Tally-O

Tallied up this mornings failures and successes...

Failures: 1. My children's bedrooms are in an "enter-if-you-dare" state. 2. The laundry pile is growing, not shrinking. 3. Christopher just cut his own hair...again. 4. I called it quits on potty-training our youngest for the 2nd time. 5. Three out of our four toilets are out of commission.

Successes: I caught my youngest two children on the the couch surrounded by copies of the Book of Mormon. They announced to me that they were reading their scriptures. At the end of "scripture study" they sang their version of "I Am A Child of God" and it was pretty cute.

I'd say the successes FAR out way the failures and make me feel very very grateful.

Lobster

I am tired of the complaining that takes place almost every dinnertime at my house. There is always somebody who doesn't like something. So, today I told my children that they could each give me a list of 3 things that they do not like and would prefer not to eat. If I serve those things they are excused from eating those items. Nathan is a pretty good eater and had a hard time coming up with three things. Finally he proclaimed that LOBSTER is on his list. I have NEVER cooked Lobster...ever...and Nathan has never eaten lobster. I hid a giggle and told him that would work, but maybe he should pick something we actually eat at our house. He pondered that response and said "but, what if you accidentally cook lobster?" That could be a problem so I promised him that if I ever ACCIDENTALLY cook lobster he does not have to eat it.

Boys are Gross

We've never had an actual lesson entitled "don't touch mice", but somehow my girls know that they shouldn't anyway. It is part of their nature. My boys, however, didn't learn that lesson in heaven. They automatically think it's a good idea to touch the mouse, even to pick up the mouse. They found it today in one of our window wells and instinctively knew it would be fun to chase the girls with it. They chased my sweet screaming girls through the house with the mouse before dropping it on my kitchen floor. EW! EW! EW! I'm no stranger to mice. I grew up in the country and mice were part of the package, but on the kitchen floor? Is there a way to get it clean enough? I told my mouse-loving boys that their hands would be satisfactorily clean after they wash them 500 times in hot soapy water.

St. Patrick's Day Resolution

Nathan finished telling me something and then he looked at me expectantly for an answer. I said "ok," but he just kept looking at me. Then he tilted his head to one side and said "do you know what I just said." I wiggled my toes nervously and replied "uh, huh." "Tell me what I said then," he shifted his head to the other side. "Hmmmmm. You said something..." "Nope," he cut me off before I could make an intelligent guess. For the next few minutes he looked me right in the eyes and told me his plan for a leprehaun trap. It was a pretty good plan about a toilet paper roll with a ladder on one side and a slide on the other side. We made it together tonight, but I've been thinking. Maybe I don't listen as well as I thought I did. I've read plenty of articles about how important it is to listen to your kids. In my 5-year old's life leprechaun traps are very important so that means they should be important to me. I want my kids to share the big things with me, so they need to know I listen NOW to the things that matter to them. Nathan seemed to know I hadn't heard him the first time and he was right. It makes me feel sad that I almost missed this awesome chance to spend some one on one time with my growing-up-way too fast little guy. He needed that time and so did I. I am grateful that he had the patience and forgiving heart to give me a second chance.I am a LUCKY mom. Tomorrow I will post a picture of the leprechaun if one is so unlucky as to fall into Nathan's cleverly designed trap.

Complete Truth-telling

Now that I have successfully lost...well, pretty much everyone who used to follow my blog, I have made a decision. I am going to revive my struggling for life, but not quite dead on-line story. This time I'm going to add something new. Complete truth-telling. That's right. The kind of truth-telling where I admit that sometimes I want to cry. Loudly. Louder than all my children combined and that is loud. Right now it is 3:30 AM and I can't sleep. Not surprising, given my bike accident induced headaches. It's not really the bike accident's fault. It's physical therapy's fault, but who's pointing fingers? To pass the sleepless time I popped on over to my blog to check on the song I recently posted for some friends that aren't on facebook and it sparked an interest in blogging again. I miss it. I miss the outlet. I actually like to write, so stay tuned and we'll see if my interest in blogging is still there when the rest of the world is awake.

An Amazing Song

Nap Needed

My mom told me that if Christopher isn't potty trained by age 3, we will all know whose fault it is. She is referring to me. Christopher has been sporadically going to the potty for months now. He stays dry at night, has all the needed skills and is definitely interested. I, however, am not interested.

Yesterday I faced reality and dedicated myself to potty-training my 2-year old. Today I have decided to be done until further notice.

Christopher has a training potty, the kind with the little bowl inside. While I was changing Libby's diaper yesterday Christopher went to the potty. He came out with a big smile and a liquid-filled green bowl. He flung the bowl around in his excitement and then tipped the bowl upside down onto his head, proclaiming it was a hat. The remaining contents trickled down his cheeks and onto his shirt. He took bath number 3 for the day.

