'Thank you' to my parents

Just a post to say a huge THANK YOU to my mom and dad for the enormous help they have been for the past few weeks. My mom has been here twice, and helped with Jillian and my 'overdone' house more than I could ever thank her for. She walks into my house without judgement, and with compassion for what I do every day! She is a nurse and can calm Jill's worries about herself in about 2 minutes. She helped me get Jillian to a better place with all her meds and pain management. With her grandmother hat on, she helped me get Jill to eat a little, and rest a lot. She is just magic... she goes into a room and when she comes out, it is perfect. She helped me purge some things we no longer need, and helped me get some things in place that we do need. She knows I want to be organized, and never stop trying, but in a family of 10, it can be overwhelming! There are no TV cameras here, nor resources for domestic assistance, so unlike John & Kate - plus their eight,...Leslie and Betsy are on their own. That is why we are SO grateful for this kind of help, that only your mother could or would do for you!! She also boost my emotions by about 150% as soon as she arrives!! When she walks through the door, I just feel the weight of the world lift off my shoulders. She makes hard things, seem simple, and brick walls, (such as 18 loads of undone laundry,) fall in her presence! I would just cry,... she gets it done. She is also GREAT with 'kid motivation'!! Somehow, by the time she leaves, they are all helping (happy or not), and their rooms are clean! And, that's before they play, not after. Matthew expressed some dislike for Mimi this trip, and we wonder why?? hahah -- He even asked her several times,..."Mimi, don't you need to go back to your house and take care of your dogs?" He was ready for a return to 'Betsy's world', and not liking the regiment of 'Mim's world' quite so much!! For the record, I am REALLY trying to keep up her good work, and not let the complaints from the troops phase me!

I also wanted to say THANK YOU to my daddy for his brilliant mind and patient heart,...who can come into my house and in just a few days, fix everything that has been bugging me for months. Leslie works long hours and as the 'keeper of the kitchen' (he cooks and cleans and pretty much has banned me from his area), he has little time left for a leaking sink or sticking door handle. My father's touch is brilliant because he has to work under such difficult conditions. " Betsy, where would you keep a Philips head screw driver?"..." Uhhh, we use to have one somewhere"... as I dig through the junk drawer in the kitchen!! Daddy is just standing there...."Does Leslie have a tool box?" ... "Uhhh, he use to, a long time ago!! before we had boys!! lol" huff, huff....he grabs his keys and heads to Walmart! After returning with basic tool supplies, he gets to work and fixes about 100 things!! Later on, he asked me if I had a flashlight?? I just looked at him, and he said, "sorry I asked". I think he knew the answer. We have batteries, we probably even have a flashlight, but I doubt it has a bulb....a real working flashlight would be a commodity around here and would most certainly be commandeered by Matthew for important work such as frog hunting! So, for daddy to fix things in such primitive conditions, really was a miracle and helpful beyond words. Thank you, thank you daddy... PLEASE come back.

The kids really enjoyed seeing Mimi and Da again so soon. Burton seems to soak up every minute of his grandfather he can get. The girls LOVE to hang with Mimi and do the 'girl' stuff that I never seem to find time for. Make up, hair, cloths and accessories are not easy to mix with changing diapers, fishing little cars out of the toilet, or refereeing toddlers in a screaming match. My guilt is huge, and my mother seems to know that; so I am very thankful she loves all my girls and all that girls stuff so much. She never minds stepping in for a fun lunch and shopping, they think she's pretty special.

Thank you both SO much for coming up here, I can't tell you how much we appreciate it, and how much I love you both.

Betsy

ps - pic is my mom at the beach house we all love SO much -- it is a happy place! more to come soon on our beach week 08'