Spring Break Begins

Spring Break has arrived upon us.  That's correct, Mischief starts on her spring break tomorrow.  She is convinced that spring break is a week off of school (which she does not want to take) to give her time to sit outside and watch the flowers grow.  She has been told, by her teacher, that spring time is when the flowers "spring up."  Therefore, spring break is a break from school for the flowers to spring up.

Mischief was quite unhappy with me when I made her come inside after school, instead of sitting on the sidewalk, watching the plants grow.  Her brother cannot figure out why Mischief keeps jumping up and down, as she is pretending to be a flower springing out of the ground.

Spring break is upon us, and it will be an interesting one.

Babysitter

I am a stay at home mother, so my children do not have frequent babysitters.  In fact, I can count on two hands the number of times they have had a babysitter in the almost four years of Mischief's life (outside of Grandma).


Today, Aunt Christine got the privilege of watching the kids.  I took them over to Aunt Christine's house so they could play with their cousins, as I had other things I had to do.  Mischief was all excited about playing with her cousin, and Mayhem does not have a clue, except he is in this "crying when mommy leaves" stage.


Neither one of them cared enough to say good-bye when I left, Mayhem was excited when I got back, but Mischief started crying.  Why did she start crying do you ask?  I had told her to make sure she took a nap while she was there.  When I got back and she had not taken her nap, she started crying and saying she was sorry.  Then, she did not want to leave and started crying about that, too.


Evidently, you can have catholic guilt without being catholic.

Let's Go

I had some work I had to do today, so I asked a friend of mine to watch Mischief and Mayhem today.  Mischief, who used to cry at the thought of a babysitter, did not even feel the need to say good bye to me because her friend was here to play with her.  

Most children, when threatened with, "You wanna go home with her?" say they would rather stay with their mother.  However, Mayhem says, "uh huh," and went to get his shoes.  When he could not open the closet door, he put on his sister's shoes, came and got my friend, took her by the hand, and said, "Go."  

Evidently, they had so much fun, they are going to go home with their babysitter.

Big Baby

At some point in a child's life, he takes his bottle and goes to bed all by himself.  However, my child, at 22 months of age, does not.  Mayhem will go get his blankets out of his bed, get his bottle off the counter, and bring them to me.  He tells me to sit and points to the couch.  I sit down, he arranges his blanket on my shoulder and the other on his back.  Then, he set the bottle on the arm of the couch and lays his head down.  He then opens his mouth, says, "Bobble," and points to his bottle waiting for it to be put in his mouth.  He holds it while he drinks, then he sits up, points to the bedroom, and says, "Go."  And yet, if I attempt to make him hold his own bottle or lay in bed with it, he gets all types of offended and starts crying and yelling, "No!"

I believe I have a big baby on my hands! 

Legos with Uncle Nathan

The kids got to play with Uncle Nathan from a little bit today.  He has the touch!  Uncle Nathan versus all Mischief, Mayhem, and their two cousins.  Legos win.  Mischief was very happy to play with her uncle, since she does not get to see him very often, seeing as he lives in outer space and all.

Yes, Mischief's uncle lives in outer space.  At least that is what the brain of a three year old created when she was told he lived a very long way away, on the east coast.  She just decided that was space, and her uncle lives there.

So, the kids got to play with the uncle from outer space.

Kamikaze Baby

I have come to the conclusion the Mayhem is, in fact, a Kamikaze Baby.  Yesterday, he stood on a chair at the counter, fell off, hit his head on the wall and his shoulder on the handle to the cupboard door, and he never fussed.  Then, he climbed back on his chair and smacked his head on the corner of the cupboard, and he, again, never fussed.  Today, he stood on a box of diapers, reached for something and fell.  This time, he laughed at himself.

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that Mayhem is a kamikaze baby!  I may need to pad the whole house.

Spirit: Stallion of Cimmaron

Today, Netflix provided us with the "Horse" movie.  The kids were all about their new movie.  There were plenty of questions to ask about why the bad men trapped the horse out of the wild, etc.

However, it was comical when they were playing Horsey.  Does Mayhem know how to play Horsey?  or does he understand what Mischief is doing when she knocks him down to pull on his leg as he is trying to crawl away?  Not really.  Obviously, she was trying to pull Nathan Horsey out of the mud.  When Daddy asked if Nathan Horsey knew he was stuck in the mud, Mischief responds, "hmmm... nope."

Moral of the story, be careful what you let kids watch because they will act it out later!

Potty Training on the Horizon

Mayhem is 22 months old and does not speak English most of the time.  Usually, he speaks his own language.  He is starting to learn words, but only a few intermittently.

