Duct Tape Is a Single Mom's Best Friend and Other Stories From Our Weekend. . .

I am very behind, as per my usual. But, I have a good excuse. I have had 2 field trips, a church choir banquet, and I had to make food for teacher appreciation day at Joshua's elementary school ~ not to mention take care of 4 little boys!! Whew! What a week! I can't believe that the weekend is almost here again!!!!! This is what we did last weekend. . .

Joshua started crying several days before Erik had to leave for New Orleans last weekend. So, I was determined to make the weekend as fun for the boys as possible. I asked the two big boys to sleep on the floor in my room so that I wouldn't be lonely while Daddy was away. They thought that was a great plan!

Friday, we made sweet tea, chocolate chip cookies, and ate cheese dip with dinner! After dinner the boys played dinosaurs and superheroes on the back porch while I sipped sweet tea and watched them. It was restful, actually.

Elijah thinks that there is only one way to wear a baseball cap! Backwards, of course!!!!

It makes me smile because it totally fits his personality!!!

And, this little one. . . Oh, me, I could eat him up!!!!!! I glanced up from my glass of sweet tea, and what did I see? This little cutie looking at me. . .

I took this picture of Erik Daniel while we were outside because I think that there is nothing cuter than a baby wearing only a diaper!

I love, love, love his fat rolls!!!!

And, then came Saturday!! Oh, Saturday, it rained and rained and rained. And, I had this silly little itch to go to Wal-Mart and buy this. . .

And, so we did. It was sprinkling when we left the house. And, by the time we got to Wal-mart, it was pouring, but I was determined. So, we braved it, and the boys love their new table!!!!

This is what it looked like outside when we got home from Wal-Mart. . .

We have a pool with a retractable cover. We just flip a switch when we want to use it, and the cover rolls back. But, we have to keep a water pump on the cover at all times to keep from having a pool on top of our pool. Well, when I got home, we had a pool on top of our pool. Apparently the pump was clogged with leaves and debris. So, I settled the boys in for naps and quiet play and went out to assess the situation. I unclogged the pump, but when I threw it back out into the middle of the cover, the hose that drains the water broke free from the pump. No biggie, right? Just reattach the hose. Nope, the plastic part of the pump that attaches to the hose broke. And, it was pouring rain and I was soaking wet, and the pool on top of our pool was getting deeper and deeper. So, what do I do?

I called Erik, of course, and had a minor panic attack. Because he can do so much to help, since he is in New Orleans and our pool is at home. . . But, actually, he did help! He called Sean and Deana who were in a larger town not too far away, and they agreed to go by the pool store and get us a new pump. But, they were not going to be back for an hour or so, and the water was rising quickly. So, I thought hard, what could fix this???

Duct tape was all that I could come up with. . .

They say it can fix anything. . .

Now, I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I am 33 years old, and I bought duct tape for the first time a few weeks ago. There was a hole in the boy's rocket ship tent, and I thought, perhaps, duct tape might be able to fix it. So, I went to Wal-Mart seeking duct tape, you know, the kind with the cute little duck on the wrapper. Who knew there were so many kinds of duct tape and colors, too! I was overwhelmed. I picked up the industrial strength duct tape and put it in the cart - 5 dollars. I strolled a few aisles over and decided that I could better spend 4 of those 5 dollars ~ since the regular duct tape was only .99 a roll. So, I went back and swapped the industrial strength for the regular. I mean really how strong does it need to be to fix a little boy's tent.

Little did I know that I would need the tape to hold water! As quickly as the idea to use duct tape to fix the pump came to my mind, the thought that I should have spent the extra 4 dollars and gotten the industrial strength kind came came to my mind! Ugghh, oh well, there was nothing that I could do about it now. I just had to try it, to try something. So, in desperation and in the pouring rain, I wrapped the pump and hose in duct tape.

And, you know what?

It worked.

I am now a believer.

Duct tape really can fix just about anything.

I won't wait another 33 years to buy duct tape again. I'll buy it tomorrow when I do my weekly grocery shopping trip. I may even add it to the our family's official grocery shopping list. Yes, I may just do that. I was so impressed! Who knew!

After I duct taped the pump, the boys decided to play outside in the rain in their bathing suits! Where do they come up with this stuff?

Oh, yeah, that was my idea!

Anyway, by the time I got everything together and got them out the door, the heavy rain had turned to a mere sprinkle.

Here they are watching some busy ants try to rebuild their home after the flood nearly destroyed it! Oh how I wish the flood had destroyed it!!!!!!

Joshua decided that we should have a luau for dinner! And, since I didn't have a spare pig in the backyard to roast, we ate chicken nuggets and a large variety of fruit. Then, we all did a little hula dance. The boys borrowed a few of my peasant skirts, and I put flowers from the backyard in their hair! Fun! Fun!

Here they are doing a little hula dance. . .

Daddy came home from New Orleans with some happies for us!!!! The boys got CP3 jerseys!!!

And, I got an awesome new coffee mug. I have used it the last two days straight! It is my new favorite!!!

It was a busy and fun-filled weekend. I enjoyed almost every single minute of it. But, as fun as it was, as much as the boys and I enjoyed sleeping in the same room, hula dancing, watching movies, eating cheese dip and chocolate chip cookies, playing in the rain, sitting at the new picnic table, and sipping sweet tea, there was no denying that something was missing. . . or someone. . . We love you, support you, and pray for you, but we simply cannot help missing you when you are away. You are treasured and loved beyond what you will ever know. But, then, so are your parents, therefore we don't mind giving you up because we know where you are and what you are doing. And, we are glad for you to be there. We love you tremendously, sweet one.