I will survive.

Yesterday Dodo noticed the waving of the white flag and came to rescue me. She experienced some of the madness first hand. The Preschooler hooked a hanger to the back of her shirt and attempted to pull her in every direction.
He's been home for four days and the cabin fever was beginning to get the best of us so we were out the door early today. That's almost a miracle.

The Preschooler is at the neighbor's house and the Wild Thing has been entertained by a toy truck for almost an hour. I've boycotted the idea of any more toy vehicles, but the ban may be lifted on the trucks that go by themselves. He even went under the bar stool to keep up with it.
Tonight we're having left over spaghetti and tomorrow will be pizza for supper so we're on the downhill now. I will survive.

Now I'm going to sit down and watch the news. Because I can.

Out numbered, Out witted, Out lasted-Day 1

Stick a fork in me. I'm playing the role of single parent for 5 days and I'm already feeling the effects less than thirty hours into it. There is ketchup on my shirt and throw up on my shorts. The throw up is not from a sick child. That might actually make it better. It's from one who drank a Capris Sun too fast then ran in circles. It landed on my shorts. I'm pretty sure I could go straight to bed and not even notice.
Single moms are my hero! Single moms to multiples must have super powers. They have to.

So far today:
*The Wild Thing pushed a chair to the microwave and cooked the raw hamburger meat that I intended to defrost first.
*He climbed in the bath tub and attempted to give himself a bath. (Not sure how he managed to keep from burning himself).
*The Preschooler trapped the Wild Thing in a rubbermaid tote and then sat on it.
*The Wild Thing pushed a chair to the light switch then turned them off and on, off and on.
*The Wild Thing pushed his ramon noodles to the floor at lunch.
*The Wild Thing started a load of laundry.
*The Preschooler dumped all the toy totes. Twice.
Are you wondering where I was during all this activity? I was right there following up on the first shananigan while the next one began. I think I chased my tail all day. Who knows what I missed when I took *A* bathroom break.
On the positive side,
We ran errands and both behaved PERFECTLY! I rewarded them with candy treats, although I'm pretty sure that's when my punishment began.
I got hugs and kisses.
The Preschooler made it all night AGAIN without going to the bathroom in a pull up..wahoo! That's big time news in this house.
Now it's my bedtime and I'm laughing at this day's recap.
I'd do it all over again, but I'd also bet sleep comes easy tonight.

A Few of My Favorite Things.

This hand held steam cleaner was advertised in last week's Tuesday Morning ad so I decided to give it a try. I love my Shark steam cleaner so I thought a hand held one would be good for cleaning around the house..
I cleaned the shower with it, but I wasn't sold on it until tonight.
After cleaning out my car, I decided to try it out on the car mats. It's a miracle worker!
I thought I was going to have to cut a gummy candy from the mat, but the steamer dissipated it with ease. That's when I knew it was here to stay! This steamer is a must have for anyone who caters to pets or kids!
There are a few cons that should be mentioned.
*The cord could be longer.
*The steamer must cool down before water can be added. I watched water spew from the top by not allowing the machine to cool first. This could be dangerous if you were positioned right above the machine and it wasn't cool.
*The water reservoir is small.
*The brushes are small and round. Good for tight spaces, but not the best for larger areas.

The ped egg.

I have tried every gadget known to man for dry, calloused heels and none have worked until the ped egg. I love this thing! My heels are soft after using this and applying lotion. I'm going to be stuffing this in some stockings this year.

Now I'm going to admire the car mats one last time before bed because let's face it. We all know they are going to stay tidy for all of about five minutes and then it's back to life as I know it. At least I have peace of mind sitting on the shelf for when I get a burst of energy to clean them again. Next year.

Good Day Sunshine.

The weather man promised rain for this weekend and I'm holding him to it. It's HOT. Crazy hot. You can fry up an egg on the street kind of hot. Then he went on to say we would have temperatures in the 80's next week. I can now see a light at the end of the tunnel. I can endure the extreme temperatures for a few more days so long as the weather man keeps his promises.

Let's look at the bright side of the heat.

The five year old learned to swim during swimming lessons. There was growing concern after day one when he lost his noodle privileges for slapping the water. Twice.. after being told to stop. OOPS. Sometimes the temptation is just too much to bear.
Day two: He's demoted to another class for his fear of swimming alone and clinging to the teacher.
Day three: He lost his slide privileges by another teacher for going down before it was his time. I suppose he was mixing in a little fun, but we're pretty sure he's out of the running for teacher's pet.
Day four: He's getting it.
Day Five: After working with his dad at home, HE GOT IT!
We have one lesson left this week.
I don't think he understood what the Commander meant as he explained the part about turning your head to take a breath. Now he shakes his head no when he swims. "It's what my dad does".

