Restore and Renew

The kids went back to school almost two months ago!  Life picked up and I often end my days feeling as though I have run a marathon.  

I have a birthday coming this next week.  As I was thinking about this the other day I had a moment where I decided that I need to do better.  In the middle of running my daily marathon I seem to have misplaced my priorities.  Isn't it funny how we can feel the need to set goals, and change our ways when faced with the New Year, or a change of seasons or a birthday?  Well, maybe this is just me.  

I feel like I have been in a haze ever since Theo was born.  Well, he turns 6 months old this week as well.  This realization made me feel the need even more to try and slow down, focus and enjoy the small and important moments.  

One thing that will help me do this is keeping up with this blog.  I always think about the funny things my kids say and do, and all the special things in my life when I record them here.

In the middle of thinking about this I found this POST on another mom's blog.  I really love her ideas.  Here is the summary for you, and my own thoughts.  You have to go to her blog and check out the full details of her list.  Your time will not be wasted!

She lists 7 Motherhood ideas that she loves.

1. Movie Night - We had a movie night tonight!  I even made cookies like she suggested!  It was a huge hit!  My kids thought I rocked, and I am telling you that they have not thought that for awhile!   

Molasses Cookies (gingerbread) and Hocus Pocus to get us in a Halloween mood.  It was awesome!

2. Personal interviews with your kids.  I tried this one out yesterday with Harrison. He really took to it.  It's been awhile since I've consciously asked him about his day, and really cared about his answers.  

3.  Lunch Dates.  My kids are going to love this one!  I've had this idea before, but I've never done it on a regular basis.

4.  Mother's Day Letters.  I decided a long time ago that Mother's Day is really for my kids, not me.  They usually love that day way more than I do.  I love that this mom writes a love letter to each child on Mother's day!  What a fantastic way to observe that holiday!

5.  Happies and Sads.  This is one I have done a lot with my younger children.  I think I should do this more with my older kids.  

6.  Late Nights.  Honestly, this is not one that will work for our family.  My nights are mine and Jason's time, and there would be way too many issues if we tried doing this.  It is a fun idea however, and maybe it is a good one for you.

7.  Clean Ten.  Awesome idea.  I often find myself, in the crazy hours between school getting out and bedtime, desperately needing to restore some kind of order.  Nothing is better than the whole family working together.  I think I might change the meaning of Clean Ten to mean 10 minutes rather than 10 items.

Here's to hoping that one week from now I will be feeling a little more sane, and a little more connected to my children. 

What things do you do in your home, and with your family that help you be able to enjoy life?  I would love to hear your ideas. 

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day....

A day that I usually dread, and end with being upset.  Over the last few years I have really tried to change my perspective of what the day should be.  I have decided that the day is really for my children, not for me.  It is a day special for them to honor me.  If I would like to get through it without becoming upset, I need to have NO expectations on how my beautiful children should observe the day.  I tend to enjoy the day much better when I happily appreciate however much or little they do for me.

Theo's feet in my hands.  I am so in love with this baby.

I spend Mother's Day being a Mother.  Just as I spend each day.

My husband says that every day is Mother's Day.  Of course, he gets major brownie points for this comment.

This year Mother's Day was wonderful.  It had it's moments that were not so good, but that is just my life.

I am a Mother.  I have six children.  I had a baby less than three weeks before via C-Section.

I did not get breakfast in bed, but my kitchen was left clean, and I got to sleep in.  That could really be the best way to love me.  My husband and children know me and love me so well.

The day before Mother's Day my husband brought up and installed our main AC unit for me.  BEST present ever!  It was a record breaking heat kind of weekend.  YUCK!  That is SO NOT my thing!

The best presents come free, as this made me way happier than any gift could have.

More than anything I wanted some great pictures taken of me and the kids.  I think we got some good ones.

This is where I had too many expectations, and any stress I experienced was surrounding our Photo session.

No one was ready for pictures early enough before church.  That upset me.

Driving to church I realized this was our first car ride with the whole family all together in the van.  Every single seat belt was taken.  It was so weird, but it made me really happy.

Every seat belt full on the way home.  My heart was also full.

On the way home Harrison stripped down.  He does not like clothes, especially on a 90 degree day.

