The "Hose" Story

Have you ever gotten really mad at your kids for something that you either know you did when you were a kid, or something you are pretty sure you would have done had you been given the opportunity?
Bethanie has had a bit of an obsession with the hose lately. She loves playing with it. Sean put one of those attachments on it where you squeeze the trigger and the water comes out at 100 miles per hour.
Bethanie decided that the back side of our house needed to be power washed. Although she denies it, I am pretty sure I asked her about 15 times NOT to point the hose at the house. I could have just been reminding myself though.

So, there I was on the floor changing Brady's diaper when I heard a really awful noise coming from the other side of the couch. It sounded like gushing water. I ran over to find water gushing in around the cable wire in our wall. It was spraying all over the TV, DVR, U-Verse box, DVD player, Wii, etc. Everything was getting a good wash down.
This high pitched screech erupted from my throat. It was the kind of screech that causes damage to the vocal chords.
I ran outside and saw Bethanie with the hose pushed up against the side of the house pointed right in to a little hole that had apparently been drilled by some cable guy.

Note to self; Have Sean seal up that little hole in the side of the house.

Bethanie was grounded from water for three days. If she is good I might allow her to drink it and shower in it.
As I thought about it though, there is a good chance I would have probably done the same thing when I was her age, BUT that doesn't change the fact that our electronics had to dry out before any further use.

While I am thinking about it, I just want to take this opportunity to apologize to my dad for breaking the stucco off of the side of the house when I was about 10 years old. I now understand why that upset you.

WHY?!?!

Can anyone tell me WHY a child can start teething in June and then be up all night at the end of August because the teeth are just about to break through?? I just don't understand the purpose in this.
Brady's teeth, or lack thereof, have caused me sleepless nights. A few. This has resulted in me sleeping in. This has resulted in Sean sleeping in.
We both woke up at 7:20 (alarm went off at 6) and started RUNNING like crazy people to get Bethanie out to the bus stop and everyone ready for the day. Sean had a meeting at 8am this morning. It takes him 30 minutes to get to work in traffic. Do the math!
I am going to have to go ahead and blame this crazy morning and my crazy night on two tiny little baby teeth that are making my baby miserable, which in turn, effects the rest of us.
Grrr...

Commericals

These advertisers are doing their jobs. Usually Bethanie and Sadie watch some PBS or Noggin in the mornings. (Yes, I let my children watch t.v.)
This morning Bethanie turned on Nick Jr before she left for school. Nick Jr has commercials.
This is how it has gone for the last 15 minutes;

"Mom! We need to go to Chuck E. Cheese!!"
"Sadie, we don't have the money for that right now."
"But we can just go buy some money!"
"You would need to have money to buy money."
"Mom, I want that mermaid that squirts water."
"Maybe you should ask for it for Christmas or something."
"Mom, Brady wants that truck!"
"Did he tell you that?"
"Yes!"
"Well, you tell him to ask for it for Christmas."

I need to change the channel!

5 Random Things

Ok, I have to preface this with... I don't do tags. I really don't. Mandie wasn't aware of that fact, so I will do this tag, but let it be known henceforth that this is the first and last tag. :D

1. I am SO EXTREMELY excited that I am decorating my bedroom. I am not redecorating it, because then it would have been decorated in the first place. My friend, Amy, came over on Friday night and I dragged her up to my room and made her help me figure out what I could do with the room. I am very excited about what we came up with. Sean and I went and looked at paint samples on Saturday and we will be getting to work soon.

2. I don't really like hot dogs, but I like HOTS. White Hots. i had the best HOT I had ever had at Bill Gray's when we were visiting Rochester two weeks ago. YUM!

3. I LOVE decorating cakes, but it is a lot of work with an infant. I am just not able to spend the time I would like to on each project. Right now I am getting in to making jewelry. My sister in law introduced me to it at the family reunion. It takes a lot less time to finish and I like the results. I will get in to cakes again when Brady is a little older.

4. Chicken Mexican Casserole with Spanish Rice and Homemade Beans is one of my very most favorite things to eat.

5. I just got a new calling at church. I am a Relief Society teacher.

Are those random enough for you all? Random picture? Hmmm...
This is what Sean and the kids made me for breakfast for Mother's Day.

Am I the Only One That Doesn't Know What That Is?

Last night I had a dream that everyone was talking about their nibbles telling them things.
Sadie is getting to me.

Diet

Sadie is taking pictures of me with my cell phone while I sit here. She just showed me one of the pictures and it was NOT flattering. She was quite aware of this fact as well. She said, "Whoa, you look fat!"
The next picture.. "Still fat."
And the next, "You did an ugly one!"

