Ally's tantrums

Ally was having a tantrum.  It started because she wanted her cereal and it didn't appear instantaneously in front of her.

Luke told her, "Ally she's getting some.  It's fine."

Ally proceeded to "fall" off her chair and then stomped out of the room.

Luke looked after her and commented, "You make me laugh."

Fun summer play idea

If you're smarter than me and avoid the temptation of Pinterest, you may not be exploding with ideas you want to try and often have fail.  I'll share one that was cheap, easy, and a huge hit.

We called it "Messy Car Wash."

All I needed was a bottle of shaving cream (which I saw at the Dollar Store) and I gathered some random containers, paint, and dish soap.  I used brown paint and shaving cream in a few containers to create a messy race tracks of "mud and snow."  I then made few car washes (water and dish soap) in other containers.

It entertained all of them for over an hour, and probably would have kept their attention longer, but I  made them come in for dinner.

The first thing Luke said when he woke up the next morning was, "We do carwash again?"

So we did.

One hint:  The paint was really messy the first day.  It even left residue in the bathtub.  The second day, I thought of diluting the paint, but to still keep it thick (it is mud, after all) I added some cornstarch.

Sisters

My son wipes every time he pees.

Bad hair day

I love having my hair short, except for two things:

1. The amount of time it takes to style.  It usually takes me about five or six minutes to blow-dry after I wash it, but I don't always have five or six minutes.

2.  If you don't style it, you can't just pull it back.

Yesterday we took the kids swimming after school.  When we got back, we were rushing to get the kids washed and dinner ready, so I didn't dry my hair.  Then I ended up getting a migraine and going to bed with it wet.

This morning my hair was looking pretty rough.  I had to get the kids on the bus, then rush Ally to PT, after which I had to run over to school.  My only option was to attempt to pull some of it back using a hair band and bobby pins.

When I came downstairs, Ally stared at me for a while and then asked, "What's your hair doing?"

This from the kid sporting a big orange 'fro.

Weepy morning

Anna had her end of the year program this morning, and, oh my goodness, it was so emotional.  

When the class came in, Anna's lovely teacher began to talk to the parents and immediately started crying.  Since anyone crying sets me off, my tears started right away.  

If I hadn't been crying already, I soon would have been.  Ms. Lucas played a slide show of the year.  Half way through Anna called me over to her and told me, "This video is making me too sad.  I can't watch it.  I'm going to miss Ms. Lucas too much."  That set me off crying harder, as I hugged her.  

Then the music on the video played a song about how quickly kids grow up, and I was practically sobbing.  That's when Anna, in voice that has only one volume -- loud, exclaimed, "Mo-om, you're getting me all wet with cry water!"

At least all the teary eyed parents got a good chuckle.

Wowsers

The following is a very bizarre result of a child getting very honest answers to all questions about where babies come from and recently meeting some newborn kittens being fostered:

Anna bought a stuffed cat with her allowance at the grocery store this morning.  Walking into Target this afternoon, she was holding the cat up to her chest.  She explained, "This kitty came out of my belly, so it drinks from my breasties.  And I rub it's bottom to make it pee and poop.  It came out of my belly because I put a cat seed in, because I love cats."

Hide and seek

Whenever Luke hides from me, I'll get all dramatic, like every mom of a two-year-old.  "Lukey, where are you?  Luke?  Luke?  Where's Luke?  Has anyone seen Luke?"

He'll crack up and finally announce, "Here I am!"

The other day, I was putting away laundry when I heard Luke giggling in the other room.  Then I heard Ally say, "Here you is!"

Luke yelled out in frustration, "Ally!"  And he explained, "You hab to look everywhere to find me.  Look there and there and there."

Yours, mine and ours

Whenever I tell Ally to go into her room, Luke will correct me and tell me it's his room.  I'll always say, "It's both your room."

The other day Ally said, "My daddy coming home?"

Luke corrected her, "It's both our daddy."

Secrets

Friday we had a really fun playdate with the kids friends Xavier, Scarlett, and Violet who are fostering six newborn kittens.

When we got home, I was getting Ally ready for bed.  As I slipped on her pull-ups, I said, "I have to tell you a secret."  Then I whispered, "You're such a great kid.  I love you so much."

She said, "I hab to tell you a secret."  Then, she brought her mouth to my ear and breathily whispered, "I lub Scahlett."

I giggled a little at the absence of returned affection.

Then she said, "And..." and pulled my head back to her.  I thought maybe I'd be second to Scarlett until she added, again in a warm, breathy whisper, "...I lub meows."

Uromysitisis

The twins and I were at a park about a ten minute walk from home yesterday, when, despite the fact that both of them peed before we left, Luke says, "Potty coming."

There was no one else at the park, so I took him to some bushes and began to pull his pants down.  "No!" he exclaims in horror, scrambling to pull his pants back up, "That not a toilet! That not a toilet!"

Lest you think my children are all upstanding citizens who would never urinate in public, I should tell you what happened at school on Friday.

The whole family had gathered for Kate's class' poetry picnic.  After we ate, the kids were all playing on the playground.  There were probably 100 kids and a good 50 parents outside.  Ally came over to me and grabbed my finger, pulling me.  I thought she wanted help on the monkey bars again.  I was talking to other parents, and kind of letting Ally lead me.

Instead of leading me the monkey bars or the sandbox, she led me off the wood chips, to the grass, where she said, "I haf go potty."  Just as I was registering what she was doing, Anna came over and began to pull down her pants, telling me she had to go potty.

I quickly stopped Anna, picked up Ally, and we quickly walked to the school building where we could use the bathroom inside.

Here's the thing:  I have four kids, two of whom perpetually have to pee when we go somewhere.   If we left a playground every time one of them had to use the bathroom, we would likely never play anywhere more than five minutes.  Not only that, but when kids are first potty trained, they often can't hold it the entire time it would take to get home.

When Kate and Anna were first potty trained, I carried a potty chair under the stroller any time we were going to go somewhere without a bathroom.  I don't do that now.  Why?  Well, I was dumping the urine on the ground anyway... why not use a more direct route? Plus, I've got four kids to drag along; I don't need to drag a potty chair.

So, that's me.  I'm the mom who lets her kids squat on the grass and pee.

Today's Anna revelation

Today's Anna revelation might be my favorite of all time.

"In my whole life, I only fell into the toilet two times."

Anna with her cousin Avriana

Babysitter blues

Kate was very upset that we'd planned to have our babysitter come Saturday evening.  We've had this problem many times.  For a while I'd been concerned that something was going on, but Kate's only concrete complaints were that Bridget made her eat a piece of broccoli and that she made her stop reading a half hour past bedtime.  

Saturday, Kate explained that she didn't want to stay with anyone  she wasn't related to.  I explained that she knew Bridget well, since she has come almost every month for nearly a year.  Then I told her, "Daddy and I picked someone that you could love like family, like she was an aunt or something."

Then Kate said, very matter of fact, "Yeah, except for that's not going to happen."

Today's "Oh, Anna!" moment

Anna:  Do you know where my Orange Blossom (doll) is?
Me:  No, Honey.
Anna:  Yes, you do.  You have been here all morning.
Me:  I wasn't here.  I was at the vet and then at a school board meeting.
Anna:  Well, do you know where my giraffe is?
Me:  I haven't seen that either.
Anna:  (Exasperated)  You should keep a better eye on my stuff!!
This makes me shake my head and laugh a little.
Anna:  It's not funny!  This is serious!