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