6 kids and a dog....

Don't worry people, its not for real. However, my life has been altered a bit for the next 48 hours. Our dear friend who has essentially raised our children from infancy had to have emergency surgery today, and her husband is away, hurrying to get to her side before the surgery. In the meantime, there are 4 children to think about... oh and a dog. She and her family have done fabulous, wonderful things for me and my family, I am always looking for a way to repay her kindness. I have drug myself out of bed in my pajamas to drop off my kids in the midst of sinus infection or illness- without much mother guilt at returning home to bed to a quiet, empty house for the day...
Well, here world, is my chance. Its time to put a big smile on and put one foot in front of the other.
So, we officially have 2 twin boys, age 8, Grace- age 7, I boy age 6, and two 4 year olds- 1 of which is Grant ( which makes this more like 8 kids)...Oh, and a dog. Who lives inside. Luckily, its not like a giant dog or a lab or something. Its a small dog, a bit bigger than what I would call a "yippy" dog. She seems to be potty trained and I have had to let her roam around my house to check it out for the next 2 days.

While driving my van this afternoon, I understood the REAL reason someone might want a van... We bought the van so our kids couldn't touch each other and thus I wouldn't lose my mind driving them around.. and so we can go to Costco easily. Today I had every surface filled in the van with kids, stuff, booster seats, and a dog and her paraphanelia. It wasn't as bad as a I thought really.

The dog has probably been the thing to get used to... especially when Ryan made her growl..
I had to run out for a quick meeting tonight and Ryan was here with the kids.. ( now don't feel so bad for him, I had made dinner, they had eaten and gotten in PJs- he only had to push PLAY on the movie) Evidently at some point Sadie the dog jumped up at him, he pushed her down, she then glared and growled at him and then proceeded to run upstairs and hide.
He went to find her to get her in her kennel- and when she saw him, she growled and barked and refused to come out of her place in the room. Grace was upset at this point- not sure if she was worried about Ryan or herself.
When I got home, he said " You need to go check on the dog- and told me the details".

I had to get one of the kids to bring her downstairs- she was not coming near Ryan- she ran back up twice... and then she ran inside her cage and is tucked away for the night.
The reason this is so very absurd is that I am NOT AN ANIMAL LOVER or LIKER really. We seriously had a pre-nup about a No PET policy. And now, my kids get 2 days of joy and get an inside dog no less, and Ryan is the one to upset the dog.

The kids are also ( and Ryan ha ha) worried that Sadie the dog might harm or try to eat Tommy, our hedgehog. Fat chance. Sadie is a afraid of everything, and to think she could even bother a prickly hedgehog is absurd.

I still don't think I could have 6 kids long term... i for sure couldn't do 6 kids and a dog long term.
Tomorrow we're going to Out of this World Pizza and Play- an inside wonderland of blow ups, climbing and basically very little supervision needed from me!