I think the notion of being “caught up” on laundry is one of those mythical tales that they tell kids when they are young. You have the hope that it will happen one day, but it never does. I thought that today was the day that I was finally caught up. Finally done for a while, after busting my butt all day. Since we have five people in the house (people who usually wear clothing) all it takes is us getting changed for bed to fill up the laundry basket. Anyway, here I was, mid-day, feeling on top of the world since there was no laundry left to do. And then I got the boys up from nap. I found a package of diapers in the boys’ size leftover from when Taylor still used them. They were not the brand we currently use for the boys, but I figured we’d use them up during naps / awake time and save the “good ones” for overnight. As it turns out, I now have laundry in my washer and in my dryer. The diaper couldn’t handle the lemonade Joseph consumed today. He was soaked. His brother’s bedding was soaked (they share / switch sleeping arrangements). I had to wash the carpet along with their clothing and all of the sheets, comforters, blankets, and stuffed animals they have in there. I’m no longer caught up on laundry. I should have known it was going to be that kind of day because when I went to make coffee this morning, I put the cup next to the coffee machine instead of underneath and it brewed all over my counters and floor. Oops.

We’ve been trying to stay cool this week between being outside in the sprinklers (making mud puddles out of the lawn) or being in the air conditioning. I bought the kids some new stamp markers and notebooks, and they have been having a blast with those. Word of warning though, “washable” is a relative term. My kids are so fair skinned that even the washable stuff stays on them for a day or two, after scrubbing. I wonder who they got that from.

One of Taylor’s chores is feeding Ranger. This weekend was particularly hot. She fed him his food while I changed his water and put the bowl back down. I told T since it was so hot, Ranger might like a few ice cubes in his bowl to keep it cool. She gladly took some out of the freezer and put it in the bowl. She went to play and as Todd and I were putting away groceries, we heard Ranger barking and whining, two things he normally doesn’t do unless something is wrong. I look over and found out that the reason for his upset was because that Taylor put the ice on top of his food and not in his water bowl. He’s too darn precious to move the ice himself, so he barked until we fixed it. Taylor apologized to him all evening, but it was so cute.

We went to Target this weekend, and T picked out a new lunch box for school. As she was looking, Todd and I noticed one that really caught our eye. We showed it to Taylor and asked if she knew what it was all over the lunch box. Without missing a beat she said “I sure do! Those are little school busses!” I guess my kid will never know what a cassette tape is! She’ll never know the excitement of hearing a new song on the radio and hitting the record buttons just in time. Her generation won’t realize that a pencil eraser was most useful for winding up the tape inside the cassette. This is one of the first times we felt super old as parents! School busses…

Taylor’s new favorite word is “haywire.” I overheard her talking to her brothers yesterday morning while they were playing with blocks. I heard her saying “Let’s do this gently. We don’t want to go all haywire with this!” I asked her where she heard it from (because I thought it was hilarious) and she said she didn’t know. I assured her that it wasn’t a bad word and I was just curious as to where she had heard it and she said “I know it’s not a bad word, mom. It means to go all crazy like the boys do every day.”

Aside from digging in their diapers to pull out a handful of poop when I asked “who stinks”, the kids have all been pretty well behaved so far this week. {Knock on wood.} The only true meltdown we had was when we were in the playroom yesterday. The boys found a fly on the windowsill and they didn’t understand why he was “sleeping.” They were very upset that they couldn’t wake the sleeping fly up, and even more upset when I disposed of it. I was sorry to disappoint them, but I wasn’t about to sit around and watch them attempt insect CPR.

Today is Todd’s birthday! The kids were so excited, and sang Happy Birthday all day, even though Todd was at work. Taylor has been counting down the days for about two weeks. She insisted on wearing a fancy dress today to celebrate her Daddy, and she got lots of compliments while we were out doing errands.

This morning, I had the kids take a picture, while Taylor held a picture of Todd as a kid. It was kind of fun to see. Todd does so much for our family. He is an incredible father and husband and we are so lucky to have him!

We went to the bakery this morning to pick out a special cake for Daddy; something the kids could not wait to do. I let Taylor choose the writing on the cake. I had previously told the woman at the bakery counter that the cake was for my husband, so she was really confused. I’m pretty sure she actually thought I was married to a 100 year old man. I know we have an age difference, but that’s pushing it!

