(As opposed to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly--get it?) But more on that in a minute.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Breakfast, devotions, school, and VLB prep for the most part. We left early for church so we'd have time to run by the library and pick up some new books. The kids have been itching to go for several days now and this was my first chance to get them there. Katie has already read 5 books since last night and Joe's not far behind. They're into those little kid-y chapter books now and loving 'em.

It's strange to prepare a VLB service for a congregation that is made up of yourself, your three small children, and two senior ladies! Ha! I shared some scriptures from Timothy and talked about how we can minister to younger people just as Paul ministered to Timothy--through warnings and exhortations. We just had a short little Bible study, then spent some time praying for the Youth Convention that will be held at our church here in Albuquerque next weekend--for the Convention as a whole, that every song and sermon and prayer would be anointed of God and that everyone would be blessed and encouraged by it, and also that young people from here in Albuquerque would come to the Convention and get SAVED! We have small children and we have older people and we have James and me. We are lacking in the youth department and it would totally transform the face of this local church if God would see fit to give us some teenagers who would sell out to Him and become dedicated church goers--and eventually members. We had a good prayer last night and intend to keep seeking God for souls (and young ones, in particular) in this area.

Today I faced The Big Nasty, as I've come to call it. It's a job I've been dreading and putting off for some time now, but I promised James I would have it done before he got home from Arizona. So today was the day! I went out to the shed this morning and cleaned it out--trash, junk, papers, dirt, grime and LOTS of spiderwebs and dead bugs. YUCK. The shed has been in this condition since we moved in--left nasty by the previous owner. Sadly it was only slightly worse than the house itself! Ha! Anyway, I had it all cleaned out by noon, so we took a lunch break before continuing.

After lunch I spent the whole afternoon "moving in" out there. All of our extra things (things that don't have a room yet--like the stuff for the boys' room, James' office and the den--none of these rooms exist around here yet, they're to be formed in the future) have been stacked and piled in the garage since we moved in, including all of the stuff that rightfully belongs in the shed. You know, tools, Christmas stuff, old baby stuff that we don't need anymore but James wants to keep "just in case," tools, ladders, coolers, tools, the ice cream maker, lawn chairs, Maurice (my beloved paint sprayer), have I mentioned tools? It was a dirty, nasty, smelly, sweaty, heavy job, but I was determined to get it all over with today. Unfortunately, it's the kind of job that, as you progress, seems to be mocking you and taking great joy in prolonging itself and stretching the misery out beyond the one day you had planned. ~sigh~ Actually, I might have had a chance at finishing up out there had things not gone awry. This is where the title comes in.

I heard a Katie scream--the real kind--and turned around to see her in a little pile just to the side of the trampoline, lifting her head up off of a rock. I felt that motherly surge of panic and went running to her, just sure that there was going to be blood everywhere. She was crying and screaming that Sam had pushed her off the trampoline. There was no blood, thank the Lord, but there was a tiny gash on her forehead, right in the middle of a HUGE knot that had already formed and was beginning to turn blue. I ushered everybody into the house and sent Sam to bed while I tended to Katie, cleaning her head and getting an ice pack for it. I then went and "tended" to Sam. I made him come and look at Katie's head and had a good talk with him, among other things. Along with his other punishments, he has been banned from the trampoline indefinitely.

All of the kids had been outside for hours and hours today (playing or helping me with the shed project) and they were all FILTHY. So I put the boys in one tub and Katie in the other, then suddenly realized that it's probably not wise to put a little girl who has just sustained a head injury into a tub of water and leave her alone! So I took a load of towels into the bathroom and folded them and put them away while Katie jabbered. No injury to her tongue, that's for sure! Ha!

I got all of the kids out of the tubs, but Joe was having some serious attitude issues. He was crying and blubbering like no 6 year old should ever do and I told him if he didn't stop he'd be sorry--and that part of his punishment would be going to bed with no dinner. I went back to check on Katie again and listened to Joe continue his blubbering in the other room. So in the end, Joe and Sam both got sent to bed an hour early and with no dinner. I don't recall ever sending kids to bed with no dinner before, but it seemed very appropriate tonight. (Just don't tell my Dad--he's already plenty mad at me because of Katie's injury. It was all my fault, you know--and, of course, I didn't tend to her properly afterwards. ~sigh~ You don't want to mess with his grandkids, let me tell you! Ha!) Joe was acting like a baby, so he was put to bed like a baby would be. Sam could have seriously injured his sister, just because he was being a creep, so it just seemed right to end his day, too!

It's all very sad, but it did give opportunity for the little knothead (I told her that's what we'll have to call her until the bulge in her forehead disappears! Ha!) and I to have some girl time! That very, very seldom happens around here so we snatched up the opportunity and ran with it. We split a Totino's pizza and a Vanilla Coke and watched a girl movie on the projector in my bedroom. :-) What fun!

I just put Kate to bed a few minutes ago and she's already out cold. But now Sam is awake and crying that he is growing pains. (He and Joe both have this problem on occasion, but they never say they HAVE growing pains, they say they ARE growing pains. Hhmmm... Ha!) I went and prayed with him and he should settle down and fall asleep again shortly.

And that's about all the excitement from around here. I haven't taken a picture in days now and it fills me with guilt. I didn't let James take the camera with him on his trip because then I wouldn't be able to take pictures of all the great stuff the kids and I would be doing while he was gone. So now he will have no BTI pictures--and I don't even have any great pictures from around here to make up for it! I did take a picture of Katie's big knot earlier, but considered it too graphic to blog. Ha! It's not THAT bad, but it does look pretty unpleasant. It looks like tomorrow I'll be duking it out with the shed again, but maybe after that I can find something picture-worthy to do with the kids. Assuming they don't all have to be sent to bed early or something! ~sigh~ I'm sure tomorrow will be better.

~The Mean Mom~