Great Minds Think...Alike??

I have noticed that my girls and I, even Addy, have the tendency to think along the same lines. When I am listening to my girls talk about their day, or a show they watched, I can almost predict what they are going to say. It is scarier when I have a thought in my head and one of the girls says it first. I know Addysen is only going on four, but she and I think alike quite often. It makes me wonder if she is really smart or if I am a little on the slow side?? Don't answer that!! You would think I would be used to this thinking alike phenomenon seeing as how my own mother and I even cook the same dinners on the same nights without having talked about it first. I can't even begin to recall how many times I have picked up the phone to call her and she is already on the other end! My mom and I can finish each others sentences, and there are times when we don't have to use complete sentences to know what the other is trying to communicate. That is something that drives my hubby crazy. He will always say, "what the hell are you two talking about??". Another way I am close with my girls, like I am close with my mom is when we are partners during a game. My best memories of Pictionary are with my mom as my partner, and we are beating the pants off Matt and his partner!! Inevitably, he accuses us of cheating! "You can't just draw and line and know it's Machu Picchu!", he would say. These scenarios are becoming more and more familiar as my girls get older. Apryl, Lexy and I just laugh and laugh at all the inside jokes we have. When I am partners with one of the girls, it is so funny to guess a drawing simply from a straight line. There is a reason my kiddos were given to me, and why I was given to my mom, probably because no one else could understand us better! Our spouses unfortunately just have to learn to deal with it!!

Good Riddance!!

Two days ago a few members of my family and myself witnessed a vicious dog attack. This took place directly in front of our house, where our children play on a very regular basis. In fact, the kiddos had just been outside moments before, but mom made them come inside to shower! Thank goodness!! Unfortunately, Alexys saw a good portion of the attack from the beginning. I ran into the living room because of the screams that we were hearing, and quickly ushered Lexy into the kitchen after seeing what was happening. I was in complete shock, considering this is the same dog that attacked another dog three weeks ago resulting in the other dog losing it's leg!! This incident has stuck with me since it occurred, I can not stop thinking how lucky we were that it was not one of our precious children. You would think with the paper trail this dog has, even before the first attack, that our city would want to get a handle on the situation. It feels as if people are waiting for a better reason to remove the dog, and that reason had better not be one of my kiddos!! There have been more times than I can count when I have been out walking with my kiddos and that dog charges at the window and scratches and barks and growls, all while trying to get out! This is so difficult for me to comes to terms with being the animal lover that I am, but having this dog among my children and other neighborhood children is worth the efforts to get rid of it! It was hard enough to explain to Alexys what happened when she asked if the little dog died, it broke my heart to tell her the truth. I can only imagine what it would have been like to have to explain to her what happened had it been one of her siblings!

Trouble Makers

Last week was one heck of a week as far as our boys were concerned. They managed to find entirely new levels of chaos and trouble. Aside from ascending the shed, they started flushing objects down the toilet. Last week we lost two pairs of underwear and a spoon in the toilet, and that was what I caught them flushing! Brenden thought he would give art a try and used a not so popular medium to decorate his wall with. I am not sure how he managed to get poop seven feet up the wall, but I didn't really take the time to figure it out either. Garhett, who was still asleep while all that was going on, had poop in his hair and on his shirt when he woke up. That was the only time I felt sorry for G-man last week! I know there were a few visits to our neighbor in order to get toys and a hat back. Thankfully he still laughs and makes a joke about it. Our bushes in the back yard look like Christmas trees after the boys have thrown their cups, undies, numerous toys, trash and whatever they can find in to them. It is a daily struggle to keep the two of them from throwing things down the stairs or over the gate. Both boys love throwing things up to the ceiling, and they have no discretion as to what they throw. That is until the object comes back down and hits them in the face or on top of the head. I have never had to talk so much in my life. I play the repeater game by myself all day long because ultimately they are not really listening. Now, both boys are only allowing mommy to do things for them. They scream, "NO, mommy do it!!" no matter what it is I need done or who it is helping me. Not even Daddy can help. It is exhausting, especially when 8:00 p.m. rolls around, I am warn out! Lately putting the boys to bed is such a pain. Both of them think they are staying at some five star resort. They have a list of demands they feel I need to full fill before they can settle down. I am not one to give in to the demands, but I still have to check in on them because they are wailing as loud as possible. "Need water mom", or "read another book mom", "pee-pee coming mom", the list goes on and on and on and on!!

A Better View

I may have missed a few days of writing, but trust me my boys have not skipped a beat! It was only a couple of days ago that they put their climbing skills to the test. I made the ultimate mistake of thinking they could play nicely, well I mean play safely outside for a minute or two while I ran inside to grab something. Now looking back I can not honestly even remember what it was that I needed to get so badly from inside the house. While I was in the living room Addy came inside and said to me, "Mom, the boys are on my playhouse!". I thought that meant the boys were on the little jungle gym in the back yard, they are on that quite often, and I felt that was okay so I disregarded her warning. She was not relenting however. Addysen kept insisting the boys were on her playhouse and that I might want to check things out. For a moment I felt like Addy was Lassie trying to get a message to me by way of barking, because obviously I was not listening to her very well. So, like any mom would do I send another child to go see what is going on! Lexy then goes outside to see what her brothers are up to and I hear some concern in her voice or maybe that was panic. What brainiac decision do I come up with next you wonder?? "Apryl, could you please see what Lexy is shouting about outside?" That was when I hear from Apryl, "Umm, mom, I'm gonna need your help!". I open the door to the back deck and walk over to the steps, and what do I see? My boys on top of the SHED! That is a little bit different from PLAYHOUSE!! My reaction time was slowed initially by the interpretation from Addysen, I have to blame someone! No, of course she is not to blame. When I saw what was going on I froze and did not get any closer to the boys. Each time I got closer to them they both thought what they were doing was funnier and funnier, and all I wanted was to get them down! Apryl was already at the shed trying to coax them over to her and they were making a joke out her! I used my stern mommy voice to capture their attention, and finally they both looked right at me. I said, "you both go over to Apryl right now!!". That did the trick. There was no arguing, or more playing around on the roof, they went straight to Apryl and she was able to help them down. After we got back inside, I had to put the guys down for a nap, I couldn't take any more! My brain was exhausted after running scenario after scenario of what could have happened. Thankfully a little guardian was watching over them better than their mother!!

Addy stuff

Last night as I was playing around on the computer the kiddos were busy playing downstairs with me. I could hear our littlest people having fun and laughing with each other which is a welcome break from all the arguing that can take place on a daily basis. From my seat at our desk I could see the three of them climbing in and out of the cupboard underneath the sink in the bathroom. Addy kept telling them they had to hide from the ghost. As soon as she got the boys situated inside, she shut the doors and stood outside holding the doors shut! It would take a couple of minutes for the boys to realize she wasn't coming back in, then I could hear them trying to open the doors. More than once I had to persuade her to let her brothers out...who am I kidding, it took more than once! Then, she decides they are going to play a new game. Addy says, "lets go to Mexicat!", "it's like Mexico, but where cats live." I can not even imagine where she came up with that! Later that evening we were watching Americas Got Talent, which all the kiddos seem to enjoy. Addysen was more judgemental than the actual judges on the show! "That guy sucks!" she said to me. I asked her to find a better word than sucks and says, "that guy is fat!" It was late, and I didn't want to hear her better word for fat!

Back to the Grind

After being away from home and everything that goes with that, it is sometimes nice to return to the old routines. We went camping for a few days, and from there went to Grandmas house. We had our usual melt-downs and pouting episodes, but all that is to be expected with three toddlers. Especially three toddlers who all want to be independent and have three different ideas of how things should be done! I absolutely can not make everyone happy all of the time, and my kiddos have proven me right. Just when one is settled and content for the moment, that is then the other one's cue to began screaming as though he is being tortured. All that aside, we were able to come home with some pretty awesome memories, and stories we can tell for a few years to come, which is the most important part! I like that everyone joined in the hunt for Sasquatch during our ride to grandmas house, which ended up carrying on throughout the trip. Our girls got to do some bonding with their grandpa while they were targeting shooting. It is amazing how much they enjoy shooting a gun, it is also amazing how much attention they pay to their grandpa while he explains how to safely use a gun. Before they can shoot, they have a mini gun safety class, never a bad idea! Apryl loves to help grandma in the kitchen, and together they made some pretty delicious food, or as Lexy would say, "grub". We got to hang out together at the park and eat cheeseburgers. The boys liked sliding and swinging, that is until Garhett threw up! He has motion sickness sometimes, poor thing! Then all seven of us and grandma, lied in the grass and made pictures out of the clouds! It was the first time that our entire family just sat and enjoyed not going 100 mph in such a long time! I don't know what made the boys want to relax with the rest of us, but I do not care either! Those moments are wonderful! Now, I have a house to attend to and of course the laundry is calling my name~BOO!!