Life is Nuts

Life is insane, as usual.

My fabulous husband went back to work Monday. Hooray for rejoining the ranks of the employed. On the down side, I am back to being the only adult around during the day. No more leaving the kids home while I go run errands. He also showed the kids the woods and creek behind the house. It is now common to have missing children, only to holler out the back door and wait for three little, very dirty hooligans to come trooping back up from the creek.

Thomas is doing well in school. He loves to read and reads to all of us often. Shocker, the kid needed glasses. One of these days we will get a picture up.

Jerry is Jerry. Less than a year until he is in school and we are all looking forward to the day.

Michael is no longer a baby. He looks so much like Jerry even I get them mixed up sometimes.

I am still teaching music and loving it. I am also doing well with Pampered Chef and loving that too. It is nice to get paid to have fun.

Currently I have two little hooligans in the back yard, still wearing their feety pajamas. Neither one wants to get dressed. I am quite enjoying the hysterical laughter coming through the open door. Love this weather! Wait, kids outside, laughter, this can't be good. Yikes, gotta run!

Tape It Together?

Michael comes downstairs and says, "Mommy, Thomas popped Jerry's Balloon."

Soon after Jerry comes downstairs with a sad look on his little face that still has red birthday cake frosting on it. Balloon pieces are in one hand, the string is dragging behind him in the other hand.

"Thomas broke my balloon. We need to tape it back together."

Good concept, Jerry. Good thinking. I think this job is a bit much for a few pieces of tape. Although, if we had a balloon we could have Thomas blow it up and it should float to the clouds with all that hot air he is full of.

It Fits, Sort Of

Jerry, are you wearing Michael's shorts?

giggle giggle

I check the tag on his shorts.

Jerry, why are you wearing Michael's shorts, silly boy?

I didn't have any, so I took Michael's!

giggle giggle, goofy grin

Have You Ever...?

Been a while, I know. Been a bit busy around our house. Trip to the beach, time with lots of family, meeting new family, more doctor appointments than I have fingers and toes, starting school again, new students, and now home enhancements.

Every day I seem to find myself saying "I never thought I would...." Most of these are directly related to the hooligans. Most have my just hanging my head or walking out of the room until I can figure out how on earth to manage this new misadventure.
Have you ever been grateful to know that rubbing alcohol quickly and easily takes pretty pictures off the bodies of three little hooligans...



We won't mention the arms, legs, belly button, bum or other unmentionable parts that were also colored.

Have you ever cleaned ice cream or sherbet off the floor. The same bedroom floor on multiple occasions?

Have you ever cleaned the stuffing from a cat costume tail out of the space where the handle of the vacuum is supposed to slide down into the vacuum for easier storage? And then also found a toothbrush in said vacuum handle storage space thing?


Have you ever walked into a bedroom only to discover that your 4 year old decided that under the window is a good place to pee? Nevermind the bathroom that is only 10 steps away.

Have you ever scraped the popcorn off your ceiling? Have you ever cut holes into your ceiling? Have you ever eaten two plates full of mac n cheese and 3 hot dogs for dinner? Have you ever had your leg fall asleep while you are writing a blog post?

What on earth does tomorrow have in store for us?

A Horse Named Carl

We were out running errands earlier today. We stopped at a local farm for some fresh corn to grill. Across the street is a beautiful house with lots of green grass. And eating that green grass was a horse.

Jerry, "Look! A horse! I think his name is Carl"

We start to laugh, look at each other, shake our heads, and wonder where on earth he comes up with these things.

Jerry, "You want to keep me. You want to keep me forever and ever. I tell funny jokes."

Yes, Jerry. We do want to keep you forever and ever. Your jokes may not make any sense at all, but you sure are a funny kid. We can't imagine how boring our life would be without you.

And pink is his favorite color. In case you haven't heard. And purple is his other favorite. And he will jump off the top of a play set, but is terrified of butterflies. Crazy kids!

Mr. Fix-It

The door on our game cabinet met another disaster. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but it came off, again. Jerry fixed it for me this morning. Yes, that is a bandaid to hold the broken piece on. Nice jammas kid. Tell your parents you need a haircut, and pronto.