While the 5 year old is finding new ways to swim or get in trouble, the Wild Thing has been keeping busy in the kiddie pool. He takes large steps thinking it's going to get deeper at any minute. He's also a supporter of the kids who run under the water mushroom. He gives each one a hearty round of applause.




Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Shop Hard and Shop Early.

That's just what we did today. One kid skipped his morning nap while the other had to walk all day next to the stroller.
The Preschooler picked out his shoes for the first time. I tried to persuade him for others, but he was dead set on his decision.
After four stops for his size, he's now the proud owner of these bad boys.

I'm not a fan of the twinkle toes, but he loves them so all is good.
Since the store was having a buy one pair, get one 1/2 off sale, the Wild Thing scored a pair of new Nike tennis shoes. He needed them. His little foot is growing faster than his shoe supply.
Then we headed to Sonic's happy hour because the Preschooler wanted a grape slush.
This is what he was doing when it arrived.

So the slush is in the freezer and the kids are sleeping the late afternoon away.

At the suggestion of Monkey Boy's mom, guess what I'm going to do..
Are you ready for this?
I'm going to order our Christmas cards and when they arrive I'm going to stuff them, address them, and stamp them.
Go ahead.
Make fun.
BUT..you know you'll think of us in a few months when all the hustle and bustle starts.
I love, love, love holiday cards and I want to see each one of yours so feel free to post them on the blogs or even better address one for me. :)

UPDATE: Turns out the Preschooler's shoe purchase has provided a night of entertainment for both of us. He informed me that he "loved sketchers". I've enjoyed watching him stomp, not walk, through the living room to create a light show. Too funny.

I'm back.

Has it been this long since I've posted an update? Wow! Time flies.
We enjoyed a long weekend sans kids in beautiful downtown Hot Springs. I had my first experience eating at the famous Mclard's.
I'll admit these tamales were a little heavy for the 107 degree temps outside, so I only dabbled in them, but they were oh.so.good!

It was fun to look at the pictures of President Clinton's visits and all the features in Southern Living. I'll be having a sandwich the next time we go back to Hot Springs. Everything looked so good! You can't wrong with anything on the menu when they are listed on Southern Livings 40 things every Southerner Ought to do list. Our vacations might have to be planned around this list for the next few years. :)
We also frolicked in the Hot Springs. I love how you can bring jugs and fill them up at the spigot station. The water was HOT and it made my hands feel so soft like I had just applied lotion. I needed to soak my feet for a few days. ;)
Since it was OH SO HOT we tried to stay inside the restaurants and enjoy cold beverages with some friends. It was a nice little weekend get away. I'm ready to go back during racing season.
I'm pretty sure we each brought home a few extra pounds than we left with so it's turkey bacon for breakfast. Have a good week and STAY COOL! I don't get along with these extremely hot temperatures!

What's going on? The terrible, terrific, trying twos?

We're raising a strong willed child. My parents are smiling. They've said it's not fair for me to have a Preschooler who walks the straight and narrow. You pay for your raisin'. It's an unwritten rule.
Well, I'm now being challenged.
My Wild Thing is giving me a run for my money. He is a child after my own heart.
He.is.strong!



Our trip to Sams this week:
He wanted a drink. Now. Right that second. He was pointing, shouting, and thrashing while we were 3rd in line at the drink station. It was a Saturday at Sams! The drink station is a busy place and the Wild Thing has no patience or understanding of such things. He got his drink. Then he wanted to exert his independence and hold it without my help. As a result of our struggle over the SAMS sized drink, IT WENT EVERYWHERE! The Sams employee was annoyed, but not as much as me!

He ran a HIGH fever last week and started waking up at night. He wanted to be rocked so I obliged. He.was.sick! This has carried over to this week. Now he just wants to be rocked, but the sympathy and lack of sleep has run its course. Last night I made him cry it out over 2 hours! I pulled a Super Nanny tactic and walked in the room, gave him his paci, layed him back down, and walked out without saying a word. From what I remember this went on three different times during the two hours. HE CRIED, SCREAMED, THRASHED, AND CARRIED ON NONSTOP! I felt evil. My babysitter assured me that I did the right thing.

He loves this chair, but I'd like to call Fisher Price and complain.

Yes, I did leave the batteries in it while it was stored in the attic. yes, it has a short in it causing the lamp to not work properly. The Wild Thing doesn't understand this. It makes him mad when the lamp doesn't always light up and I think Fisher Price should witness the fit. Is it unrealistic to have them make their toys a little more mom friendly. Is it too much to ask for toys to be durable enough for batteries to be stored in them for 3 years while in the attic. This is my Christmas request to Fisher Price. REALLY!

He did his usual protest this week as we dropped him off in the nursery. Thankfully the sweet, older lady remembered his previous fits and said "oh, I remember him let me get behind him so he doesn't hit his head." Bless.her.heart. We love her!!!

Is it always a happy day in our house? No. No it's not. Do I still feel blessed and fortunate? Yes. Yes, I do.