all day long…

Thanksgiving.

Wish me luck.