I took a picture because it was picture-worthy, but today's potty-training mishaps are so nightmarishly etched into my brain that no picture was necessary. I was in the office when Christopher appeared. "I poop in toy room," he said. I walked downstairs hoping for a nice neat pile of the brown stuff, but it was not to be. Libby had trampled through the poop and now that I was looking I could see a little trail all the way up the stairs. I also noticed letter magnets squished into the poop, perhaps some kind of experiment? I grabbed the cleaning wipes and so did Christopher. He helped by taking as many Lysol wipes out of the container as possible. He then dumped the wipes into the toilet next door. The water brimmed to the top when he flushed, but did not overflow. In my rush to get to Christopher I knocked my mirror off the bathroom wall with my head. It shattered all over the floor just as Christopher flushed again.

The shattered mirror, 2 kids and I were standing in a puddle of poopy water. My little ones are clean and napping, but the rest of the mess is still there. Still there. Still there. Can I take a nap first?

Loving the Change in Seasons

Emma's Day

My little girl turned 8 years old last month.

That means that the 2nd Saturday in October was an EXTRA SPECIAL ONE this year. Emma was baptized by her dad.

I am so proud of Emma for the good choices that she makes everyday. She is becoming an amazing young woman.

Really?!?!

This is what happened while I was catching up with a good friend on the phone.

Now you know why my social skills are seriously lacking these days:).

Truth be Told

This is the picture I wanted to use as my new blog header. Dave said No. He wants to perpetuate the false idea that our children always cooperate and look adorable.

Teaching Work

We got a less than auspicious start to our summer yesterday. My two oldest children walked around like they owned the world, giving orders to the lesser beings in the household. I love my chickees, but they have a few things sideways, backwards and a little upside down.

Dave and I altered the environment for our little queen and king at the end of the day. We locked the popsicle-filled freezer, made a job chart and announced that their world would be different tomorrow. There would be no computer time, no TV time, no friends, and the scheduled Tuesday craft day was canceled. Sounded sort of like I was being punished.

This morning after breakfast and story time I gathered our family royalty around me and handed them each a soapy bucket of water, a rag and an old tooth brush. They spent 1 1/2 hours scrubbing every tile and all the grout on the main floor of our house. We listened to music and worked together. They acted enlightened. "This is kind of fun, mom." I felt a small measure of success when Emma collapsed in happy exhaustion and announced that she will work harder every day so I don't have to work so hard. There has been less screaming, complaining, teasing and general unpleasantness.

picture taken at the zoo about a month ago

Their world is happy and the king and queen have still had a lot of fun.

The Reasons my Blog Posts are Few and Far Between

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Strange Phenomenon

There is something strange going on at our house lately. Teeny tiny scratches that normally heal in 24 hours or less have been turning into bloody oozy sores. At first I panicked. We did afterall have a run in with a not-so-friendly staph infection earlier this year and I was sure it was back. Then I discovered the truth.

Meet the scab picker in our family. She looks pretty and pretty innocent, right? Trust me. Her finger nails are G-U-I-L-T-Y. She seems to be drawn to scabs, unable to control her impulses whenever a scab is easily accessible.

Now meet the scab picker's victims. One of them is old enough to object, but for some inexplicable reason he allows his scabs to be picked.

This red-haired, blue-eyed cutie...

Smiles on CommandLoves to be loved

Accepts BIG hugs

Cries when she's hungry
Sleeps through the night and...Collects hats for a hobby.

Listening 101

During lunchtime today Nathan looked at me in the eye and said, "When I say mommy, you say What Nathan."

Then we practiced.

Nathan: "Mommy?"

Mommy: "What Nathan?"

Nathan: "When I go to the bathroom I lift up my shirt that way I don't get poop on it."

Then there was the burping conversation. Someone burped and noone wanted to take credit for it. Emma and Nathan argued. And then we practiced listening.

Nathan: "Mommy?"

Mommy: "What Nathan?"

Nathan: "I think it was daddy. It was so loud that we heard it all the way from daddy's work."

Daddy wasn't there to defend himself so the conversation ended.

Our Christmas Card

The printed versions are sitting in an envelope on my piano.
They will not make it by Christmas.
Merry CHRISTMAS!
Love from our family to yours.

Snowman Snow

Nathan and Jackson the Snowman

Tricky Business

Not many things are trickier than family photo shoots with four young children. Here's our attempt.

Libby Is Here

Libby joined our family this morning. We are so excited to welcome her. Libby's birth family gave the kids these adorable stuffed monkeys. Fitting...since our house does feel a bit like a zoo. The lovable, cuddly, fun kind of zoo.