Bandaid, the first step towards duct tape.

Have You Ever Wondered...

I meant to post this last night. Oh well.

Have you ever wondered what happens when your kids get up before you do?

They will help themselves to the chocolate cake that is sitting on the counter. They will eat it in the living room and get crumbs all over the carpet. They will turn on the TV and watch cartoons when they both know they are not allowed to watch TV. They may have had some grapes too.

While doing all this they will leave you alone and let you sleep until 8:30.

Let them eat cake! And then give the baby a cupcake for breakfast when he wakes up, because it is only fair.

Have you ever wondered what happens when a wet diaper gets thrown up at the ceiling?

Wonder no more. I even have pictures to answer the question.

Yes, while I was teaching and they were supposedly having naps and quiet time, the older hooligans trashed their room. They also came down and interrupted my lesson, but that is another issue. Dress ups everywhere, toy box from one end of the room to the other. And an exploded diaper all over the room. Ceiling, floor, stuck to the dresser and window, on the window sill... everywhere. Lucky for someone, who I am not exactly sure, I forgot to change the vacuum bag the day before.

I am not sure if I prefer this kind of exploded diaper or the blowout kind of exploded diaper. I do know I prefer neither.

The evidence, after toys and dress ups were already cleaned up.



Have you ever wondered what happens to hooligans like this at the end of the day?

After several time outs and dinner they were sent upstairs for bed. The house was entirely too quiet. Hooligans and silence can't be a good thing.

Maybe it can.

My fabulous husband called me upstairs when he went up to investigate. Oh dear, what have they done now?!?! I look in the room and see two sweet, not so little hooligans curled up in their bed, under the covers, snoring. Not even five minutes and they were both out cold at 6:30.

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to want to strangle your hooligans and give them away one minute and just stand and watch their angelic and awe inspiring countenance the next?

Come to my house and find out. I promise, it won't be boring, and it will definitely be worth it.

Hot Girl

Background for my story: There is a commercial on the radio for wireless internet. Girl runs into old boyfriend at the park because she isn't stuck at home blogging (like me). They go out for coffee.

Girl: "You're slurping"
BF: "So?"
"Check please"
"We goin Dutch?"

They go away for the weekend.

"What are you looking at?"
"That hermit crab over there."
"What, that hermit crab next to that hot girl?"
"I didn't put it there"
"Creep!"

And now she remembers why she broke up with him in the first place.

Now, the story.

We are on our way to the chili cookoff at church. Commercial comes on. We pay no attention the the commercial because it is a commercial. From the back seat Jerry says "I not gonna be a hottie girl."

"That's good" My fabulous husband replies.

"Yeah, I not be a hottie girl. I not gonna be a creep either"

I just about spilled the crock pot full of chili in my lap from laughing.

Glad to hear it Jerry. I don't want you to be a hottie girl or a creep either. Good thing we got that one straight at an early age.

Tiger Pirate or Pirate Tiger?

We had a great day today. We had the opportunity to help out some other people and the kids went along and were most helpful. After dinner and showers we even watched a movie. Even better, I only had to go upstairs once to get them to go to sleep.

And now, for some not so recent pictures. These came up on the screen saver today and I thought they were cute, so I decided to post them.

I seem to have a vast number of pictures that have fun stories that I plan to post, yet somehow never do. Maybe I will make a habit of posting older pictures and stories. Rats, when I do that, it just leaves more recent ones on the wait list and then I get behind again. Be prepared for pictures in no chronological order but with cute or fun or pointless stories to come.

Yeah, that sounds like fun.
This was back in January 2009. Pirate Jerry took Tiger Michal's ears and found himself quite cute and funny. I especially like the orange bowl and camera case he chose to use as accessories.


Oops, seems the tiger forgot to cover his legs. Or maybe his mom is just too much of a slacker to do the snaps after changing a diaper.

Oh dear, I seem to see a problem here. The tiger is studying the antics of the pirate. Looking back, I see where he learned his tricks. Perhaps if I had studied them earlier, Michael would not have learned so much and be creating so much trouble now. Maybe not. Big brothers are supposed to pass all their skills and tricks on to younger brothers.