As we pulled up to the house we explained to the kids what they each had to do to make my Mother's Day Dreams come true.  Of course, this did not happen AT ALL!  There was lots of yelling and screaming.  Lily decided to be hormonal and mean to her brothers, and refused to get out of the car.  Harrison was furious with the idea of putting his church clothes back on. Bennett had had no nap, so he was cranky and would not stand next to Harrison at the end of the line in his place.  It was just CRAZY!

The first few pictures turned out like this...

Not at all what I had envisioned....

 Finally things came together.  It was a Mother's Day Miracle!

I've been thinking about feet lately, and how fast they grow.  Jason took these pictures while I did my best to manage and place all the feet.  As my official Mother's Day Present, we ordered large prints, and got frames for my 'feet' pictures.

  

I really love these pictures.  I look at these feet, and I get emotional.  

Happy Mother's Day to me.

Expectations and Guilt

I do not like whiner's.  I am trying really hard to not be a whiner and complainer.

Sorry to say this post is going to be kind of whiny.

If you know me well, and are close to me, you know that I have been feeling irrational, emotional and slightly crazed.  I even called my mom a few weeks ago concerning a situation because I honestly didn't know if I was overreacting, or if I was justified in how I felt.

When I had baby number 3 my mom gave me some great advice. She has 7 children herself, so she is full of great advice.  She told me to have NO Expectations.  Do not expect to shower every day.  Do not expect to have a clean house.  Do not expect to have dinner made every night.  

This was great advice.  It really did help me.  I was able to let things go, in order to keep my sanity.

She told me to do the 'No Expectations' thing for at least a year after baby number 3 was born.

If you your expectations are low, or non-existent, than it's really hard to fail.

I realized this evening, after a really long day, that I should start following that advice once again.  I need to lower my expectations.  I need to eliminate my expectations.

I had a very good and productive day yesterday.  My children were so well behaved, and I got so much done.  I had so much energy.  There is a pattern, and I should've known that for the next two days at least I would be wiped out, overwhelmed, tired and overly emotional.

The problem is after having such a great day, last night I went to bed with high expectations for today.

I totally set myself up for failure.

This is General Conference weekend and Jason was working.  When Jason finally got home at 9 o'clock, and saw that I was so upset, he asked if I tried to watch both sessions of conference with five kids.  I said that yes I did.  He responded with, "Well, that would've ruined my day too."

What I expected                                          What Really Happened
Pancakes for breakfast.                                   Cereal Instead.

Clean my bathroom.                                         Never Happened.

                     

Change my sheets.                                            Never Happened.

Kids would watch Conference with me.          Only the older two 
                                                                      tried.

Make lunch, Sticky Buns and Sunday Dinner    I fell asleep on the 
                                                                         couch.

               

The kids would Sustain the Prophet with me.    3 out of 5 preferred 
                                                                      to wrestle instead.

Make a yummy Dinner and Relax          I put Lily in charge, took a 
                                                            shower, then fell asleep.

I ended up making PB&J for dinner at 7:30, which is bed time for little boys.

This afternoon I told my mom how guilty I feel.  She scolded me.  I always make Sticky Buns aka Sticky Bums, for General Conference Sunday morning breakfast.  Tomorrow my children will most likely be upset to wake up and find .... nothing.  It's hard to not feel guilt.  I expect this of me, they expect this of me.  

Time to let the expectations and the guilt GO!

Now for some really sweet stuff.  The kids and I watched the movie HOP for the first time yesterday.  There is an army of Rabbits called the "Pink Beret's" in the movie.  I woke up this morning at 8:15 with Max in my face.  In a hushed, excited voice he told me, "Glenn and I are pretending we're the Pink Berets, and we are cleaning the whole house for you!"  I think the whole idea was Maxwell's.  Glenn sat in his room reading while Max ran around the house cleaning.  He actually accomplished a lot of work!  He Swiffered the main living area and all the stairs.  He cleaned the whole family room really well.  He sorted the laundry.  It was really awesome!

The other really sweet thing today - 

Glenn and I cuddled up and watched the whole afternoon session together.

I know that is simple, but I loved every minute of it.

