Sums it up...

   This picture pretty much sums it up. Every time I turn my back these animals do something. This time I looked over my shoulder to see Maggie probably finding every virus to download onto the computer, and Max tearing apart the lid to the laundry basket.

 

Hooligans

   The adventures never stop. A few nights ago I pulled into the drive after a closing shift. When I opened the garage door I discovered a nice little surprise. A toilet. Not a new one, in a box, no. Our toilet. I sighed and left the van in the driveway, came in the house, and asked Rob if I even wanted to know what happened.

    He decided I did, and told me before I could run away.

   I guess the boys got together with the brilliant idea to flush a diaper. It was genius, really! Who wouldn't think that's a great idea?? The sound of the first flush alerted Rob to foul play. By the time he made it to the hallway to see the debacle, Connor was running for the hills and Max was desperately trying to hold the toilet seat down and the water in. Before Rob could make it to the bathroom for damage control, Max decided the wisest thing to do was really get rid of the evidence by flushing again. Rob said it was like watching a movie in slow motion. The water erupted out of the toilet like a fountain! It took him 6 bath towels to clean it up.

   The diaper was stuck in the gooseneck of the toilet and the only solution was to take the toilet out altogether. He would have been able to put it back in, but when he set it in the garage, it busted a bit. So. Brand new toilet!

   We needed one I guess. Thanks boys, for making home improvement immediate. At least they learned how to put in a new toilet.

  In other news! We took the boys bowling for the first time the other night! Connor absolutely loved it. Max liked it for a minute before he was bored out of his mind. We got one game in before we had to leave and make room for a league coming in. But one was enough for Max!

 

Max bumped his eye on a cart in Target and now has a black eye to go with his mushed fingers. The fingers are looking much better now!

 

 

 

This morning Connor came running into the living room. I was at the sink in the kitchen with my back to him, but he yelled, "MOM!! COMMENCE OPERATION I LOVE YOU!!" (They are a little obsessed with the Power Rangers) It was so sweet! So I turned around to give him a kiss, but this is what I saw.

 

 

    This is one of those days I'm incredibly thankful my father is down at the farm and not drinking coffee in my living room.

    So let's just wash all this down with a little cuteness, shall we? I find it helps.
    
            I'm sorry Bobbi, we've officially stolen B's sunglasses...

   Cheesing for the camera. She's actually saying cheeeeeeeeee!

   Really getting into it.

     Cow says moooooooooo.

 

 

Mean Mom; Part 7,348

    Sometimes as a parent I feel like I've lost hold of what little common sense I used to have. For example, if Maggie likes to play in the toilet, make sure the bathroom door is closed at all times. I've been pretty good about that one until yesterday, unfortunately. Especially unfortunate when the boys decided not to flush the toilet.... *shudder*
    I like to think I'm on top of most things. I like to pat myself on the back when we've successfully avoided disaster of any kind in one day. That doesn't happen a lot, to be truthful.
   But yesterday was a big mistake on my part.
   Cuz this happened. (I feel like I use that sentence quite a bit on this blog. Not a good sign.)

   

 

Maggie and I were happily minding our own business in the house while the boys played outside. I don't usually worry about them since we have a fence to keep them in. And they play outside every single day usually without incident.

But Max came inside at one point and said "Mom! Come see our beach!!"

Pretty sure my blood turned into lead and dropped with a thud to my feet. I knew it was bad. So I grabbed my camera for documentation and headed outside to assess the situation.

There they were. My boys, down to their skivvies, with the hose going full blast on the second tier of our backyard that Rob had just cleaned up the other day. And as I was inhaling a deep, deep breath so I could yell a few mommy-ish obscenities, (Holy granola bars!!! What the scuttlebutts happened here??) I heard some sniggering off to my right. The neighbors and their kids were all standing on their deck, enjoying the spectacle. I'm surprised they didn't have popcorn.

Oh how I despise living in the city.

So I swallowed my deep, deep breath and took pictures instead. I'm proud of myself for handling that moment with grace and dignity. *cough, cough*

 

Mudballs

 

 

                                          The rocks were their diving board.

 

                                                                sigh

 

                                        

 

I informed them that they were dead meat, and made them pick up all the toys in the yard. Then I took them in for a shower. But how do I discipline this situation? Really, it's partly my fault for not putting the hose away after telling them a hundred times NOT TO PLAY WITH THE HOSE. The common sense has obviously not been present.

    So I decided it would be best to have a long time out. It was almost time for Daddy to come home from work, so I told them to go sit in their beds until then. I was in the middle of making dinner, but I checked on them every few minutes to make sure they were staying in their beds.

About the third time I went in they were both dead asleep. I could not get them to wake up.

 

Well, that doesn't work. I couldn't let them sleep. They'd never go to sleep at bedtime and this was supposed to be punishment! So I decided it was a good time to vacuum. Starting in their bedroom of course.

 

Nothing.

 

They didn't even twitch.

 

So I got a pan and a wooden spoon and banged until they finally woke up.

 

Ok, I admit this was a little bit fun.

 

Have I mentioned what a mean mom I am?

 

Anyway, they stayed awake after that, until Daddy got home. But this is what they looked like that WHOLE TIME!!

 

               Max cracks me up. He literally sat like this for at least 10 minutes. Looking at me just like that. Every time I walked in to check on them he was just glaring at me.

 

Oh the joys of parenthood.

 

But the clouds looked like this, so it wasn't all bad.