 

Happy Birthday, my love. Here’s to many more decades of celebrations together!

 

This was one of the hottest weekends we’ve had in a long time, but we still managed to make the best of it, and we ended up having a great time!

We went to a “Touch a Truck” event at a local school on Saturday. The kids had so much fun climbing up on all of the vehicles and interacting with everyone. One of my best friends was representing the paramedics and was talking to all of the kids about the ambulance and what they do on it. My kids weren’t quite sure why they had to wait in a long line to see Ann, who they know and love, but they did a great job. They played on fire trucks and learned about some of the equipment. Taylor even got to pull the air horn multiple times, which was a huge hit!

The biggest highlight of the day for them (and us adults) was interacting with some of the police officers. One of the police officers showed us a vehicle and was very sweet with the kids. I ended up having a very nice conversation with him about police morale and things going on in this crazy world. We all made sure to tell him how much we appreciated him and everything his fellow officers do for our community on a daily basis. He seemed very appreciative and said days like that and events such as those were “good days” for them.

The other two police officers we met were an awesome human / K-9 team. The human officer explained the many things the dog did as a member of the police force. The intelligence level and determination of police dogs is remarkable and we learned so much! The dog was gorgeous and happy to give us lots of kisses and let us pet him too. It was the kids’ favorite part of the day! Considering we went out for ice cream twice yesterday, that says a lot about the dog and officers!

I found a huge basket of Lincoln Logs for sale on a local tag sale site and picked them up on Friday. The kids have spent almost every waking moment (while at home) playing with them. They love building things, and I love watching their creativity. We’ve had a lot of farms, houses, flags, and big buildings. Todd and I both remember Lincoln Logs from our childhoods, so watching our kids play with the same toys is so much fun for us. We might also be getting in lots of Lincoln Log time ourselves. Naturally, the boys really enjoyed the basket that the toys came in.

Behavior wise, we were really impressed with the kids this weekend. Taylor is almost always well behaved, so that’s no surprise. The boys were pretty darn good with eating all of their meals (instead of throwing or wearing it), listening to instructions, and not getting into too much mischief in general. Apparently, they had enough of the nice act, because as soon as they were left alone for two seconds, they found a piece of chalk (that they had to climb to get to) and drew on our wood-burning stove, tables, and chairs. They cleaned it up when asked, so that’s something I suppose. They also immediately started stripping when we put them to bed. They wanted to start the week off on their terms.

The boys are apparently trying to out-do themselves with each passing day. Joseph woke up happy and ready for the day, while Jackson saw the sunlight and had a vampire moment. We had a fun, uneventful morning, but they were tired. I put them in their room for nap time, and that’s when the fun started. They suddenly gained energy and tried to break their door down. They figured out how to work together to remove the child proof door handle lock that is on the inside of their door, and started to open it and come out. I’m so paranoid about them leaving the house while we are asleep, or showering, etc. They know how to open the gate and the front door, so I’m definitely on heightened alert. I immediately reset the lock and went into the garage to see what I could find. While I was down there, I heard two sets of heavy footsteps running down the hall and I heard the boys screaming “I did it! I did it!” As soon as they heard me on the stairs, they scampered into their room and slammed the door. For the time being, I have the door lock, a baby gate, the gate at the top of the stairs, the locked front door, and an eye-hook lock on the screen door, which they can’t reach. I figure those are enough methods of security for now until I can find another solution. They continue to outsmart us.

While the boys were in their room again planning their next heist, Taylor and I did some practice work for school. She loves doing her letters, numbers, and math. We’ve worked on some reading and basic sentences too, and she continues to impress me. She even asked to do some more work tonight once her brothers were asleep. I love to watch her learn and love that she’s so passionate about it.

I heard some evil laughter coming from the boys’ room and saw a large lump when I looked in the monitor. I went in and found that the boys had burrowed themselves underneath their sheets. The laid still and kept telling each other “Shhhhhh!” with the hopes that I wouldn’t actually hear them. I wonder what they will come up with next.

We played outside for about half an hour before the sky opened up and we had a major storm. The kids actually loved it, once we were inside the safety of the car. They thought the lightning was fun, and they were calling it “fireworks.”

Tonight, I was adventurous, and I decided to cut Taylor’s hair. Her hair is so incredibly long, but she had some split ends and pieces that were really uneven. I figured I couldn’t do too much harm since her hair is really curly and wouldn’t be as noticeable if I screwed up. I think I did a pretty good job. She was excited about it, and she’s completely trusting of me. She loves the final result, even though as I was cutting her hair she said “I can’t even watch this, Mom.” I will probably entrust professionals to do her hair as she gets older, but for now, this was fun.

I have a giant, delicious Heath Bar flavored (yum!) iced coffee in front of me, and today, I surely earned every single sip. I also fed my kids strawberry frosted donuts (with rainbow sprinkles) for dinner tonight. No joke. Don’t worry, they had some ham and cheese later on for snack, but tonight, donuts were about all I could handle.

The kids were up way too early for my liking today, but I just went with it. I figured they’d take better naps because of it. It’s almost like I don’t even know my kids, because naps barely even happened today. Maybe I need a second ice coffee…

Anyway, after an oatmeal fight this morning that began over the wrong colored bowls and spoons, we spent some time outside. We met a police officer and a utility worker who were doing some work in front of our house. The kids loved seeing the big trucks and interacting with everyone. I had a brief thought about leaving them outside with their new friends while I napped, but the parental / responsible me took over instead. We came back inside, built some block castles that were promptly knocked over, folded some laundry that ended up mixed with toy-play food, and watched squirrels hump in our backyard. At this point, I figured watching cartoons would be better for their little minds instead of continuing to watch the “wrestling” squirrels, so we all sat down to relax and watch some tv. As soon as my “really big booty” (as Taylor says) touched the comfy couch cushions, there was a knock at the door. No, it wasn’t Publisher’s Clearing House telling me I was now rich and could quit my day job. It was a man from the power company telling me they were doing some work and were shutting off electricity to my house for a few hours. Fantastic. It was just what I needed when I had three kids who wanted to watch tv. We also lost our air conditioning privileges in the 90 degree heat. We couldn’t even leave the house as I was waiting on a contractor who ended up not coming. Everyone was grumpy, but we survived just fine.

The kids were starting to smell like wet gym socks, so I bathed them. In retrospect, I probably should have let them continue to attract flies instead of cleaning their little bodies because it was almost more work that it was worth. I filled up the tub and turned around to get towels and wash cloths (rookie move, I know) and one small boy starting sword fighting what I can only imagine to be a ghost with the toilet bowl brush.

As if that wasn’t enough fun, when I got him out of the tub and asked him if he needed to use the toilet before we put his diaper on, he promised he didn’t and then peed on my feet, the bath mat, and the tile floor. He quickly grabbed his little pistol and aimed at the radiator and wall, but thankfully he was empty by then. Joseph, I’m referring to you, by the way. I had my phone in my hand and was able to snap a quick picture when he was finished (and splashing in it) only because I quickly grabbed the phone as Jackson was trying to dunk it in the toilet. I should get a medal for that move alone.

After everything was cleaned up in the bathroom and the kids were all dressed, Taylor graciously let them play in her room while I ran downstairs to start urine soaked laundry. When I came upstairs, Joseph greeted me at the steps with what I thought was blood all over his face. After quickly determining it wasn’t blood, I ran to see what he got into and caught Jackson in the act of rubbing T’s “lipstick” all over his freshly washed face. He kept repeating “so beautiful, so beautiful!”

I cleaned them up and decided to get out of the house and get the boys haircuts. They desperately needed them. Since we were in public, the kids were all pretty well behaved and were so good sitting in the chair. The barber even complimented me on my parenting and them on their behavior and said “Your boys are so good! Usually, when kids come in, we want to drink afterward!” I will gladly take that compliment and store it for a rainy day.

Thank goodness it is bedtime. I will kiss their sweet faces and prepare for another day.

Once again, my heart is heavy due to recent tragedies. America deserves better. We deserve better. Please love and respect each other. Since I have zero brain power left after this week, I’m not going to write a traditional blog post, but rather list a few memorable things Taylor has said. I literally keep a running list on my phone because otherwise, I forget so many of her best lines. Jackson gets credit for one, too.

• The boys had a diaper explosion / peeing on their sheets issue which required me changing all of their bedding and shoving it in the laundry basket while I waited for the rest of the laundry to finish. Fun times. T came out of her room, looked at the basket, and said, “Uh, Mom? That laundry basket looks like it’s going to explode and erupt like a volcano. Shouldn’t you wash that stuff soon?“

• The kids were supposed to be cleaning the playroom but weren’t making too much progress. I heard T say “Hey boys, let’s go clean up. I don’t think the bones in your arms are actually broken so let’s go now.”

• While the kids were eating dinner, Taylor turned around and said “Mom, do you like having three kids?” I assured her that I, in fact, loved having three kids. She said “Well, are you sure you don’t want to get rid of Joseph or Jackson? Then there won’t be three. And you really aren’t going to get rid of me, right?“

• We were having popcorn and watching tv one night and Taylor said “I have a popcorn ‘internal’ stuck in my mouth.” She meant to say kernel and I found that to be so hilarious and sweet at the same time.

• Tonight, the kids were all taking turns gassing us out of the house. I looked at T and said “Taylor, do you have gas?” She replied with “Nope. It wasn’t me. But I just saw a skunk walk by.“

• The kids and I were coloring with chalk. Jackson, very sweetly said “I love you!” I said “Aww! I love you too, buddy!” He looked at me bewildered and said “No, mama! I saying I love you to Joseph!“

• Tonight, I sneezed twice in a row and Taylor yelled to me and said “Mom! You shouldn’t be sneezing like that because you will be getting sick. You know what you need? You need sleep and rest. Your body needs to rest.” Thanks, kid. I’ll let you know how that ‘rest’ thing goes in about 16 years.

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a safe, fun weekend! We sure did! Taylor loves pointing out American flags wherever we go. She understands that the flags at the local veteran cemetery represent men and women who “help keep America safe.” She was so excited when she woke up this morning because she couldn’t wait to wear her red, white, and blue skirt for America’s birthday. I love her love and understanding for our country at four years old.

We managed to take the kids to see some fireworks this weekend. Thankfully, we were able to do it from inside a building so we didn’t have to fight the crowds and chaos at the beach. The kids are just a bit too young for that still. Taylor really enjoyed the shapes and colors of the fireworks and was pretty excited. The boys enjoyed watching them for the first thirty seconds. It’s a fun memory for us to have though!

We did a lot of chalk drawing, swimming, and other outdoor activities this weekend. Taylor asked tonight why the bath water was such a weird color. The kids love being outside. I’m still getting used to it. The boys even helped me trim trees and overgrown weeds today. That was eventful. They really thought they were being helpful by hauling the branches to the side of the house, and it was kind of cute. They were serious about their work.

Even though we had a wonderful weekend, I’m glad that everyone is in bed! I just hope all of the neighborhood fireworks don’t wake them up.

Today was a pretty gross day, weather wise. Not to mention, we were all running on very little sleep, thanks to some kids I know who spent hours kicking their closet doors and causing pure destruction well after bedtime last night.  We are technically still under “tornado watch” until 10 pm,  which worries me a little bit, but my awesome southern friends told me how to prepare.  At this point, it looks like the chances of us getting it here are slim to none and for that, I am thankful.  This morning started off with Jackson unlocking the front door and walking out.  I obviously caught him and asked him what he was doing and he said “I’m walking to G’s (my mom) house now.  See you later.  Have fun!”

Earlier this afternoon,  Jackson, not so accidentally, locked Taylor in the boys’ bedroom.  She got mad at him and screamed “Hey! You locked me in the boy room! If you are going to lock me somewhere, at least put me in my room where there’s really cool girl stuff.  This is a stinky penis room and it supposed to smell like flowers.”

Tonight, while trying to distract the kids and dog from the thunder and lightning, we had a movie night and a chip party.  During said chip party, Jackson took one chip out of Joseph’s supply, just because. Joseph lost it and desperately tried to get that one exact chip out of his brother’s mouth by prying his lips open.  It didn’t work so well and many tears were involved.  We followed movie night up with reading a ton of books.  Taylor kind of went off to the side to read her own book when Jackson came over and started to turn the pages on her.  She said “Jack! Get away!  Can’t you see I’m reading here?”  As if on cue, Joseph showed up and began to do the same thing and Taylor said “Oh come on! Seriously, Joseph? Not you too!”  She doesn’t even realize how funny she is.

Ranger is petrified of thunder, but thankfully he had his best girl help to calm him down by snuggling with him.  Once the rain and thunder ended, Taylor looked outside and said “Wow! I love when it rains because then we get rainbows and puddles to jump in!”  Perspective is everything.