YIKES! Somebody give that tiger a hair cut! Why on earth do I let my kids get that scraggly ragamuffin hair before I cut it? It looks so cute at the time. Then I see a picture and want to photoshop their hair shorter.

Enough with the nostalgia of 10 months ago. Back to reality and the loads of laundry that need to be done and the groceries to put away and the kitchen to sweep. At least I unloaded the dishwasher earlier.

How Was Your Morning?

My hooligans were so good this morning. They were playing and laughing in their room and having fun. It was a great morning.

WRONG

I went in to let them downstairs for breakfast and discover a nightmare.

Chocolate footprints all over the floor. A pint of Chocolate Cookies and Cream ice cream partially eaten and partially melted next to the closet. Sticky door knob. Two very guilty hooligans.

It seems that Jerry snuck downstairs and got my ice cream and a spoon. He then took them upstairs and began to eat. And everyone knows that ice cream is better on your TOES. Yes, he stuck his TOES in the ice cream. Then he pranced his little self all around the room. Moms just love to find chocolate footprints all over the room. We live for it, don't you know?

A side view of the little prints and spills. There were more all around the room, but this was definitely the point of origin. Can you see the little toes. Wait, I see some hand prints too.

Do you have a carpet cleaner? If not, you should invest. My little scrubber has revived many a carpet.

An hour into cleaning most of the prints were gone. All that remained was the worst of it. My knees were soaking wet.

I just love cleaning carpets first thing in the morning.

Poor little Michael got the short end of the stick too. I couldn't let him out of his bed because I knew he would add more little footprints to the scene. So he sat in his bed yelling "Maaamaaaa" over and over.
In the end, I think I won. After almost 2 hours. There is one little spot left in the picture, but I killed that one with some Spot Shot soon after. I used almost an entire bottle of cleaner and made countless trips to the bathroom to dump out the nasty chocolate/cleaner mix or to refill the cleaner dispenser.

Don't you just love my little carpet cleaner? The not-so-baby is quite the nice touch to the cleaning process as well. Just look at those legs. Once I turn the cleaner on he can't get away fast enough.

If you look really close, you can see the purple sharks still on the wall.

Not only did I have to clean up the mess, but I had to try and fix my little cleaner. Somehow something got stuck in the spray line. It came out, but only a little at a time. I was shooting cleaner all over the floor. There was no telling which direction the spray was going to go. Yeah, just a bit frustrated with that one.

I still have my two older children. My carpet survived another disaster. I have more ice cream in the freezer. I smell like carpet cleaner. My knees are still wet. My bum is soaked from sitting on the wet carpet. I didn't get breakfast. My children are forbidden from entering the kitchen for the rest of their lives. I have a headache.

Maybe I will banish my children to tents in the back yard. Then it won't matter if they prance around with chocolate ice cream on their toes. Oh, wait, they would run into the street chasing a bug or the ice cream truck. No bugs, Jerry is afraid of them, but definitely the ice cream truck. Shhhh, don't tell Child Protective Services about my tent city and chain gang children in the back yard.

Moral: Laughing children are just as dangerous as quiet children.

I wanted to use a brown font in honor of the chocolate ice cream, but it looked just a bit gross, so purple it is today.

Now, I will go and clean their stinky boy bathroom and do more laundry.

I Have a Surprise for You

Thursday morning I informed the hooligans I had a surprise for them. I had been planning for a while, but prefer to wait until as late as possible to tell them. Something about "is it time yet" or "I'm ready to go" constantly coming out of their cute little mouths in whining tones makes the planned trip less than enticing for me.

We were all playing on my bed when I told them I had a surprise for them. Of course, they got all kinds of excited and wanted to know what the surprise is. I decided to have fun with it.

I whisper to Jerry "We're going on a trip."

