Color Me Crazy

What do you get when you combine nine napless kids under the age of five with three tired moms and a bunch of white shirts and fabric dye?

Sheer, unadulterated insanity!!!

Things started well... the girls were prepped and ready to go:


And I obviously had the best intentions of getting some pictures of everything...

But about three minutes after this picture was taken, all hell broke loose.

The three babies all started screaming. The toddlers were over tired and just plain done. And the girls were, well, typical independent girls.

I think that my friends and I personified the phrase "It takes a village..." yesterday.

I swept in and dealt with the babies and as many of the toddlers as I could manage while my creative and patient counterparts dipped and dyed the white banded bundles.

The volume in the house was deafening. And I'm pretty sure that I, at least, looked haggard and somewhat hilarious with my child nursing, a baby in the crook of my knee, and a third one on my other arm. I was able to captivate the attention of two of my three toddler charges by having them tell me about the toys in the backpack. My own toddler, however, had to be sent on a wild goose chase looking for airplanes. Don't ask... it is the ONLY thing that will keep his attention or deter him from a total meltdown when he isn't getting his way.

And when all the shirts had been dyed and the diapers had been changed, the power went out.

I swear, you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried.

Exit The Mama.

And as if we hadn't had enough, the nine month old decided that she wanted to choke on a strand of her sister's hair within minutes of pulling out of my friend's neighborhood. It was unpleasant to say the least.

Within ten minutes of walking through the door to our house, I had all three stinky kids bathed. Dinner consisting of Steamfresh broccoli and one cent Publix hot dogs was quickly served.

Bedtime came early last night.

I do have to say that the one shirt I managed to get done before all hell broke loose turned out surprisingly well.

This is her "style girl" pose. I have no idea what that means, but I have a feeling I'm in serious trouble.

We made it home with three other shirts, but sadly my son's is nowhere to be found.

Here are the other ones that my friend Jackie did for me while I juggled the wild ones:


I'm going to add my touch to them with some fun Urban Threads embroideries.

Upon reflection, the tie dying itself was fun. However, next time I think that I will do it minus the children and plus a bottle of wine.

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama