The trouble with boys

Poor Ian. He's such a challenge. He's the most loving little guy I've ever seen--he's sweet and snuggly. But he gets a twinkle in his eye sometimes that means trouble is on the way. Not that he's meaning to be "bad". He's just curious and mischevious--and that's a combination that spells trouble.

This week's episodes have pretty near done me in. The first incident occured at a store. Merry Grace was standing in the back of the buggy while Ian walked along beside me. At one point he climbed up on the side of the buggy, his little feet planted on the bars underneath, while he held onto the side. The next thing I knew it was like Newton's apple was falling all over again, as gravity took over. The buggy toppled over with Ian still hanging on. He was falling backwards, the buggy coming with him and Merry Grace still inside. I tried to stop it, but there was nothing I could do. The laws of physics had taken over. Ian landed square on his back, the buggy on top of him and Merry Grace, miraculously, still sitting inside the buggy. There were a few harried moments as we tried to sort everything out, but somehow everyone was okay. Of course it took another 15 minutes for my legs to stop shaking, but all in all we were fine.

The next incident also happened in a store. Cory and Elise had gone to Home Depot, while Ian, Merry Grace and I picked up some things from Wal-Mart. Ian had grabbed a gorilla balloon near the enterance and was having a blast slinging, dragging, throwing and punching it up and down the aisles. (Those little yellow weights at the bottom really add to the fun...) So at one point he had run down to the end of the aisle and I called him back, as we were going to head to another part of the store. He came running at full speed and at the last minute I realize he was going to collide with the buggy. It was like watching a train wreck. I saw it coming but was powerless to stop it. He did, indeed, hit the buggy head on--with such force the he was thrown back onto the ground. Once again, besides a bump or two, he was fine.

Those, in conjunction with another episode or two, have left me shaking in my boots at the thought of what that kid will do next. He really wears me out!!! But just today he was talking about how he had gotten footprints on the windshield by walking up it and I mentioned that the footprints were frustrating for me to see around while I was driving. On his own, he went out there with baby wipes and cleaned off the windshield. And that is why I love this kid.

Sharing is Caring

The other night I fixed corn on the cob for supper. The kids devoured it, even Merry Grace who I thought was going to gnaw through the cob. After we ate, we went outside to play and Merry Grace carried her cob out with her to munch on. Ever the one to share, she gave Max a little snack while she took a break. This is pretty typical. Whatever food she is eating, she will usually pass off a few bites to her four-legged buddy. This time it just seemed she was doing it somewhat unknowingly.
But why let it go to waste? A few doggy kisses on your corn never hurt anyone. =)

The Garden

This spring I planted my garden, as I've done to varying degrees each year. Its ranged from a tomato plant in a pot on the porch to a nicely tilled bed of weeds, to a full-fledged garden. This season's attempt appears the most promising yet. I've diligently tilled, planted, weeded, and watered my little garden and the beginnings of vegetables have appeared. There are quite a few green tomatoes, six or seven baby crookneck squashes, and sevearl othere veggies well on their way. I even have a row of herbs, which has been fun. Last night I was making fajitas and the kids and I went out the garden and gathered an herb cocktail to season the chicken and peppers. There are still many months to go. I can only hope it pans out as well as it appears right now.

Is this what you thought it would be like?

With Mother's Day being this past weekend, the topic of motherhood has been on my mind quite a bit. Ian has this lovely habit of stripping down completely nude when he needs to poopy. So he sits on the toilet, naked as a jaybird, and while he does his business he stuffs as much toilet paper as he can down the toilet. Unfortunately, this is not a single event, but a pattern. If the job is a quick one, we can avoid a clogged pipe. If not, well, you can imagine what happens. So on Saturday, I responded to the call of "MOOOOOOOMMY, I'm dooooooone." When I got to the bathroom, there was my little boy in nothing but his birthday suit, sitting on a virtual mountain of TP. Since we have had the conversation about why this isn't a good idea multiple times and had had several incidents where I was sure he had learned his lesson, I was extremely frustrated to find all the toilet paper on the roll filling up the toilet. Becuase playing in the toilet isn't high on my list of fun things to do, I quickly lifted Ian off the toilet and had him do the dirty work. Apparently, stuffing the toilet full is more fun than cleaning it out, so at one point I was holding Ian's arms, using them as, sort of, salad tongs, (sorry for the visual) to lift the paper out of the toilet and drop it into the trash can. Mama (who was down for the weekend) walked by in the midst of all this and said, "When you dreamed of being a Mother, is this what you imagined you'd be doing?" We had a good laugh over it, but it got me to thinking.

I had lots of lofty goals and ideals about what motherhood was going to be like for me. I pictured happy, lovely, healthy children; a clean house; peaceful, nutritious, enthralling dinners; enriching conversations with my husband, and educational moments with my children. I never imagined the many daily tasks for which there would be no obvious reward. Humanity will never praise me for having my three-year-old clean out the toilet by himself. Most days have some combination of sick or dirty children, at least one or two disagreements among the siblings, meals are often hot dogs (with ketchup being the vegetable of choice), the laundry (dirty and clean) piles up, as do the dishes. And if Cory and I have time at the end of the day to watch one episode of "The Newlywed Game" then we feel that we've had quality time together. =) As I type this, Ian is hard at work spitting down the air conditioning vents while Merry Grace looks on, and Elise is holed up in her room because Ian was aggravating her. No one is going to applaud most of the things that fill up my day.

Even having said that, I wouldn't trade this job for anything else in the world. The hugs from my kids, the ability to be there for all their milestones (even the ones that involve poop and other fun stuff), the thrill of seeing them grow and develop into these amazing little people. When they "get" something that I've been trying to explain to them or when they finally accomplish something they've been working on--it's wonderful and beautiful and fulfilling. Being able to rejoice with them in their many triumphs--for their triumphs are mine as well--is what makes me so humbled to be able to be a mom. Their mom. I love them with a ferocity I could never have imagined, in all my dreams of being a mother. It is the hardest, most demanding, challenging, all-encompassing job I've ever considered. There are days I need a pep talk and days I wonder what in the heck I'm doing. But even in all that, I can't imagine any place I'd rather be than wrapped up in a tight hug from one of my babies.

The Not-So-Happy Birthday Song

New Look

So I guess several of you have seen the new look, based on the comments. It's only been 2 1/2 years with the same layout, so I thought I would update. Heaven forbid, I should rush into things. =) Unfortunately, I'm not a computer whiz and formatting and HTML is right over my head. So there are some layout things I would play around with, were I to know how to do it. As it is, this is the best I can do. I didn't want to change it unless I found something I really loved. When I found this, I felt like it was my old format, only better! So there you go. I have two funny videos from Elise's birthday I want to post, as soon as they are finished uploading to google videos. We doing good, just busy. Take care, everyone!