Disasters Galore

The boys have been a bit busy lately. Where shall I begin?

• Styrofoam blizzard in my dining room. They took my Disney Princess figurines out of the china hutch, and destroyed the molded styrofoam for my snow globes. Lucky for them, they didn't break any actual figurines.
• Jerry likes to take everything out of all the drawers and throw it all over the room.
  
• Jerry drinking 1/2 bottle Milk of Magnesia and the following mess. Thank goodness for spot cleaners, because he left evidence all over
• Digging a hole in the wall, pushing out the plaster patch TWICE, making the hole bigger, making the hole bigger, making the hole bigger again, and spraying sunscreen into the hole. Now we have to cut all the sheetrock out on both sides to prevent mold.
• Depositing toys into the hole in the wall
• Somehow getting the closet door off track
  
• Jerry broke two eggs in the fridge, again
• Jerry climbed up the inside of the fridge and fell out and took a shelf with him
• Thomas ate 20 Jr. Tylenol and spent a day in the ER and got to drink charcoal
• Jerry ate some of the roses for a wedding cake I am working on
• Both big boys tear off the blinds
• Drawer from the dresser now in 4 pieces
• Carvings on the top of the other dresser
• Jerry peed on the kitchen floor
• Toothpaste all over the beds, pillows, carpet, and window (after I had told Thomas to get the toothpaste out of the hallway and put it in the bathroom, yet it managed to end up in their bedroom)
• Scraping paint off the dressers
• Pushing the mattress and box spring off the bed and ripping off the fabric on the bottom of the box spring
• Pulling the mattress off the bed again, and again
• Sliding down the train table top while it is propped up against the bed
• Ripping off or out, still not sure which, the rails for the dresser drawers
  
• "Washing" the train table in their room, along with several stuffed animals, with bath soap crayons.
• "Washing" the train table again the next day
• CD in the VCR, I guess in an attempt to watch a DVD
  
• Jerry dumped water all over the van and himself from his water bottle
  
• Lots of cuts and scrapes from various sources, including running the closet door over toes

There are plenty other disasters, but they all start to run together, and when the next big one comes, I tend to forget some of the previous.
Poor Michael. Not that you can really tell, but he is covered in milk from his bottle. His hair is all wet and sticky and he had little drops of milk on his forehead. Dern if he wasn't cute like that too. While I cleaned up Jerry's overnight Milk of Magnesia mess, I asked Thomas to help Michael with his bottle. Thomas came in and told me Michael squirted the bottle on him. I went in to look and Michael was covered too. Then, later in the day, I discovered my carpet is crunchy from the milk.
The lovely sight that greeted me this morning.
Pudding mix, about 15 boxes, all over my floor and dining room furniture, in my candy making bottles, in my candy molds.
Pudding and water mix squirted all over the bathroom walls. I discovered this lovely mess when I went to the bathroom later.
And, of course, more evidence. Everybody knows pudding mix is a great sink cleaner.

If you can't tell, things around here have been a bit of a nightmare. My house is more destroyed by the day. Any suggestions, other than duct taping them all to the wall? As usual, I hope I will laugh at this later, but for now it is just irritating. Maybe you can get a laugh until I do.

Delayed

I know, I know. Still no beach post. You see, there has been a slight problem here. Thankfully, I was able to steal pictures from my aunt. Unfortunately, I am having computer issues. Internet bit it for a while, the screen on the laptop is broken, and other issues. As soon as we fixed one, another problem appeared. I have not forgotten, as my cousin seems to think, I just am not having good luck. I can post text, but pictures are a bit difficult. I will say that we had a blast and can't wait to go back. Nobody came home baked, a little pink in a couple places a time or two, but no lobsters. The boys loved the ocean and family and the sand. I think it took a week to get all the sand cleaned out of the boys, the mom-mobile is another story. Keep checking back, evidence of the fun will appear before too long, as well as stories of helmets and adventures.

Where did she Pass?

Last night we had one of those funny moments where you just have to laugh at the English language. Thomas was asking where someone's mom was. He told Thomas that she had passed away. Thomas asked where she passed. Well, um... yeah, stumped, awkward. How on earth do you respond to that one? Just another example of how trying to make the truth sound nice just leads to confusion. Why can't we say "she died" without feeling like we are saying the wrong thing? OH well. I hope you laughed as hard as we did. Or maybe you just had to be there.

In case you didn't know

I just have to take a minute and brag. For those of you who don't know, I have a wonderful husband. He puts up with me and all my mess, and doesn't complain. He is very supportive of my music and all the rehearsal and performance time that goes with it. I remember at my graduation recital, as soon as I finished, he jumped to his feet to give me a standing ovation. I couldn't look at him because I was about to cry. He was bursting with pride, and it meant the world to me.

He is a wonderful father. He loves the boys and I love to watch them play together. Thomas loves to help him mow the grass. Even though it takes twice as long, he lets Thomas tag along. Jerry is his little buddy, and Tyler can get Jerry to sit still and snuggle on the couch with him, which nobody else can. He can also make Michael laugh like nobody else. As funny as it sounds, he puts Michael on top of his head, then wiggles his head around on Michael's tummy. Michael laughs and laughs, and Tyler just grins. Tyler may not smile much in pictures, but the boys can make him smile.

He works incredibly hard to provide for our family. Often, he puts his wants aside so that we can have what we want. He teaches the boys by example to be hard workers and to do what they say. He is also very talented. He is able to visualize something, then build it, without any drawings (have you seen our garage storage?). He also is very good at designing and putting his idea into sketches, so I can understand what he is talking about. He is an incredible mechanic and is able to keep our vehicles running. He is a fabulous handyman too. The boys are forever breaking things, and he fixes the disasters. He has a strong desire for education. He supported me through mine, with all it's bumps and bruises along the way. He wants the boys to do well in school too, and will encourage and support them in any way he can. If there is an opportunity for education for any of us, he supports it. He also has an incredible sense of duty, to his family and country and church. Family is his first priority, and he says it often. He fulfills his church callings and honors his priesthood. I don't know anyone who has as much pride in his country. I guess that is part of what makes him such a great Marine.

Tyler is a wonderful husband and father. We are so lucky to have him as part of our family. We love him so much, and look forward to many more learning experiences with him. And no, no picture, because he doesn't like them.