Jerry: We're going on a trip?!?!
Me: Yep
Thomas: Are we going to the dinosaur trail? (he could hardly contain himself with excitement)
J: No, that's too scary.
T: No *with that you silly boy tone of voice* they're models *duh, everybody knows that*
J: Oh, ok *smiles and laughs*

Then I tell them where we are going...
Me whisper to Jerry: We're going to ride horses
J: We are?!?!
M: Yes
J: I have to go tell Thomas! (Thomas was sitting right next to him)

A few minutes later...
J: I want to ride a black horse
T: I want to ride a magical horse

And so the morning continued.

We had lots of fun on out little mini adventure. More details and plenty of pictures to come. For now, I have to deal with whiny children who keep annoying each other and thus annoying me. At least I made yummy cheesy bread braids. Yeah, more to come on that one too.

Biker Boys

Saturday we all went out for a little mini adventure.

My fabulous husband rides a motorcycle. It is his fun and stress relief. I call him the flying bumblebee because his bike is yellow and he wears a yellow jacket and black pants. He says he is the stunt driver for the Fire Department. Lest you worry about him, he wears safety gear from head to toe.

One of his fun things with the bike is an online biker forum. Not your Hell's Angels or other bad image kind of group. A bunch of middle age careful riders who have fun going out to dinner or chasing pictures. A fun game they play is called TAG. He does the NC tag, but there are other states and even a US tag. Someone posts a picture of their bike at a random location. They don't give much by way of details. The object is to get a picture of your bike in the same location. Then you have to be the first one to post your picture, and you are not allowed to use a previously taken picture. If you are first, you get to post your bike at a new location within 24 hours. My fabulous husband has caught several in the past and we have fun hunting them down from the couch to see if he can go chase it. We call them the Arm Chair Tag Getters. Sometimes someone gets it posted first and you get bruced, but it is still fun.

Anyway, now that you know the game, you can understand the fun. Remember that motorcycle Jerry got for his birthday? Well, here it is again.

My fabulous husband got the tag Saturday morning and we were trying to come up with a new fun one to post for the next chaser to get. He had wanted to get a picture at this location, so I suggested packing up the hooligans and taking then along for the ride and a fun picture.


Cute? Yeah, I think so too.
Jerry with his helmet, or hemet as he says, or haaaaaa as Michael says, and his gloves. It is not unusual to find him riding the bike around the house with a jacket, cowboy boots, mittens, and some sort of head gear. At least he wears all his gear to protect from those rug burns.

The whole crew on the side of the road.

Isn't he cute on the bike too? He's another mitten and cowboy boot kid. Maybe he will get his own bike for his birthday next week.

And then the camera died.

Sorry Thomas. We love you, but the batteries didn't hold out for you. You're too big for the little bike anyway. Maybe we can get a picture of him on his bike next to daddy on the big bike.

We all had fun, which is what the tags are all about.

Random unrelated bit of information that is slightly related... This is the baseball team I sing for. The kids were quite upset we didn't get to go see a game this time. Sorry kids, season is over.

What fun family adventures have you taken recently?

Funny Words

Kids say some funny things. More often than not they have no idea they are being funny. To tickle your funny bone, here are some of the fun ones around here lately.

Thomas upon hearing and seeing Sound of Music come on TV one night excitedly pointed and said, "Look Mom, it's Mary Poppins!"

Jerry has all kinds of funny almost, but not quite words
swywater is flyswatter
askident or askdident is accident
mint truck is a cement truck

Jerry and Thomas also used to call my sister AaaunTamanda. Drawn out "A" and all run together like that. She misses that. Now I just call her my seeeeeeeeeester.

Michael, among the dog and cow noises, has a new funny. He shakes his little head and says "No doggie, no doggie, no doggie." Sometimes he looks at Daddy and says it and we can't be quite sure if he is saying doggie or daddy. Yesterday, when I went to get him out of bed in the morning, that was the first thing out of his mouth. Today he started doing "no mom," but it didn't last. Or maybe he was doing his best Jamaican accent and saying no mon.

The things they say are so funny and cute. I could even get all sappy and think about how much I will miss the little funnies when they get older. Then I listen to my fabulous husband and the way people laugh at me, like when I tell the kids to get their shoes out of my feet, and realize they will never outgrow it, they just outgrow the cuteness and sweet voices.

