Four Days, Six Kids

Many of you know the Shupes. I have taken care of their five children for many, many years. The oldest is now 13 and I changed diapers on all five kids. That's how long it's been. Matt and I fondly refer to them as the "Shupelets". Unfortunately, since moving to Layton and starting a family of our own, we have seen our little shupelets less and less. Well, last week their parents wanted to get away for a few days, so Matt and I gladly took on the role of guardians while they were gone. Along with Kalianna and the two dogs, we invaded their house and stayed from Tuesday to Friday. Matt worked all day and the kids were off for UEA. So it was quite an adventure! One pregnant mom, six kids, two dogs, two guinea pigs, and one fish.

Let's begin with Monday. Bad, bad day! I was supposed to get all our stuff together for the week, then pick Matt up from work and head to my parents house for the night (so we'd be there Tuesday morning, ready to go). I was sick Monday. REALLY sick! I could not keep a single thing down, and I could hardly get out of bed. Much less do laundry and pack. I haven't been sick in a couple weeks either. It was just a really off day. Well, after much vomiting, we finally picked Matt up. Two hours late! And I continued to be sick thinking, "what have I gotten myself into?!" Melissa stopped by that night with a house key so I could get in the next day.

Tuesday, got Kalianna and myself ready, packed up the car and headed over so I would be there when Coleman (the youngest) got home from kindergarten. I tried all five keys on the chain Melissa brought me. Nothing. Not a single one of the keys would even fit in the lock, much less turn and open the door. Great. They had given me the wrong keys. I tried the back door. Same situation. I even called my brother and had him come over and try in case I was just dumb. Nope. They did not leave me a house key. So I put Kalianna on the trampoline and called their cell phones. Then I went to the neighbor's houses who I knew had keys. No one home. Finally, with the help of a neighbor, we were able to break in to the house. I'm not going to tell you how. But it took some stealth maneuvering. Boy was I glad I'm not further along! Once inside, I got our things settled and set up the gates for the dogs. Melissa is allergic, so they were only allowed in two rooms during our stay. After a little while, the kids came home one by one and our afternoon began. They played with the dogs and we played in the yard until it was time to start dinner. Thank goodness for having a teenager! Olivia was such a sweetheart and played with Kalianna (who didn't get a nap and was very cranky) while I cooked. About the time dinner was ready, the piano teacher showed up. I had forgotten about piano lessons! Shoot! So the kids ate in shifts while the three oldest took their turn practicing. Had to sign papers and get homework done and get backpacks together for Wednesday. Finally got to bed around 10:00pm and crashed!

Wednesday we were up much earlier than I like to be, getting kids ready for school. Got Olivia out the door and off to middle school with no problems. Then the two little girls (Eliza and Sophie) left to walk to their school. Then it was time to drive Ethan and a neighbor to their school. As we are getting ready to leave, Eliza bursts through the door saying Sophie was mean so she came home. Perfect. At this point, she didn't have time to walk. So I told her to get in the car and I'll drop her off now. Then Sophie, having chased Eliza all the way back home, comes in the door. "Get in the car!" So then I ended up driving all of them to school. Got home and had time to rest for a bit before getting Coleman ready for kindergarten. Once all the kids were off to school, Kalianna and I settled down for a much needed nap. It was early day, so all the kids minus Olivia were home right after we got up. Friends came over, we played and enjoyed ourselves till Matt came home. Then we ordered pizza and hunkered down for a pizza/movie night. (After dinner one of Coleman's friends came over and joined us for the movie. He is four and was at their house until 8:30pm. His parents never once called or checked in on him. Does that seem bizarre to anyone else?) Then all the kids were in bed again. And getting six kids, who don't have school in the morning, ready for bed is quite the challenge! Excuse after excuse to stay up late. That night was awful! Sobaka and Kutse decided they were done being locked into two rooms and they proceeded to bark. A lot! So Matt ended up going out and having to sleep on the couch to hush them up. It was a bad nights sleep for both of us.

