A Few Days with the Cousins, Part Four

Things in the van quieted down. I even took a short nap on the way home. There were no stops for bathroom breaks or screams about movies. It was a pleasant trip.

We got home, and the kids piled out of the van. They wanted to play Wii first thing. The only problem was that there were five kids and only four Wii controllers. We compromised that one person could play Tucker's Nintendo DS while the other four played Wii.

That worked for about six minutes. Then they started fighting about what Wii game to play. Harsh words were exchanged and punches were thrown before I had to break things up. "No more Wii today," I announced. After a little moaning and groaning the boys went back to the playroom and Melanie continued to play DS.

That's when we had our first real problem. Grocery day is Sunday around here, and it was Saturday night. Trey suggested grilled cheese sandwiches, but we didn't have enough bread. So off he went to the nearest gas station to pick up a loaf of bread.

This was when Colton told me he was allergic to grilled cheese sandwiches. I understood rather quickly that "allergic to" is code for "don't like" and I made him a grilled cheese anyway. Which he ate.

Melanie continued to play DS. She played long enough that Brian complained because he wanted a turn, and he was right. I made Melanie give Brian the game. This was the beginning of the end for that game.

Bedtime rolled around. The extra kids had baths before they left their respective houses, so only our boys needed baths. They were in and out pretty quickly, and I told all five to brush their teeth while I started getting out everyone's church clothes for the next morning.

But I couldn't find any church shoes for Melanie. She only had tennis shoes and pink crocs. Maybe she was supposed to wear the tennis shoes to church?

Me: Melanie, did you bring church shoes?
Melanie: No.
Me: So can you wear your tennis shoes to church?
Melanie: No, I can't. I didn't bring my church shoes.

It was at this moment that I realized Colton and Brian didn't bring toothbrushes. Trey was store-bound again, this time for toothbrushes some size eleven girls shoes for Melanie to wear to church.

Now, let's leave Trey at Walmart for a moment so I can fill you in on a little back story. Brian and Melanie are technically my brother's children. However, my parents have custody and I commonly refer to Brian and Melanie as Mom and Dad's kids. Because Mom and Dad are raising them. Now, my parents already raised the three of us, so starting over with two young kids is a great sacrifice for them, if you ask me. There is no doubt in my mind that my mom needed a break for a few days, and we were happy to take the kids.

That probably won't stop me from making a joke about how she threw some stuff in a bag and waved goodbye from the window, and then likely sat down on the couch, opened a fresh bag of double stuffed Oreos, and watched Lifetime movies for three days straight while I lovingly cared for these five children. (Okay, I know she didn't do that, but it's certainly what I would have done!)

Trey returned home with two toothbrushes and some cute, shiny church shoes. Upon further inspection of these shoes, he realized that even though the little plastic hangy thingy said size eleven, the shoes were actually a size nine.

Sunday morning came, and Melanie thought the shoes were beautiful.

Me: Melanie, you can just wear your tennis shoes.
Melanie: No. I will wear these shoes. I love them.
Me: But I think they're too small.
Melanie: They hurt my feet.
Me: Then just wear the other shoes, hon.
Melanie: No, I will wear these because they're beautiful. I love them.

And I let her. If she wants to be a slave to fashion, who am I to stop her? I learned later from Mom that she doesn't have church shoes because she refuses to wear them. Hmmmm...

The kids were all wonderful Sunday morning. We had to get to church early because Keaton's choir was singing, and it wasn't a problem at all. The kids ate breakfast, got dressed, brushed teeth, and piled happily into the van (yes, even my kids, the most not-morning-people I know). Finally we were going to have a good time together.

At church there was an incident. I mention it here only for those of you who think Trey and I are weird because we don't fight. We honestly only fight about once a year, if that. Well, there was an incident Sunday morning, and we had our annual argument sitting in the van instead of going to Sunday school because (you're not going to believe this) I was crying and refused to go sit in a room where people would just be uncomfortable and wondering why I was crying. Good timing, right?

The good thing about fighting with Trey is that it doesn't ever really last. He hates for me to be mad at him and I hate for him to be mad at me, so we usually have it out and then move on. Looks like we're covered for another year or so.

The rest of Sunday was uneventful. I went to the grocery store and bought hot dogs even though Colton was allergic to them. The kids fought and played, but I think they played more than they fought.

Sometime Sunday afternoon the DS stopped working. Brian announced that it probably needed to be charged and plugged it in. This will be important later.

Then came Monday. Monday brought vomiting, toilet problems, and loads and loads of Batman fruit roll-ups. And it was easy compared to Tuesday.