Pay Day for Mom

This morning, as I was laying in bed, Glenn brought me an envelope.  On it said, "Special Delivery".  I asked him what it was.  He said it was a school assignment he had to do.  I opened it up and inside was a letter to me aka Mom.

Dear Mom, 

     We were asked to pick someone who has shown  persistence, and I chose you because you have always fascinated me how you manage to do your duty as mom to make dinner and take care of things.

     I can give you proof too if you think I'm exaggerating what you mean to me or think I'm being plain silly but I'm talking about your endurance.

     You must have had to have shown persistence when we made a budgeting mistake you had to spend carefully.  (Hehehee... I wonder what conversation he overheard Jason and I having...)

     Because of you I am inspired.  You may not know this but in the beginning of the year when I got bullied a lot and the conversation we had about home schooling despite my calm answer without your help I would have not been so lucky.

     I truly appreciate you and love you and you're all I could ask for So I thank you.  

                                  

                                                                                                    Your Son, Glenn

***I did correct his spelling, but not the grammar:)

When I was younger, and dreamed about being a  mother someday, I dreamed of moments like this.  I thought that I would be so loved and admired by my children.  The reality is that I hardly ever feel that way.  Stay at home moms are very much, in general, very under-appreciated.  I could really care less what others think, but I do care a lot about what my husband and children think.  

Reading this hilarious letter was very gratifying.  It was a good Pay Day for this mom.

Confessions of a Crazy Woman

More than a week ago I had a really bad, no good, Horrible, Awful DAY!!!

It has taken me this long to be able to sit down and get it out there...to confess my craziness to the world.

Last Friday night I took the kids to Costco, right about dinner time.  By the way, that is the worse time of the week to go to Costco.  I really needed to get some milk, and some other things, plus I figured we could eat dinner there and I would be off the hook.  I know you're probably expecting some horror story, but there is none!  They were all so well behaved!  Things went flawlessly.  The funny thing is that, as I walked through there with my five children and pregnant belly, I noticed that I got TONS of jaw dropping stares.  About half were sweet smile types and the other half were 'look at the circus passing by' type.

As we were walking out, after eating dinner, we saw some friends from church.  I yelled out to her and said, "HI!"  She yelled back, "You are the bravest woman I know."  I yelled back, "NO!  I am the craziest woman you know!"  Again, I noticed lots of stares at that moment.  The best part is that my kids were clueless, while happily eating their Costco treats for dinner.

The next morning, Saturday, Jason was working.  I thought that since Costco had gone so well the night before, maybe I should try to run another errand to Target.  They all wanted to come.  I allowed it, because I was feeling optimistic.  It did NOT go well at all.  We were there for 20 minutes before we left without finishing my shopping.  

The whole afternoon was rough.  I could go on and give all the details, but I won't.  Earlier in the day I had told the kids that we would go to the park.  Finally at 4 o'clock we got ready to go to the park.  Harrison was SO ecstatic that he yelled, "MOM!  What took you SO long?  I am just SO HAPPY that we are going to the park!!!"  The park was cold, and I was in pain and miserable, and none of the kids would help me with Bennett, like they had promised.  We were there for about 45 minutes.  Long enough to take some great pictures.

When we came back from the park all Heck broke lose.  I had kids beating up other kids and lots of yelling, and a kid with a fat bloody lip, and Bennett in the middle of it all screaming.  It was bad.  I was trying to make dinner, and I just started to cry and cry and cry and cry.  I was just silently weeping, trying to stay functioning.  I changed a diaper, made dinner and was cleaning up when I had to go into Glenn's room.  He was practicing his trumpet.  This is his first year playing, so you know, it's just loud noise at this point.  When I went in he stopped and excitedly asked me, "MOM, is my music helping you?"  I was honest and told him, "No, not really, but I still love you, keep practicing."

After Jason came home from a super long and hard day at work, I felt much better.  We got the kids settled, we ate dinner, and then we left.  I love having older kids so we can do that.

He took me to Papa Hydn's.  If you are in the Portland area you probably know and love this place already.  If you haven't been, you should!  If you don't live in Portland, I say it is worth a trip.  The main reason to go is for Dessert!  The pastry chef is UH. MAY. ZING.

So Jason got me some hot cocoa and dessert.  It made me stop crying, finally.  I just couldn't stop before.  He also encouraged me to talk.  I think we both thought it would be a long sob story about all the horrible things that happened that day.  We both ended up laughing pretty hard over all the funny things I remembered instead.  Things like Harrison being so happy about going to the park, and Glenn thinking that blasting his trumpet would help me feel better.

Other things were ...
Harrison ran into the kitchen right as Glenn started practicing his trumpet.  He ran to the fridge and grabbed a water bottle and said, "I want to get this for Glenn.  He always needs a water drink when he blows his horn!"

I woke up that morning to Bennett in my face, holding two Star Wars Guys.  He kept showing me and saying, "I gotta guy, I gotta guy..."  Over and over.  His older brothers had gotten him out of his crib, and let him play Star Wars with them.

Lily got Bennett out the shopping cart at Target because he was SCREAMING.  She took complete charge of him so I could pay and get out faster.  He was very happy in her care.

Sad to say, that is all I can recall now.  I made notes throughout the day, but they got thrown away.  I was pretty upset about this, but really I am just grateful for an amazing husband who works so hard.  Our home would be a pig sty right now if it weren't for him and his need to constantly throw things away.

Raising Boys

For those of you who haven't heard, I am pregnant.  It is number 6 for us, and after having 4 boys and 1 girl we have decided to NOT find out the sex of the new baby.  I am now 22 weeks pregnant and the ultrasound was a few weeks ago.  So our chance has passed, no looking back now.  We are really excited for the surprise!  Our doctor is as well, he told me that he LOVES it when couples do not find out the gender of the baby.  He says that a baby's birth is always exciting, and not knowing the gender adds a lot more excitement.  I am ... excited!

I will admit that another reason we are not finding out is because I do not want to deal with the disappointment of being told it's a boy.  I know that sounds awful!  Upon hearing that the last two were boys, I was sad, and my daughter was even hysterical.  Of course, I LOVE those two boys!  I ADORE them!  It really bothers me that I was ever 'upset' about who they were, or going to be.  Since this is our last baby, we thought it would be fun to try it this way, with a surprise ending and no negative feelings during the pregnancy. 

That being said, I want to share some of the things I've noticed that I love about raising boys.  

1. Boys can be cultured too.  I recently took the three oldest boys to sit for 3 hours and watch their sister Lily in "The Sound of Music."  They all, even Harrison, really enjoyed it!  They all agreed that their favorite part was when the Nazi's were running around and screaming, looking for the Von Trapp's. 

This last Summer I let Glenn stay up and watch some fun movies with Lily and I.  Jason joined in as well, to support Glenn (and because he really likes the movies we were watching). We watched things like Jane Eyre, and Emma - the Masterpiece versions, which are about 4 hours long!  He loved them!  About a month ago I was watching the 6 hour long A&E version of Pride and Prejudice.  Before I realized it, the WHOLE family was watching it with me.  The next morning at breakfast I overheard Glenn and Max quoting Mr. Bennett, and laughing at all the funny things he said.  It warmed my heart.  "...here sit three of the silliest girls in the county..."

2.  Boys can appreciate things that I never could.  I'm learning from them to laugh at things, that I never would have before.  One example is Harrison was sitting on my lap at Glenn's middle school band concert.  He tooted on my lap, then got off and smelled my lap and told me I stink!  Then, he giggled like crazy.  I gotta say, it was kinda funny!  

3.  I find it amazing how they can remember ALL the crazy character names from Star Wars and Clone Wars, and make the most amazing sound effects with their own mouths while blowing things up in their rooms!

4.  Boys like to cuddle.  I've got a couple of boys, my oldest and youngest, who are MAJOR cuddle bugs.  I have learned that the desire to be held and snuggled is not a gender thing, but a personality thing.

5. Boys love their mom!  Even as they get older, they still ask for me first.  Even though dad, a nurse, is a very compassionate guy, they would rather have mom.  I really like that, even though sometimes I 'pretend' that I am annoyed by it.

6. Boys can be just as cute as girls.

And for my last one today - 7. Boys like to help mom with chores and in the kitchen. Max has his own apron, and loves to look through cook books.  Harrison loves to sweep and mop.  Glenn loves to help with laundry.  They are domestic.

Temper Tantrums

 For the most part, Bennett is incredibly sweet.

But lately he has been into screaming, a LOT!  We've been working on staying calm and saying please.  He is getting better now.  But for about a month he would flip out about everything.  We all thought it was funny, unless we were in a store.  He would literally shriek and scream and throw himself on the floor!  I have never had any of my other kids throw fits like that. Having my sweet, tender, little cuddle bug turn into a fit throwing monster has been interesting. 

Bennett, on the verge of a fit in Target. He wanted that thing off his head!

Jason, trying to keep Bennett calm so I could wipe his face off.  We mostly just laugh at Bennett when he gets like this.  That seems to make things worse, but sometimes he'll stop and laugh back.

Glenn holding Bennett in the middle of a fit.  Glenn is laughing, and Bennett wants my camera!

I love this video of Bennett.  He is dancing to his favorite Christmas song, with Glenn.  At one point he even lip sync's!  In the end he throws a fit, because he suddenly decides he wants my camera!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Lately I've been making these delicious banana muffins I found on a friends blog.  

This morning I was whipping up a double batch while the four boys were all upstairs in my bed watching Charlie Brown.  As the first tray was coming out of the oven Glenn came to the top of the stairs and yelled, "Do I smell something good?!"  I yelled back, "I don't know what you're talking about!"  He came running and found the muffins cooling on the counter.  He exclaimed, "Mom!  I just don't know how you do it!  You amaze me!"  While I know that making muffins on a Saturday morning does not Amazing make, there is NO way I was going to tell him that.  

He grabbed a few muffins and took off running.  I yelled, "DO NOT eat those in my BED!"  He ran back into the kitchen and said, "Don't worry mom.  It was just a victory lap!"  

With in seconds The other 3 boys were down here.  Max had the courtesy to carry Bennett down, so they could all enjoy some yummy, warm muffins.  The conversation we had over the muffins was super awesome!  It was all about what their best senses were.  Glenn said his best senses were smell and hearing.  Max said his was sight.  Harrison was too busy eating to say anything, and Bennett doesn't talk yet.  

This week Lily has been gone in Utah staying with Grandma Ritz, having all kinds of fun.  Jason saw this as the perfect opportunity to introduce Glenn and Max to the Superman Movies, as in Christopher Reeves.  Each night they watched more of the series.  My boys really liked Superman before.  Now they LOVE him, and all of his Super Human senses.

As a mother, I think it is pretty awesome what can come from making yummy muffins.

How long have you been a pig?

For as long as I can remember my dad has called me 'Corinney the Piggy.'  My dad is the sort of person who gives everyone a nickname.  All my friends, my boyfriends, my kids and my siblings were given nicknames by this wonderful man whom I just call "Dad."  Well, sometimes we call him "Parpus."  And his friends in College called him Jode the Toad.  (That's right my poor dad was named Jody.  He used to tell us that Santa thought he was a girl and gave him a doll instead of a ball.)

Me and my daddy

So back to the point.....  in my dad's words, I am his little piggy.  When I was really little my dad used to ask me, "Corinne?  How long have you been a pig?"  That question used to drive me crazy!  I still don't know how to answer that question.

Through the years my friends from school even caught onto this nickname.  Two of my best friends from High School gave me a bride and groom set of stuffed animal pigs for my wedding!  All this because of my dad wanting to know how long have I been a pig!

Last week, my 4 year old son, Harrison, asked me, "Mom, how come you are a pig?"  I laughed at his variation of the question I have been asked at least a hundred times!  I'm pretty sure Harrison has never heard my dad ask me that, as he really doesn't bother me with that anymore.  But he does call me 'piggy.'  And that is why Harrison wanted to know, "Why?" 

I gave him the simplest answer I could think of, "I am a pig because my dad is a pig."  In my mind's eye I thought of this picture taken of my parents at a Halloween picture they threw when I was seven years old.

My response sounded good to Harrison, and the thought gave me great satisfaction!

I had the great honor of being one who made him a dad.



My dad has been very influential in my life.  I've been thinking about this a lot, as today in Father's Day.
I have so many examples I could share to explain the impact he has had on me.  I will share a couple.