She is a great boost to the self esteem.!

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

I just walked out front to watch Bethanie get on the bus. (The bus stop is two doors down from us.)
I left Sadie in the living room with BRady in his exersaucer. When I came back in Brady was on the floor next to the exersaucer. I asked Sadie how Brady got out of his exersaucer.

"Oh mom, well... He rolled out. He rolled down and bumped his head a little bit, but he is happy now."

Can We Just Trade?

Our family is coming upon birthday season. Between our family, Sean's family, and my family we have at least 7 birthdays in 4 weeks.
Bethanie was lamenting the fact that her birthday isn't until October. She didn't think that was very fair.
Sadie said, "Mom, Bethanie can have my birthday. I will just take hers."

Ahhhhhh....

Bethanie Will Do It

Tonight we have friends coming over for dinner with their kids. I just told Sadie that we need to clean up so our friends can come over. I asked her how we were going to do that.
"Bethanie will be home soon. She can do it."

Just call her Cinderella!

This Doesn't Taste Right

Sadie wants to know why the flower she just ate doesn't taste like honey.

What's a Nibble?

Sadie: "Mom, all of the nibbles in me say that tomorrow is going to be a cold day. That means I need hot chocolate."

Boys Have Cooties

Yesterday we were driving in the car and I turned up the radio when a song that I liked came on.
Bethanie asked me what the words were about. I told her it was a love song. The song was about a man that thought the girl he loved was so beautiful, he compared her to rose.
"WHY would he sing a song about THAT??"
Me:"Because he loves this woman and thinks she is beautiful."
Bethanie: "He is singing a song about LOVE?? That is a weird thing to sing about."
Me:"Most of the songs on the radio are about love. The next song on the radio will be about love too! Listen!"

So Bethanie listened. She was quite shocked when the next song came on and I was right. This concept is fascinating and strange to her.

It's Fashionable

Sadie is the supreme authority on fashion and style.
This morning she let me know that my hair needed help and she was just the person to intervene.
"Mom, you need three ponytails in your hair. THEN you will be stylish!"

The Bus...

It's a killer...

It's a Talent

Sean: "Sadie, get off your sister."

Sean: "Sadie, get off your sister."

Sean: "Sadie, STOP BOTHERING your sister!!!"

Sadie: "I am not bothering my sister. I am bothering you!"

Look Mom!

Sadie found a new way to earn her money. Chores are a thing of the past. The little fountains with the coins in them are much easier. Getting a little wet in the process is not a deterrent.

Kindergarten

My little Bethanie started Kindergarten today. I actually did better than I thought I would when it came time to leave her with her teacher. I did struggle last night when Sean was giving her a Father's blessing. Her short 6 years flew past my eyes.
I am dreading putting her on the school bus for the first time tomorrow and watching her drive away.
WHHAAAA!!!
Bethanie is a very thoughtful little girl. She is very helpful and very smart. Sadie and Brady both missed her this morning. You can see evidence of Sadie's feelings on this new stage in life on her face!

Oscar's Cousin

Sadie definitely suffered from a lack of sleep this last week. She had so much fun playing with her cousins, but by the end of the day she would be exhausted! A tired Sadie is a grumpy Sadie. A grumpy Sadie is not someone that anyone wants to be around.
I won't even go in to the details of our car ride from Rochester to the Seneca Lake camp. Let's just say that when we got to the camp, she spent an hour and a half in an empty walk in closet. I was so mad that I happily held the door shut for the entire time.
Some of the more embarrassing moments were when Uncle Eric told Sadie it was time for the family picture. She told him he wasn't his mother, so she didn't have to do what he said.
Aunt Katie told Sadie and Matthew that they shouldn't be playing around in our van. It wasn't safe. Once again Sadie let this adult know that she was not in her aunt's jurisdiction and to mind her own business. (Ok, I am paraphrasing.)
I wish I knew how to add the recording from my cell phone of one of her tantrums that she threw in the car on the way home. Screaming that would wake up the dead.
WHY won't this child take naps???

Here are a couple of pictures for posterity in case anyone needs proof. She is not actually possessed in the second picture.

So Much to Say!

We had such a great time this last week in NY. I thoroughly enjoyed *almost* every moment. (The long car rides were my favorite... sarcasm.)
Sean has such a great family and I am very blessed to have such great in-laws. Not everyone can say that!
We were also able to see some of our good friends from Rochester. After an hour at the children's museum with Jillian, Bethanie said, "I am having the time of my life!".