Today, I changed his diaper and told him to get his shoes on to go pick up his sister.  Instead of going to the coat closet like normal, he opened the bathroom door with a big grin on his face.  I asked, "What are you doing?"  He says, "Potty."  So I asked him if he was going potty, and he shook his head up and down.  He turned the light on, and climbed up onto the closed toilet.  I thought he was just pretending because he had seen his sister sitting up there to get her hair dried.

However, to my surprise, he came out of the bathroom, got his shoes, and started putting them on his feet.  When he had been in the bathroom, fully clothed and diapered, he had filled his pants.  So, he told me he was going potty, sat on the toilet, and went potty.

I guess potty training really IS on the horizon.  I am open to any tips and hints about potty training boys versus girls. 

Sick Days - or not?

We all know children like to copy each other, whether it be what they wear, eat, or do.  Children like to mimic each other or other people.  This is how children learn behaviors and what is accepted or not.  Often Mayhem follows Mischief around doing exactly the same thing she does.


However, for the last couple days, the table has turned.  Mayhem has a yucky nose and is miserable, so he is clingy.  Therefore, his sister is walking around sniffing and saying, "Do you hear that sound?  It's the sound of my nose!  I don't feel good either!"  


Who knew she had to pretend to be sick because her brother is?

Walmart Tire Center

Being the nice sister I am to dear Aunt Laura, I attempted, not once, but twice, to get her tire fixed that she unfortunately punctured with a gigantic screw.  Yes, a screw - rather, a bolt.  I was told there was one car ahead of me, so it would be a 45 minute wait.  One and a half hours later, the gentleman came out and asked me for the locking lug nut key.  I had no idea what that was, and he explained it and said they had looked for a while and could not find it.  They would look for a little bit longer.  After a while, he comes back in and says they cannot find it.  I had to go to another tire place and purchase one.


This morning, Daddy went outside to the car, opened the trunk and took out the lug nut key.  Yes, it was definitely inside the trunk.  From this experience, I have learned that Walmart Tire and Lube is not worth the ground space the building takes up.  Also, I realized that I cannot handle sitting around Walmart watching people.

Moral of the story is:  Go to Walmart only for the cheap prices, not for the intelligence of service people working there.

Fun in the Park

We finally had some time today with the nice weather, so we headed out to the park.  Unfortunately, by the time we got to the park, it had gotten cloudy and windy, but we had fun anyway.  Mischief has gotten a lot more outgoing, so that is good.  Mayhem, however, has turned into a little kamikaze baby!  He is nervous the first time he is on something, then he wants to do it by himself.  Then, he points at me and says, "Go!" because he wants to do it by himself.  I am not allowed to help the one year old!

They are all about swinging and sliding, so when we got home, they had to play "playground" because they "were having too much fun and didn't want to leave."  So, I had kids sliding down my legs, swinging on the rocking chair, and running around like mad men around the house.

We are all so excited to see nice weather on the horizon.

Little Swing Addict

Where did Sister go?

All about the big boy swings!

 

Star Day

Today was Mischief's Star Day at school.  This means that she is the star of the day, gets to wear a star sticker, be the leader, and she gets to do all the jobs of the day.  She also gets to take a special book, have someone come in and read the book, and bring her favorite snack.

She wore her green llama 4-H shirt, took "Llama Llama Red Pajama" for her book, and we made special Shamrock rainbow cupcakes.  We turned the cake batter green, put them in shamrock cupcake wrappers, covered them with yellow icing, put a shamrock candy on top, underneath the arc of a rainbow gummy candy.

She had a blast being the star and is convinced that she is the star at home, too!  Her brother begs to differ.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Mischief made a kite in school and has been playing with it all day.  However, her friend, the kite, will not "fly" inside the house (which in tales her spinning around in circles with a paper kite on a string), unless somebody is singing "Let's go fly a kite."  Guess who that person who has to sing it is.  Not her, because the kite does not like to hear her sing.  Yes, the kite chooses who sings.

Anyway, our day has been filled with singing and kite flying.  Mayhem just strips out of his clothes, grabs the dog toy on a rope, and spins in circles singing his own version.

Rainy Days and Back Seat Drivers

On a rainy day, there is not much to do with children who have a bad case of spring fever.  However, thank goodness, today was a school day.  I herded the kids out the door to take Mischief to school, got them both in the car, and the fun started!

Immediately, Mischief was trying to catch the pouring raindrops on her tongue and was mad when I buckled her in and shut the door.  Then, she started chanting, "Go Windshield Wipers, Go!" over and over again.  So, her brother started in with his version of her chant.  That was some fun for me.  Then, every time I slow down, Mischief asked why I am slowing down, and Mayhem yells, "Go!"  It does not matter if there is a car ahead of me, or a red light, it is a matter of whether or not my car is going fast.

I am open to suggestions of good rainy day activities that do not drive the mother nuts!

Road Trip!

We returned safely from our trip to Aunt Laura's!  And, we managed to make it back at a decent time.  The kids had a blast, even though they were tired of riding in a car, and Mischief asked, "Are we there yet?" before we had driven the three minutes it took us to get to the interstate.


I am pretty sure the kids ate enough pancakes (the only kid-approved food Aunt Laura knows how to make) for four or five kids, and then ate again for a snack.  Aunt Laura also only had a few toys, so Mischief and Mayhem found an exercise ball and a spinning exercise disc for them to play on.  They had a blast, and when she stopped spinning while claiming she was not dizzy, Mischief says, "I'm not dizzy!  But Aunt Laura's house isn't standing still!"


After supper, when we were leaving, my daughter says about her aunt, "I miss her, now she needs to come to my house!"  Mischief accidentally took the toy cars home that Aunt Laura had to play with, so she is planning on returning them on our next trip to Aunt Laura's house.

Note Mayhem in the background playing with the other toy of Aunt Laura's

So, all-in-all, I would say the trip is a success, even though Mayhem is not ready to spend any time in the car any time soon!

Aunt Laura

Tomorrow, we are off to visit our beloved Aunt Laura.  Mischief has been asking about visiting Aunt Laura's house.  I respond, "Not today, but some day."  And she says to me, "But I want to go now, not when I'm bigger, when I'm small!  I don't want to wait until I'm bigger!"  She may have been told she has to wait until she is bigger on some things.

Therefore, we are off to Aunt Laura's tomorrow!  Look for a post with pictures of whatever crazy things we come up with to do with the kids tomorrow!

Windy Day

As the cats were circling my feet, I got roped into heading off to the store with both kids in tow for cat food, among a few other random things.  Usually, this is not a huge issue, as they are both pretty well behaved in public, but the wind made it a little interesting.

When we got out of the car at the first store, the wind is blowing quite rapidly, and Mischief starts whipping her head around yelling at the wind to get out of her face.  It is an interesting thing to hear from a three year old, "Go on wind, you're bothering me!  Quit putting my hair in my face!"  Her brother, on the other hand, puts his hood up and hides his head.  So as we are headed into the store, I am carrying on child who has his head buried because of the wind and holding the hand of the other one who is yelling at the wind.

When we left the second store we were at, Mischief is holding onto the receipt, laughing maniacally because the wind was blowing it all over the place.  So when I left that store, the one I was carrying was buried and all hunched over laughing at his sister, and his sister was holding my hand laughing hysterically.


All is fun in the wind as long as the rest of the weather is nice.  Take some time to go have fun outside.  Fly a kite, or whatever else suits your fancy.

Pennies for Patients

Leo United Methodist Preschool has begun their "Pennies for Patients" program.  For this program, each of the children are sent home with a little cardboard box bank, and they are to earn/collect money to put in their banks.  After a period of time, they turn their banks in to school for a charity that deals with sick kids.

Mischief comes home with her bank, says she does not feel well, so I need to give her money.  I explained to her that it was for the other children, and she is ok with that.  However, now, when she sees somebody to ask for money (like Grandma), she hangs her head and tells of a sob story about sick children who have to be in the hospital for a really long time and they need money to make them feel better.

Bless her heart, but she does not really understand the connection between the money and the feeling better.  Oh well, it is good for kids to learn to give to others.  

Just remember to appreciate your kids health for what it is! 

Toddler Time

Mischief had Toddler Time this morning where they made tie-dye treats.  They made a tie-dye cupcake, a cookie, and a chocolate sucker with a shamrock stuck in the center of it.  Mischief had a blast as always.  It is so good for her, as it helps develop her creativity, fine motor, and socialization skills.

Of course, when we got home, she wanted to eat something - which is fine.  She started in with her shamrock and part of her sucker.  Then, she put it back in her box for later.  Evidently, the cat (Peyton) decided he, too, wanted a sweet treat.  He left hair on the edge of the box as evidence.  I discovered this when she went to get another bite of her sucker, and I could not find it.  Finally, I found the sucker stick, which had a few bite marks and punctures in it.  So, I am waiting to see who is sick in order to be able to tell who ACTUALLY ate it.  My suspicions are that Peyton knocked it down after dragging it out of the box, and Dodger (the dog) ate it.  We shall see.

March Toddler Time

In the meantime, I have a very unhappy child who no longer has a sucker.  I did not tell her one of the animals ate it, as I do not want her to be mad at them.  I merely told her we would have to look for it after nap.  The trick is, I will not be around after nap, and Daddy is on duty.  Therefore, he can deal with it!

Toy Box

Most children, if they tipped the toy box over on their heads would cry because, if nothing else, the toys falling on top of their head.  My child, however, is not changed by such events.  The nickname, Mayhem, fits him well.  Today, he sat on the edge of the toy box he had pulled into the middle of the living room.  The toy box flipped and smacked him in the head, he fell, and all the toys fell on top of him.  Instead of crying, his response was laughter, as he rolled around with toys on top of him.  Then, he sat up and tossed the toys around in a maniacal manner.

I think his head may be immune to injury...

Baseball

Everybody knows that baseball is America's game.  But, does everybody know that it is also the game of a three year old who has only ever been to a couple of her cousin's little league games? 

Today, Mischief gets out her hat (a pink camo baseball cap), puts it on and convinced her brother to "go baseballing" with her.  She got out a dressy little pink golf hat for him to wear as his baseball hat.  Then, they threw around imaginary balls that she caught with her real baseball glove.  And, they ran the bases - really circles around the living room and kitchen.  She was very excited to "go baseballing."  She also informed me that she was going to play baseball and basketball with the big boys some day.

Oh the dreams of a child... 

Cleaning Day

We have been busy cleaning up the powder from the fire extinguisher.  However, when I was obsessively cleaning the bathroom, I realized that the powder had fallen in the cracks of the tile where the grout needs replaced.  Therefore, I decided I must redo the grout in my bathroom.  This brilliant idea lead to the idea to rip the carpet out of the bathroom and put tile down.  A long story short, we have put up sections of new drywall in the bathroom.  So, evidently, a fire mess in the oven and powder all over the house leads to new drywall in the bathroom.


All the while Daddy was putting up drywall, my daughter, Mischief, was standing at the bathroom door exclaiming, "Daddy, I'm gonna stand here and watch you and listen to you make noise, so I make sure you put up our new wall the right way!"


If you have any house renovation ideas, send them my way!

Cleaning Day

We have continued cleaning up the powder from the highly annoying, house saving fire extinguisher.  Mischief and Mayhem have decided they need to help me dust the furniture and the rest of the house.  So Mischief went and got them both a washcloth to use as a dust rag, and we started in on the living room.  As we were dusting the television stand, Mayhem went into the bathroom and got all of the washcloths out of the drawer and made a "SHSHHSHS" sound to "put cleaner on them" and spread them throughout the house.  He pretty much did his version of cleaning.  All the while, his sister was saying, "Buddy, that's not a good job for you!  It's just a good job for me!  Buddy!!!!!"

I just keep telling myself that I am glad I still have a house and to remember to laugh at what the kids do.  Laughter IS the best medicine.

Stove Shopping

We recently had a little mishap with the stove/oven that involved a fire extinguisher making a huge mess in the house and left us without a stove or oven.  Therefore, we are oven shopping.

I took Mayhem with me to look at a couple of options today, and he certainly has an opinion on which ones he likes and which ones he does not.  Mayhem he did cause!  Every one we looked at, he points and either squeals happily or tells me off about it.  So it seems like we are going to have to make sure we get one that he approves.

If anyone has any opinion on brands of stoves/ovens or stores to deal with, I need any advice you may have.

Tag - You're It!

Today, the kids have been playing/arguing over toys for most of the day, but at least they are doing something together.  Even when they get into trouble, at least it is a group effort.  Nap time came around, and when I was trying to get them ready for bed, they decide to play tag.  I should say, my daughter decided to play tag because her brother does not quite grasp the concept.  He just knows he has to run around squealing and chasing his sister.

When she smacked him and yelled, "Tag, you're it!," I asked her what she was doing.  She replied they were playing tag.  So, then I asked her if Mayhem knew what they were playing, and she says, "Probably not, but I like chasing and smacking him!  He likes it, Mommy!"

Father's Night

Tonight is Father's night at preschool.  My daughter is very excited about taking Daddy to school and showing him her room.  Mainly, she is excited about getting to go to school two times in one day.  

The night has a Hawaiian theme to it, so they are supposed to wear Hawaiian or vacation stuff.  We had a lot of fun picking out her outfit to wear tonight.  However, she is mostly excited about getting to take her socks off, so she can wear her sandals.

I believe spring fever is set in to make her mostly excited about wearing sandals.... you would think she was in college...