Now, if you will please excuse me, I now need to go silence those little sweet voices. Way after bed time and after multiple re-beddings, the words and voices are less than cute.

Interesting Choice

Jerry's favorite color is pink. For some time now he has said this. It wasn't just a one time fluke. Any time you ask what his favorite color is, he says PINK. He points to things that are pink and says they are his favorite color. The boys got balloons this weekend and Jerry picked pink.

Yesterday he said he wanted something to drink. He said "I want the princess cup." I have a plastic cup with angels on it that I got from who knows what event, but probably something at college. Love those Angels! After telling me several times and I had no idea what he was talking about, he went over and got it himself.

Pink and Princesses, that's my Jerry. One of a kind.

*After my fabulous husband read this, he so kindly requested and suggested that I be sure to add that Jerry is all boy, he just likes pink and princesses. If you have no idea how boy he is, just take a look back at all the blogs labeled with his name. Odds are "disasters" will also be one of the labels.

Mouse Man

Remember Halloween a couple years ago? Thomas was a cat. Jerry was a Mouse. They were the cutest cat and mouse you ever saw. Get it, Thomas and Jerry were a cat and mouse? Oh, nevermind...

Michael, only one month old, was a super soft and snuggly penguin. My penguin is cuter than your penguin.

Jerry continues to wear the costume. Thomas is a fireman, Jerry is a mouse. Thomas is a missionary, Jerry is a mouse.

This morning Jerry came downstairs dressed as a mouse. I figured it just wasn't a battle worth fighting. Whatever. It's cute. He's cute. At least he was dressed.

We went to the Ear Doctor today. They thought the Cat and Mouse thing was funny. And cute. Even when it got warmer, he kept wearing his little sweatsuit costume. He even took a nap, covered in a fleece blanket. Have you ever looked at a sleeping mouse. They are quite cute.

My little Mouse Man.

I think I remember my dad being called Mouse Man too. My dad's name is Jerry. He had a friend they called Stamper. Don't ask, I don't know the whole story. I'm sure someone will enlighten all of us now that I have said this.

Jerry, meet Mouse Man aka Jerry. Mouse Man, meet Jerry aka Mouse Man. I sense a connection here.

Swimming in Syrup

Yes, you read that right. We went swimming in syrup this morning. Dinner last night was French Toast and I made enough to have leftovers for breakfast. Despite going to bed at some insanely late hour for a three year old, the little hooligan was up with the sun. I needed to jump in the rain room before heading out for the morning carpool run, so I set the older two hooligans down with their breakfast, made sure the pantry and fridge were locked, and headed up for a quick shower. By the time I got downstairs the little bugger had two plates covered with gigantic puddles of syrup, one piece of toast with the middle eaten out swimming in the syrup on one of the plates, a massive syrup puddle on the table that was dripping onto the floor, drips and puddles on a chair, and the floor. Half a bottle of syrup all over my kitchen. The pill pushed a chair over, climbed up, unlocked the pantry, scaled the shelves and got the syrup down. Nice discovery 10 minutes before you need to pull out of the driveway.

Since getting home the little two emptied a bookshelf, dumped out the toys, made a picnic in the living room, splashed the toilet water all over the bathroom, adjusted the radio in Baby's room, took apart the cheese slicer, lost a piece, and have somehow managed to survive.

I think I need a padlock on my pantry and a cage in my living room.

Buckle Up

We have an extra car seat from when Thomas was little and we had a seat in each car. Back when we had 2 working cars. Way back when. Anyway, this extra seat hangs out in the music room. Why, I have no idea, it just does. Today, I walked through and passed by the seat. I looked down and saw Winnie the Pooh buckled in tightly. Good job Winnie, you can ride with me any time.

And now Jerry is sitting in the shopping cart and reading a book. Nice recliner kid. No seat belt, though.

Oh, Jerry

Jerry, oh, Jerry. Of my three hooligans, Jerry is my challenge, my test in life, a terror. On many occasions I have said that he is payback for both me and Tyler, rolled into one child, and boy are we in for it.

