It's been 10 days since I blogged because...

The boys have done nothing interesting or amusing. Yeah, right. Actually, the screen went out on my laptop so I've lost the convenience and portability that make blogging so...well....convenient. It's still not fixed, but I'm using Craig's laptop because....

Craig received a call this morning from a friend inviting Craig and "one of his offspring" to the Air Force/Notre Dame game this afternoon. Craig was going to take Ezekiel (because Ezekiel says his favorite game is football, Luke loves baseball), but after getting Ezekiel ready, Ezekiel realized this game would take until at least dinner time. He evidentially didn't feel like he could commit 6 hours of his life to a football game, so Luke got to go. This made Luke very happy and I hope they're having a great time.

My birthday was yesterday and after work Craig took the 4 older boys on a mystery mission, which I later found out was a trip to Target so each boy could pick a gift out for me. Micah chose a short pillar candle, Jacob chose a taller pillar candle, Ezekiel chose a set of pillar candles (can you tell I like candles?), and Luke chose a yellow bath towel. Craig later informed me that Luke scoured the entire store and when he saw this yellow bath towel it all came together in Luke's mind. After I opened the towel, Luke told me that he thought I needed a nice big towel to clean up their messes. Nicholas didn't go, but he somehow picked out a pair of very warm, very soft green socks for me. In addition, Craig remembered that I mentioned a few weeks ago that I'd like to have a Christmas wreath for the front door and surprised me with a beautiful wreath. Earlier in the day Craig and Jacob had decorated the dining area with yellow balloons, streamers, a bouquet of flowers, and a small indoor yellow rose plant.

Oh, Thomas II passed on to the great puddle in the sky on Thursday; it appears he died of natural causes. This was Jacob's birthday betta fish. You might notice that this was Thomas II. There was a Thomas I, but he didn't survive very long, although his life was, er, eventful. Here is his story:

We took Jacob on his birthday to pick out his fish, which he named Thomas after Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas I was a beautiful fish. We left Thomas I in his original bowl floating in the top of the tank overnight. The next day I was in the school room teaching Luke and Ezekiel when Jacob came running downstairs telling me that Micah put Thomas I in the tank. I ran upstairs to find Micah sitting in the kitchen sink holding the empty bowl. My heart sank as I prepared to tell Jacob that Micah had just washed his fish down the drain, but thankfully I didn't have to because Micah had dumped Thomas I into the tank before he climbed into the sink. Whew.

I put Micah down for a nap, and put on a Leap Frog video for Jacob so I could finish some school with Luke & Ezekiel.  Of course, Jacob wanted Thomas I to watch the movie with him. I moved the fish tank (a small one gallon) over to the coffee table and left the two happily learning about the alphabet. Around 30 minutes later Jacob came downstairs and his pants were wet, and informed me that he'd "done something very bad". I quickly realized these two clues meant that something had happened to Thomas I. I ran upstairs to find Thomas I swimming in about 1 inch of water. Jacob then explained that Thomas I couldn't see the video, and in an attempt to move the tank he knocked it over, spilling almost all of the water and Thomas I. He demonstrated the pincer grasp he used to pick Thomas I up off the carpet and put him back in the tank.

The next day I found Micah on the counter again holding my cup. It was empty. I looked at Thomas I's tank, and the water looked to have a greenish tint. Micah had indeed emptied a full glass of Diet Mountain Dew into Thomas I's tank. I quickly commenced cleaning and arranging the tank for the 3rd time in as many days.

A week or so later I had the idea to take the boys on a picnic and to a park. While I was in the garage getting a cooler (I was out there for less than 5 minutes), Micah climbed on the counter (yes, again) and emptied an entire container of fish food into Thomas I's very small tank. There was approximately 1 inch of food covering the bottom of the tank. I didn't want to leave Thomas I in those conditions, but I didn't have the time to clean out the tank. I placed Thomas I in a tupperware bowl on the fireplace mantel, to which M complained, loudly, "But I can't reeeaaaachhh hiiiimm". Exactly the point, my boy. I was secretly proud I'd outwitted the 2 year old, if only temporarily.

We went on our picnic, and when we returned home Thomas I was lying on the living room carpet. Yes, he jumped out of the bowl on the fireplace mantel and landed on the living room carpet. I later read that Betta fish will do this if they are looking for clean water or if their tank changes. Personally, I think Thomas I was terrified of living another day in the same house as Micah.