Labor Day Festivities

Every Labor Day we go home. By home I mean to PA - where both Jon and I grew up. We typically spend most of our time at my Mom's house, and we have as good of a time as you would expect to have with three busy kids. The kids love being there, and Jon tolerates it.

Friday was pretty tame. We got to my Mom's around 5, and spent the evening with my Mom, Zak (my brother), Trisha (his fiancee), and Connor (their son). It was nice. Quiet and a bit rainy, but very nice.

Saturday was beautiful. The plan was for Jon to take the hosers to his Mom's for a while, and my Mommy and I would go yard sale-ing (which is seriously my idea of an awesomely good time). Mom and I left, and I eventually called Jonny to see how his morning was going. Turns out that he didn't make it to his Mom's after all. He wouldn't say why over the phone. If you're a Mom, then you know that sinking feeling in your stomach when you think something is wrong. I could hear the kids in the background, and no one was screaming in pain. But I still figured that something was up. Mom and I went home shortly after that phone call. The conversation between Jon and I went something like this:

C: "Why didn't you go to your Mom's?"
J: "She wasn't home. But Steve called." Steve is one of Jon's brothers.
C: "Yeah? So?"
J: "They all have lice."
C: "Haha!! Dirty f***ers!!"
J: "No. They have LICE. They've had it for weeks."
C: "Exactly how many weeks are we talking about?" If you'll recall, one of my previous posts gave Steve et al's visit a 6 out of 10.
J: "Angela's had it for over 2 weeks. They had it at our house."
C: "Are you f***ing kidding me? How did they not know? When did they find out? What the hell is wrong with your family? Are they all too f***ing stupid to be alive? What the f*** am I going to do now? Did you check the kids? Do they have lice, too? Do I?? UNF***ING BELIEVABLE!!"
J: "Calm down, Courtney. It's not such a big deal. They said they found out last week. I already looked at the kids' heads. I can't find anything."
C: "Last f***ing week? Do they not own a f***ing phone? What the f*** is wrong with your family? Do you realize that I allowed our possibly lice-infested kids to play with lots of other kids last week? What the f*** am I supposed to do now? They wrestled with Emily. In her bed. Jesus f***ing Christ! I hate your f***ing family!!"
J: "It will be ok. Let's just get some shampoo stuff to be safe, and I'll check the kids after they get up from naps."
C: "I seriously hate your family. Adam and his kid gave us all pink eye, and now Steve and his kids give us lice. What are Jamie and Riley going to give us? Where are my f***ing keys?"

(I have a slight problem with turning the smallest issue into a HUGE deal - I'm a drama queen. If you can't tell from the above narration, I was PISSED OFF. I was ready to kill Jon's brother and his family. )

My Mom and I went to CVS and bought all the lice stuff I could find. Better to be safe than sorry, I guess. We brought it home, and since Gabriel was still awake, we started going through his hair. Nothing. Just nice, clean, pink scalp. Good sign. I handed Jon the comb and ordered him to go through my hair. He and my Mom thought this was hilarious - I hate having my hair messed up. Honestly, I was petrified that they were going to find something, too. But nothing was there. Just pink skin. Another good sign. I dug through Jon's hair and found nothing on him either. He said the girls' heads looked clean, too. I re-checked them after they woke up from naps, and yep. Clean. I must have checked the kids' heads at least 50 times for lice over the weekend. I found nothing. Everyone I talked to said I would have noticed something if they had lice. I spent the rest of the day fuming over the cootie-issue. In fact, I'm still fuming over it.

Sunday was also very nice. Devin (my other brother), Andrea (his girlfriend), Breanna and Alexis (her daughters) came over for lunch. Andrea's girls are older than my kids, but they play so nicely with them. It was a great afternoon. Everyone ate, my kids went to bed, and I got to go shopping alone!!

Monday we hung out with my Mom in the morning and then went to see Jon's family for a picnic lunch. As soon as we got to the picnic grove, I asked Steve and Lisa exactly when they found out that they all had lice.

S: "Oh, Sunday."
C: "As in 8 days ago, Sunday? Thanks for the phone call. Didn't you think it was important to tell us that you all had friggin' cooties??"
S: "We got busy. We had to clean and stuff. And I had to shave my head and Colby's. We just forgot to call you."
C: "Gee, thanks. I appreciate that."

Lisa, knowing exactly what to look for, went over my kids' heads twice. Nothing. Thank goodness. Had my kids been crawling with lice and cooties and things, I just might have beaten my in-laws.

Aside from the lice, we had a great weekend. The kids had a wonderful time playing in Gramma's yard. I had a great time being able to hang out with my Mom. Jon got to run up and down hills (there aren't very many of them here). The ride home was uneventful. Once we got home, Jon and I commenced with cleaning. I knew that lice can't live without a human host, but I wanted to make sure that we got everything cleaned. All of the bedding needed to be washed, everything needed to be vacuumed, and I sprayed everything with lots of lice-killing spray. Jon and I finally went to bed around midnight. I'm still working on the massive amount of laundry. It's just about done now. Stupid lice.

On a postive note - my still lice-free kids start school this week! Gabriel's UPK orientation is tomorrow, and his first official day is Friday. Elliott's pre-school orientation is Friday (she officially starts on the 16th). I can't wait!!