Homecoming my Sophomore year of HS was 2 weeks before I turned 16.  I got asked to go, but my parents wouldn't let me because I wasn't 'allowed' to date before I turned 16.  (So funny how different my perspective is now.)  After a lot of fighting and mostly me being a huge brat to my dear mother, my dad came into my room all calm for a talk.  He said, "I can see you really want to go.  You have a bedroom on the ground floor with a nice big window.  It would be very easy for you to sneak out.  Go for it!  But remember there are consequences to all choices, good and bad."  I gotta say, I was furious!  That was some major passive aggression and manipulation going on there. At least that's the way I saw it then.  My dad knew that he and mom had done a good job teaching me how to make good choices.  Here he was letting me do that.  I learned a HUGE lesson.  He changed the way I had been thinking about what I wanted.



Another time I wanted to openly make a bad choice, and he made a buzzer sound and then said, "WRONG!"  He then said, "OK, so since you can't make the right choice I guess you're not ready.  I'll be making this one for you."  I know that might sound controlling, and as a teenager it felt that way, but looking back I couldn't be more grateful for a father who cared SO much about the choices I made. 



Thanks dad for teaching me so well and caring so much.




Dad in Nauvoo, pretending to be a bull.

Happy Father's Day!!!!!

 

Spinning can help you be HAPPY!

On Wednesday night the kids were wired!  They had NO MORE SCHOOL!  It was their last day.  I pulled some leftovers out of the fridge and made these taquitos for dinner.  They were DELICIOUS!!!

While I was in the kitchen working, Harrison and Bennett were doing this....

And this....

This totally made my day!  However, they made up for it later on.  I put them to bed at 8 o'clock.  I went in their room at 9, because I noticed that their light was on.  Harrison was sitting up in bed wearing nothing but his graduation cap and underwear.  He was covered in the Cars bandaids, that I had splurged on for him, like they were stickers.  The most upsetting thing was that the room smelled very strongly of lavender! 

When he had snuck into the bathroom to get the bandaids he had also grabbed my expensive little bottle of lavender oil.  He then poured it all over this bed!  I told our friends, who were there visiting, that Harrison was very lucky they were there.  I couldn't kill him because there were too many witnesses!  I was REALLY upset. 

Over the next hour I calmed down and was even able to laugh pretty hard at the very hilarious image in my head, of Harrison sitting up in bed in his graduation cap covered in Cars Bandaids!!!  I am really mad at myself now for not being calm enough to take a picture! 

The best part is, the Lavender knocked those two boys out till 8 am the next day!

Glimpses into prison life and other things too.

We have been SO busy the last few weeks.  I have some catching up to do in all parts of my life!  The blog is getting caught up now!

Today was the last day of school!  I'm not sure how I feel about that yet.  On the one hand I am really happy to not have to set my alarm tonight.  Yet the constant bickering and whining, that always comes that first week or two of Summer break, started two days ago.

I wish I had had a clear enough head yesterday to take out the camera.  I am still not ready to laugh about it, but I know that certain readers of this blog would find it very entertaining. 

I literally dragged the kids to piano lessons.  Lily was in a bad mood to begin with because her teacher had given out homework every night this week, including last night!!!  We pulled up for piano lessons, and Lily and Max had a fight out front of the teachers house, and I had to almost beg each of them to go in and do the lesson.  Max never did. It was emotionally exhausting for me.

After calling my mom, locked in my dark room, in tears, I told Lily she could rip up the worksheet if she wanted.  Thanks for advice mom.  This conversation totally cheered Lily up!  She didn't tear it up, and she happily sat down and completed the worksheet after dinner!  I don't get it!  Report cards were done!  She was already on the honor roll!  I was thinking about writing a letter to the teacher.  But that really upset Lily because the teacher was retiring and Lily loves her!  When I picked up the kids today, Lily sobbed big snotty sobs all the way home because her teacher won't be there to visit next year.

Changing the subject now.  A few weeks ago, while Jason was working, the kids and I went to a friend's birthday party at a park.

Maxwell, Glenn and Lily with their party favors.

Amelia, the birthday girl, and Harrison.

