I just put Ella down to sleep - not even 6:30 p.m. - and she'll probably be down for the night. It was another no nap sort of day.

My friend Shannon just posted something in her blog about dealing with a crappy landlady, and that got me thinking more about some thoughts I'd been having about what we're dealing with as homeowners and how it would be much less of a hassle to just be renting. However, I remember how excited I was to become a homeowner and be done with the whole apartment/landlord deal. I was so sick of being mere feet from our neighbors, having to worry about being too loud (we were on the top floor), not having our own washer and dryer, not having a yard, not having our autonomy, etc.

Then there are times like this past weekend where I wish we'd be able to call the landlord and have them take care of it (both labor and cost wise). Two of our trees in the backyard are huge cedar trees, and on one there's what must have been a branch at one time but is now a sawed off stump. Cory discovered that there were HUGE ants inside, and we're pretty sure they're carpenter ants. So, that means that not only might we have to have that tree cut down (it might be dying), but we also have to figure out if we have a carpenter ant infestation in the house. Thankfully they aren't as damaging as termites, but there's still the possibility of having to add on the cost of a pest control service if it gets to that point. Blech!

There are also moments as an adult (and especially as a parent) where you're suddenly wishing that you weren't the adult or parent and could just hand off the problem (or child) to someone else. You know, when you're dead tired or have a headache or are can't-get-out-of-bed sick and your child(ren) suddenly appear covered head to toe in mud. Of course that involves bathing said child(ren) and extra cleanup in the bathroom and with laundry. Obviously you just adjust to those things once you're in the situation, but that doesn't mean you give up on wishful thinking! And no, I didn't have three children covered head to toe in mud today.

What I did have was a boy wishing all day long that he could have clones (99 to be exact), a toddler who took great joy in hitting her big sister with a huge rubber snake, and an 8-year-old whose favorite thing to do lately is to say anything and accompany it with a knowing wink and an elbowing while saying, "Huh, huh, huh?"