I have so many Sadie stories to share and a few for the other kids too! I will have to write those out separately as I have some time.
For now I will leave you all with pictures from the trip.

Oh, Cookie, Cookie, Cookie starts with C

Yesterday Sadie was in a seriously BAD MOOD! We went to see great grandma at the hospital. She is staying there while recovering from knee surgery.
Great Grandpa was trying to get Sadie to smile. Usually she is his little buddy and talks to him non-stop. She wouldn't say a word and she wouldn't take the scowl off of her face.
Great Grandpa knows Sadie pretty well. He gave her four Oreo cookies and 3 Lorna Doones.
She smiled...

After her tummy was nice and full of cookies she fell asleep on the drive home at 6pm. She woke up at 6:30 this morning. She is feeling very energetic and talkative this morning.

Can I Just Take A Second of Your Time?

"Hey mom? I have a really quick question for you."

"Sure, Bethanie. What can I help you with?"

"Um, can you just tell me really fast how Heavenly Father and Jesus made the earth?"

12 Step Program at the Age of Three!

Sadie:

"Mom, only chocolate can make me feel the way I want to feel."

Getting Worse

Yes, this is supposed to be a blog about my kids, all of my kids. There is one of my children who seems to take the stage more than the others at this time in our lives.
Sadie is going to be 4 at the end of September. When Bethanie was three I will admit that she would find ways to get in to creative kinds of trouble. I think that is the nature of the age. She grew out of it though!
Sadie seems to be perfecting her techniques at getting in to trouble as she gets older.
This morning she gave all of her stuffed animals a bath in the bathroom sink.
She wanted to make sure they were nice and clean so she dumped a container of foaming soap in there with them.
She also wanted to make sure her little plant from school was watered and clean as well. She filled the pot to the top with soapy water. I am sure the plant appreciated that TLC very much.
We now have a pile of sopping wet stuffed animals and mud everywhere. It is soapy mud though, so it is clean. :P
Our medicine cabinet is high enough that even *I* have to get a step stool out to reach the medicine up there. Sadie has self medicated herself a few times in the last couple of days. Grrrr...
Sadie has decided that her new favorite snack is spaghetti. What is strange about that? It hasn't been cooked. She likes to break it in to tiny pieces and eat them off of the carpet. She leaves half of the tiny pieces for later.
Luckily, Bethanie is going through a tattling stage. I hear about all of these little adventures right after they happen... in that whiney, sing songy, tattling tone.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Can You Blame Him?

Can you really blame Brady for the terrified look that comes over him when Sadie approaches? This is Sadie "hugging" Brady.

Breaking Dawn

Loved it!

I wasn't able to start reading it until Saturday evening. I finished it Sunday night at midnight. I will have to be a mom for a few days before I read it again. :D

Very Helpful

Although Sadie was sent to bed at 6pm after a VERY LONG day, she is a very fun, entertaining, and thoughtful child.
For example, today she wanted to help lighten my load...

"Mom, if you ever need me to help feed Brady, I can. I have "those" too."

(Brady is a breastfed baby.)

Going Out!

Last night at 6pm I was busy stirring dinner on the stove. Sadie was throwing a whiny little tantrum and screaming that she needed my help. Brady was sitting in his exersaucer letting me know that he wanted me to hold him and give him attention. Sean walked in and said that he was going out to mow the lawn.
I am pretty sure I gave him a (really) dirty look and then I turned around and continued to stir while I was talking myself down from yet another cliff of insanity.
Sean seemed to sense that I might need his assistance at that time... (because two screaming children wasn't enough evidence), and he picked up Brady and asked if I needed anything.
After two weeks of the three kids taking turns throwing up, fevers of 103, tantrums, misery, etc... I did need something! I needed to LEAVE!!
I told him that I just needed to get out. It wasn't that I didn't love them all, but I needed to go and be. Just be.
I finished making dinner and picked up my wallet. "Oh, you are leaving NOW?" Sean says.
"Yes, NOW!!"
I drove for about 20 minutes and basically did a full circle before I ended up at the movie theater that is about 3 blocks from our house. I walked in and noticed that there was a movie that I wanted to see that started in 2 minutes. I handed over the cash, bought myself a big box of chocolate, and thoroughly enjoyed the next two hours!
I saw Mama Mia- by myself. I wasn't prepared to absolutely BAWL like a baby through the song that Meryl Streep sings about her daughter going to school for the first time. (Click here) Bethanie starts kindergarten in two weeks.
I came home wanting to hug my children.
Ahhhh.... This morning has been a good one.