Bennett really LOVED being out in the sunshine at the park!

Lily looked adorable in these glasses she found in the treat bag.

Last week, as I was getting the kids ready for the piano recital, two cop cars drove up and arrested our next door neighbor!  It was a good show.  I feel like we live in a nice area.  Our Culdesac is peaceful, and the homes and yards are all kept nice.  So this was a surprise.  It was the mom they arrested.  Apparently for shoplifting. 

The boys all had their faces plastered to the bedroom window.  She sat in the cop car, while the officers talked to her husband, and watched my boys watching her. 

Harrison asked me if she got arrested for saying the word stupid.  I answered, "Yes, she did."

Today he got mad at the Female British Voice on my hands free device in the van.  He said, "She is SO stupid."  Then, he asked me if he would get arrested.  I told him no.  Then, he asked if he was going to get hot sauce.  I told him no.  Then he said, "Mom, sometimes I feel like I am so stupid.  Do you think I'm stupid?"  I told him that I didn't think he was ever stupid!  He then smiled and said, "I TRICKED YOU!!!"  HAHAHAA!!!!!  He laughed really hard.  Here I was seriously worried about the lack of self esteem in my four year old!  When really, he was just looking for ways to say 'stupid' without getting into trouble!

A couple weeks ago, while I was making dinner, I heard Bennett screaming.  I went into the dining room and found this!  I yelled for Max, who had been in there with Bennett.  Max came in and I asked him if he had done this.  He said, "Yes!"  I asked why.  He said, "We were just playing a game.  We put him in jail.  He is our prisoner!"  So Max and Harrison had put him in jail, then left.  Bennett was NOT amused!

To make it up to Bennett, I put him in high chair and gave him a pre-dinner chocolate chip cookie.  Fresh and warm from the oven!

Cheered him right up!

What can happen when you have too much fun?

In our Family Room we have a TV, like most Americans. 

On Sunday afternoon, while I was upstairs by myself feeling liking the cook/servant, my family was downstairs enjoying a Scripture Movie in the family room.  I was feeling more and more annoyed at the lack of help. 

 I went downstairs to round up the troops and found this.

A FORT!  A REALLY COOL FORT!!!  My husband and children were cuddled up inside with tons of blankets and pillows enjoying the movie.  It was too cute, and I decided not to disturb them, except for a few pictures.

(Take note of the hand weights across the top of the entertainment center holding up the fort.  They are important to this story.)

On Monday I should've gone down first thing and cleaned it all up.  But I decided not to.  I thought the kids might want to play in it a bit longer.  How often does dad make such a cool fort?  Harrison had a friend over and was bragging about his dad.  He said, "My dad can Build a FORT!  Can your dad build a fort?"  And his friend Jonathon said, "Well, my dad can build a HOUSE!  Can your dad build a house?"  That was a great come back for a five year old.  It shut Harrison up!

On Monday afternoon when the older kids got home they did want to watch a movie in the fort.  They did homework and practiced piano and then got snuggled up in the fort.  Harrison was really annoyed because he couldn't play in it with them watching a movie.  He was getting more and more extreme in how he could distract them.

It ended very badly.  Harrison pulled the fort down and smacked one of the hand weights into the screen,  The TV is now destroyed.  This is the TV that the kids use for Wii, and all their movie and TV watching.  This is what the TV looks like now.

It has been an important lesson to learn.  I think Lily and Max wanted to trade Harrison for a new TV right then and there.  They were angry.  After they calmed down they agreed that the TV is no big deal and we love Harrison more than the TV.  I am relieved that they came to that conclusion.

First thing after the older kids left this morning Harrison wanted to watch some cartoons.  Too bad Harrison, you broke the TV.  I think that was when he truly realized what he had done. 

Next time Dad offers to make a fort, I'm not sure how excited the kids will be about the idea.

They grow up fast!

A year ago my baby looked like this....

And now he looks like this!

Though he is growing fast, he still lets me snuggle him like a little baby in my arms while he drinks his warm milk out of a sippee cup before bed.  And he still doses in his carseat, like a little baby.  But he does big boy things like follow the dog around and bark, tries to snap his fingers by clicking his tongue and shaking his hand in a snapping fashion.