Christmas Cancelled?! Maybe

   Have you ever had a day when you're just one more mess or upset away from calling a "Time Out"!?  Monday was one of those days for me.  Really this whole month I feel like these kids are pushing the limit nearly non-stop and of course the first day home from school is always a bit harry but I, for some reason, forget this every time.
    I thought the day was going pretty well.  I had the boys up doing chores early and got out the door at a decent hour to do some shopping with Isaac along to help.  I even came home from my errands to find all was still well at home, then it started! 
    First it was Carter making a prank call to 911 and getting a call back from the dispatcher to make sure nothing was really wrong.  Luckily a police officer didn't actually show up at the door but I think he was on his way because he did do a drive-by.  You can imagine I had a chat with Carter and he was grounded for the remainder of the day.  So now I think it's safe to take a little moment to veg out in my room, which is what I would typically do on a normal day, but I should have known better with all these kids home, including a couple friends. 
     After a little while I decide McClane should be checked on but instead of being a diligent mother and doing it myself, I send the 14 year old girl to do the job and her idea of checking on the baby is yelling down the stairs to ask if he's down there.  I was aware he was down there but I'd asked specifically for her to check and make sure he wasn't in any trouble or hurt because I know how oblivious the boys can be with him.  So I finally get off my lazy behind to check for myself and boy was I in for a shock. 
     First I find my basement in utter upheaval.  The couch and chairs were turned upside down and the boys were just lying around watching tv and no one really knew where McClane was.  The nice neighbor boy was quick to jump up and help look but of course the damage was done, because there was McClane in the bathroom where he'd played in a toilet that hadn't been properly flushed after someone had gone not just one but two, and yeah, it was nasty!  So now I'm losing my cool.  Friends are sent home and furniture and "other" messes are cleaned up and I'm nearly done with these kids.  Then Mark comes home from playing at a friends and I send him out with some trash and Kayli decides to lock him out with the locks we've recently installed to keep Brock in the house and he gets mad and actually tries busting through the door and busts a piece of molding away from the wall around the door.  So now I'm really done and I'm not kidding, I would have taken down the Christmas tree and decorations right then if I'd thought it would have done any good but Greg stopped me and thankfully after Monday things improved and the rest of the week hasn't been nearly as bad.
    McClane did have a minor run-in with the treadmill which was sad but thankfully he didn't require medical attention but this is the result of his fall.

This was just shortly after it happened.  It's burned and scraped but thankfully he's tough and hasn't really complained much after the initial incident.

   Please don't judge me, I'm usually very vigilant about keeping him away from the treadmill but I was hoping with all the kids home they'd help keep him away and he wasn't actually trying to get on the treadmill like he normally does when I'm on it, he was just too close doing other things and fell.  Trust me, lesson learned and this won't happen again.

   And here's proof that even baby proofing the whole house doesn't always keep him out of trouble.
So that's a little of our week.  I could regale you with more but I've shared enough for now.  Now lets hope our Christmas Eve and Christmas day go as planned.  Merry Christmas!!