Jerry makes me crazy several times a day. He destroys just about anything he touches, it seems. Give him a BB and it is toast. Nothing stands a chance in his little hands. He climbs on things you wouldn't even dream of, like stacking a stool on top of a chair to climb onto the counter top and then on to the top of the fridge. He has a temper that can be out of this world. He screams. He yells. He cries. He screams at the top of his lungs. He has mastered the tantrum, especially out in public. If he doesn't want to do it, forget it, there is no way you can make him. No bribe or threat can get in the way of what he wants to do. Just look at the family picture at the top of the blog. He didn't want to smile or look at the camera. He hits for no reason, usually his little brother. Today, all I had to do was go get something out of the garage, a mere 6 feet away, and came back to find Michael hollering with a big red mark on his arm. Last week, Jerry poked Michael with a safety pin, multiple times, while the all the boys were happily playing in their room. He throws things, and at people or things. If you need to go to the bathroom, be prepared for what you will find when you come back. Yesterday, he chewed up chocolate animal crackers, sucked up the mush into a medicine syringe, then shot it on the walls and ceiling. The child does not listen, worse than any other child I think I have ever seen. He will just look at you, smile, laugh, and go right on doing whatever it was, like running into the middle of the street or dumping water all over the bathroom floor. Jerry can push my buttons in a heartbeat. I want to run from the house screaming. I want to give him away. I want to leave him at the fire department. Jerry makes me absolutely nuts!

HOWEVER

Jerry is as sweet and loving as can be. He helps, happily. Setting the table is one of his favorite chores. Not too long ago I came downstairs and Tyler was hiding around the corner. Tyler motioned for me to come closer, but be quiet, then pointed into the kitchen. There was Jerry, pulling out the trash can and taking out the trash bag, all by himself, without either of us asking him to. He also loves to take out the recycling, that is his job and he knows he does it well. He is a huge help with his little brother. He loves both of his brothers dearly. Each day, when we drop Thomas off at school, Jerry waves and tells him goodbye, even though Thomas is too far away to hear. He has even had inconsolable meltdowns because he doesn't get to go with Thomas. They all play together for hours on end. The dump trucks are such a fun toy, and now Jerry likes to push Michael around in them, just like his big brother used to do for him. Jerry and Michael are best play buddies, and Jerry enjoys teaching Michael all of his tricks, just as a big brother should. He loves to dance and play. If you haven't seen him dance, you are missing out big time. He is a smart little boy and is very curious. He just wants to know how things work and what will happen if he does something. What will happen if I crumble syrofoam... it looks like snow all over the dining room. He is a problem solver. He is stubborn, and won't give up until he has accomplished his goal. Jerry is so funny. He is the most animated person I know. I say he is a miniature Jim Carey, think "The Mask" and you have it. There is the personality of about eight people crammed inside his little three year old body. He tells the funniest stories, and acts them out as he tells them. Oh, the stories he tells. He could be his own stage production. The puppet shows he and Thomas put on are a sight to behold. He loves to snuggle. I love nap time every day. Naps are great for the break I get, but I love the falling asleep part. Every day, after lunch, Jerry goes up to his room and waits while I put Michael in his bed. Then, it is Mommy and Jerry time. We lay down in his bed and snuggle. We just spend quiet time together, just Jerry and Mommy.

Right now, he is in bed asleep. In the middle of tantrums and screaming, I decided he needed a nap. We went upstairs and snuggled and he was asleep in a few short minutes. He has the most peaceful look on his face. His long, dark lashes are resting on his cheekbones. Under his arm are his ragged teddy bear, who has red drink from some escapade that I have yet to clean off his fur, and his snuggle blanket. His blanket is covering him up and he looks so nice and snuggly and peaceful. Once he fell asleep, I just lay there beside him, looking at him.

How can he be so sweet and loving, and make me crazy at the same time? As much as he makes me nuts, I love him even more. He tries my patience to no end, and yet I just want to hug him and keep him little.

Jerry, I love you to pieces, even when you make me want to pull my hair out and run away screaming. You are a joy in my life and I would have a gaping hole without you. When you turn around and flash that smile, or run up and hug me for no apparent reason, you melt my heart.

