Try Again Buddy

Two nights ago, after several repeated requests for Clark to fold his arms for family prayer, I looked him straight in the eye and sternly asked, "Clark, how many times do I have to ask you to do something before you start obeying?"

He got a big smile on his face and without hesitation confidently stated, "Two."

So I gave him that look - the one that says "Nice try smart-alec. Now give me the right answer so I can avoid spanking that little bum of yours."

Clark threw his eyes up to the top of his head like he was thinking, then shot me an unsure look and asked, "three?"

With A Capital "S"

Do you know what that was? It WAS a marshmallow gun... until Clark broke it... on Drew's foreheahd. Seriously folks - this is the kind of Shenanigans I deal with on a daily basis. And not just shenanigans, but Shenanegins with a BIG FAT CAPITAL "S"!

And the sad truth is, that this is only the work of two little boys - the third one is still learning and watching every little move his older brothers make. Just go ahead and have a little pitty on me right now - It'll make me feel better.

I know realistically I should laugh about things like this in order to keep my sanity. So here is my "bright side" on this one:

1. One less toy to clean up!
2. No more sticky melted marshmallows littering my grass and clogging my lawn mower.
3. A few moments of peace while Clark is carrying out his punishment on his bed. (Sigh of relief)
4. Drew's forehead sure will look pretty in different hues of purple and blue.

I Have to Brag...

Please forgive me, but I just can't help posting a picture of the cutest 4-6 month baby boy in all of Provo!  And that particular winner of the baby contest happens to be my little Ty!

Nappy Mother's Day!

Today Clark kept telling me, "It's Happy Mother's Day!"  

So I said to myself, "It's a good thing I'm a happy mother.  Otherwise, I don't think I'd qualify for this holiday."

Then Geoff brought up a great point: "At least it's not 'Nappy Mother's Day.'"

Excellent thought, my love.  I think all of us hard-working mothers should be celebrated for our happy, dressed-up-for-church, looking & feeling pretty good kind of days.  Not our nappy, haven't-showered-in-three-days, exhausted & sleep-deprived days.  Afterall, based on the way things go around my house, "Nappy Mother's Day" would have to be celebrated WAY too often.

Oh Shed

It happened last night.  Drew had his fateful first encounter with soap.  We asked, him for the 4th time, to get into his room and start taking off his clothes for the bath.  He obviously heard the frustration in our voices because he immediately ran straight into his room and blurted out "Oh Sh**!

Geoff and I were all over that one, and within seconds he was in the bathroom getting a taste of Oil of Olay Ultra Moisture with Shea Butter.  Afterall, dirty mouths have to be cleaned out.

Unfortunately for him, I let him watch a movie which had that profane word in it 17 times.  Oops - I can assure you that was out of total innocence on my part too.  And as you can probably guess, I'm now feeling a little more compelled to check those things out first - even if it is a so-called "kids movie."

But, Fortunately for him, he is still under the impression that the phrase is "Oh Shed!"  We're just going to keep it that way.

If You Want To Pee In My Toilet, Think Again...

This is what I found in our boy's bathroom yesterday:

Looks uncomfortable, doesn't it?  Looks dirty too - that's just because my little darlings can't quite remember that part of the routine where you flush.  

Here's the culprit:

Yep - that's a refrigerator handle that was busted right off it's screws.  Of course it didn't bang itself against the toilet seat - it was willingly powered by Clark's arm and an insatiable appetite to hit things.

I'm considering leaving the toilet in it's conked out state.  I figure if I make Clark sit on it enough, he'll maybe think twice about using already-broken things to break other things.  

And then maybe he'd grasp the concept that it's a bad plan to bash off any more blind slats.   

Or perhaps he'd finally recognize that our house looks pretty ugly when you beat things against the walls and corners

He might even realize that you shouldn't pound and shatter the cover of the DVD player.

And then maybe he'd comprehend that battering the entertainment center to the point of disrepair is not a good idea.

Uh... Yeah right - probably not.

Oh Where, Oh Where Can My Little Thumb Be?

Drew is on a "Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down" system at preschool.  Two thumbs up for a good day, one of each if he has a time-out, and two thumbs down if he has two or more time-outs.   We reward him for all the "thumbs-up" he gets, so naturally he is excited to report them after a great day at school.  But when the news is not so good, he is pretty hesitant to acknowlege his unsucessful behavior.

Tonight at dinner I prompted him to tell us about his school day.

"I got one thumbs up!" Drew said pretty confidently.  

So Geoff questioned him,  "What happened to your other one?"  

"It got lost."