Thursday I let the kids lounge around in jammies and watch TV for a little while. Then we did chores. After lunch, my aunt brought her kids over to play. They are about the same ages as the Shupelets. We visited and encouraged friendships while the kids scattered and played. Twelve in all. Counting a little neighbor boy (who I think he lives at the Shupe's house--he is ALWAYS there). We had a couple arguments between siblings, but mostly they played well. Matt came home sick mid afternoon. The lack of sleep had really worn on him. So he snuck in without any kids seeing him and crawled back into bed. We made brownies and by the time they were done, realized it was about dinner time! Whoops! Bonnie gathered her kids up and as they were leaving, Olivia asked if my cousin, Miquelle, could stay the night. We both said it was okay. So, now with seven kids in tow, I had to figure out dinner. Matt was supposed to grill dinner that night on the barbecue, but he was not doing well. So, off to Burger King! As I took orders, Coleman's little friend proceeded to tell me what he wanted too. (Seriously?! Who is this kid?? And why does he think he lives here?) After sending him home, I picked up food for all and we scarfed it down. Shortly after dinner, I had a chat with Olivia. She informed me that her parents don't allow sleepovers. The guilt had gotten to her. Crap. I told her I would talk to them. So I text them on their trip and sure enough they said, "absolutely not!" Miquelle had to go home. The older three played night games with some neighbors while I settled the younger four down with a movie and then bedtime. All on my own. Matt was still sick. Once the youngest were settled, my uncle came and picked up Miquelle. Then I had to convince Olivia and Ethan that they needed to come in and go to bed too. When I was doing my rounds that night, I found a sobbing Sophie in bed. She missed mom and dad. We tried to call them so she could say good night, but got no answer. Eventually she fell asleep. Exhausted, I crashed. That night the dogs did not bark. However, the smoke detector started beeping around 2:00am. Dead battery. Matt stumbled out of bed and took care of it. But the chirping and seeing Matt woke the dogs, who started barking again. But thankfully, they calmed down and we finally got to sleep.

Friday the kids wanted to go swimming. They had some free passes from school, so I promised we could go. My sister-in-law, Ricci, came to help me. Thank goodness! I made all the kids do chores and make sure rooms were clean before we could go. Because Cory and Melissa were supposed to be back that afternoon. We all ate lunch together, then changed into swimsuits. Turns out the kids thought they were going to an outdoor pool. In October. They love this particular outdoor pool, and didn't understand why it was closed and drained for the season because it was warm outside that day. Oh boy. The indoor pool had diving boards and a kid splash zone with toys and slides, so the kids were subdued. When we got to the pool and paid, there was a class going on in the diving board area and the splash zone was closed for the day. Stupid! So instead, we got to play in a very small, lukewarm pool. The kids were bored within ten minutes. Thankfully the diving boards opened up! They played on those for a long time. We only lasted two hours at the pool, then everyone was ready to go. Once home, I found out their mom and dad hadn't been able to get on the first flight, so they would now be home around 7:00. Ricci (the sweetheart that she is) stayed and helped me keep the kids entertained and happy. Matt and Bryan both got off work early and we barbecued dinner on the grill. After dinner we found out they missed the next flight too and wouldn't be home until after 10:00pm now. New plan! So we walked down to my parent's house and borrowed a couple movies for the kids. Then, jammies on, they watched movies until Matt and I had to leave. We wanted to get Kalianna home and in her own bed that night. So Olivia was put in charge and we took off.

We really had a fun time with the Shupelets! They are fun and sweet kids! But boy were we glad to be home! Like Matt said, "It's a good thing you only have kids one at a time." (typically) Because going from one to six was exhausting! And Kalianna was so cute that night! We walked into her bedroom and she grinned and then proceeded to pick up each of her toys and hug them. She was a trooper all week, but nothing beats being home!