Sunday Sillies

We have had lots of funnies around here, so I thought I would share and make you smile too.

The sun was shining really bright through the kitchen windows.
"Mommy, turn off the lights," says Jerry.
"That's not the lights, that's the sunshine. We can't turn the sunshine off," I reply.
"We can't turn off the sunshine?!?!" he says as incredulously and shocked as a 3 year old can.

Michael will not sleep with socks on. Not even an option, no socks at all. When you put him in bed, he will stick his feet up in the air until you take off his shoes and socks. Then, once they are off, he will put his feet down and go to sleep.

In the car tonight, and a couple weeks ago, the kids were singing. I was so proud my kids knew the primary song "Follow the Prophet." That is until I couldn't keep my laughter to myself once I realized what they were singing. Instead of "Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet don't go astray. Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, he knows the way," the hooligans were singing "Follow the prophet... don't go away" over and over again. Ah, so funny. Just ask Aunt Amanda about some of her goodies with messing up the lyrics. That one could have you laughing for hours.

We went to see my grandmother for Mother's Day. It is about 3 hours there, and we do it all in one day. We had some fun conversations throughout the trip. Aunt Amanda said she didn't want to drive back home (she is not a fan of driving and never has been). She invited Jerry to come home with her and play and asked Jerry if he wanted to drive her home. We laughed because of all the hooligans, Jerry is the one who would try and drive someone's car well before he reaches the legal driving age. We went on laughing about how he would reach the pedals and all the places he would go. Well, he was a bit tired and fell asleep. He woke up as we were dropping Aunt Amanda off. OK, he didn't really wake up, just sort of came out of unconsciousness enough to respond to her. He sort of rolled his head up, half opened his eyes, and said "I need to drive your car," then his head rolled back down and went back to sleep. Oh, Jerry, what trouble you have in store for us.

Another day, we were near Lolly's work and stopped in to say hi. She came out and said hi and brought animal crackers for the two little hooligans. Jerry asked Lolly to stay and she told him she had to go back to work. "Work?!?!" he says, with his head cocked to the side and his eyebrows raised (you have got to see this kid's facial expressions), almost in disbelief. Lolly offered to trade with him and said he could go to work and she would go home with me. I laughed and told him he would get to play with all the things he isn't allowed to use at home like the stapler, hole punch and scissors. If that doesn't get a 3 year old excited about going to work, I don't know what will. For days now, he has been telling me he needs to go to work and use scissors. I think I need to hide all of ours in the safe, or who knows what he will cut up all in the name of "work."

Finally, tonight's funny. Thomas was doing something in the back seat. I told him to stop and he asked "How did you know it was me?" Tyler said "Because Mommy is a secret agent. She has eyes everywhere, only a lot less funding." Ah, the things I could do with the resources of a secret agent. Perhaps a new career is in my future....

Smile, there is silliness all around. All you have to do is look for it.

Laughter for Lunch

I am sitting here paying bills on the computer and doing the email thing while the hooligans, Jerry and Michael, eat lunch. They have the usual PB and honey sandwich and milk or juice to drink. Yeah, we go all out for meals around here. The little clones are having the best time today, though. They are both laughing hysterically, and both have that deep belly laugh and they laugh with their entire face and body. Jerry says "Michael is so funny," and they both crack up. Then milk starts to dribble out Michael's mouth because he is laughing so hard and the laughter just grows. Jerry also has learned that if you close your eyes at Michael, he will do it back with this funny look on his face. (More on that one to come, with pictures, even.) Who would have thought that eating lunch could be so much fun and make you laugh so much. Moments like this make what I do so much fun and worth all the mess that comes with the job. As often as I want to strangle one or more of them, these moments of spontaneous joy are far more frequent. Life is far from boring around here, and it is also far from miserable. Sure, we have bumps and frustrations and bad days, but who doesn't. I am so lucky to have my insane, happy, healthy, loving little boys. Thanks little hooligans for making me smile.

UPDATE: They are now smearing PB around and Michael is growling at his try. Jerry is even starting to have a hard time breathing from laughing so hard. Add some squeals of laughter and delight to the mix and you have one entertaining lunch.