gasp, huff, sigh, ugh, bleh, and whatever else

So my day started when Jackson started screaming at 4am. There was nothing wrong with him so I left him there, but he cried for at least 20 minutes. He finally went back to sleep, but he woke Hailey up in the process. So I had Hailey lay in bed with me so I didn't have to get up. She squirmed for the next hour. Then I suddenly woke up around 6 to the sound of her in the bathroom doing who knows what. She came out in just her diaper saying she needed to go potty. I dealt with that and Jackson was screaming again by then. I took both of them downstairs and turned on a movie. Ian dawdled to get ready for school, Brandon cried all morning. I had to take the 3 younger ones to Target because they were having an amazing deal on diapers, which we always need, and I would rather take 3 children than 4. Hailey ran away from me in the store and I had to leave the twins with a stranger to go find her. I found her outside the building, sitting on a bench crying, with only one shoe. I was pretty freaked out. Then Brandon hit Jackson in the head a few times, and Hailey threw a tantrum at the check out stand. Once we got home Brandon continued to cry constantly. I tried to feed them lunch, but they just threw everything and anything I gave them on the floor and cried. So off to bed for a nap. A little bit of peace for a couple hours, I talked to my mom on the phone. Once the twins got up, more and more and more and more crying. Piano lessons at 3:30. I had to hold Brandon through the whole thing to keep him from screaming. I finally decided he might be constipated. Half an hour later I decided he was definitely constipated. I gave him a suppository. It worked. He seemed to be feeling a lot better. More screaming from all of them while I spent 20 minutes making dinner. I overcooked it. Ian ate, Hailey went in time out, more crying and throwing food from the twins. Jackson finally ate one hot dog (which was not on the menu). Brandon drank some water. I put Brandon to bed at 6:00. Hailey, Jackson, and Ian ran around the living room screaming and hitting each other with drum sticks. I took those away and went in the kitchen. Hailey spit water on Jackson's hair so she could "style" it. I put Hailey to bed at 6:20. Ian and Jackson continued to yell and scream and throw things. I put a movie on for Jackson to keep him quiet and assigned Ian clean up duty. Ian continued to provoke Jackson and be loud. So he went in time out. Couldn't stay quiet. I told him that because he couldn't settle down after I had told him to be quiet repeatedly he couldn't watch his favorite show tonight. He told me "I wish I didn't have a mom. You are the meanest worst mom in the whole world. I'm never going to look at you again. etc etc etc." He will be going to bed early too.

Unfortunately, lately, this is how it has been on average around here. We've also had bronchitis, strep, ear infections, and the flu for the past 4 weeks. So please excuse my lack of blog updates, or enthusiasm for life. I'm just taking it day by day, one disaster after another.