Mystery of the climbing baby

Yesterday I left A in the downstairs play area while I went outside to help Roy with some yard work. K was taking a nap and D was supposed to be playing in the same room as A. After a bit, I heard A crying so I went in to check it out. She was upstairs in the kitchen. Naturally I interrogated D. He swears up and down that she was downstairs when he went in to the bathroom and upstairs when he came out. There was no one else to help her. So do I believe D and think that A climbed the stairs herself or do I think D is trying to trick me?

Turns out, he was telling the truth. Today A made it half-way up the stairs before D noticed her. She saw us looking at her, got all excited and promptly tipped over backward off the stairs. Apparently she can climb the stairs aaaannnnnd she can fall down the stairs. Good to know.

Funny Little K (edited to add another)

Last night when I put K to bed I gave her very emphatic instructions to not wake up her sister (they share a room). So when I went in after 10 p.m. to remind K that she was supposed to be sleeping, K proudly told me (in the world's loudest whisper), "I didn't wake up A! I didn't wake buh-buh-baby!" (Buh-buh-baby is one of A's nicknames.) And she was right. Although, it spoke more to A's ability to sleep through noise since K was up there talking to herself, singing and banging things around.

This morning, out of the blue, K announced, "Mow (rhymes with cow) needs a nipple drink."

In the second one she is shhhhhhh-ing and rocking. Mow was promptly put to bed when he was done with his drink.

K is potty trained. FINALLY!!! but she still wears a diaper to bed. Tonight we put her diaper on then watched a movie. She pooped in her diaper. I asked why she pooped in her diaper and not in the potty. She laughed when she replied, "I poop in the potty the polka-dot diaper get wet!" Of course. Silly me.

I was trying to hide

I am babysitting today. I thought maybe I could hide out and talk about the adventures we've been having. But the kids (3 five year olds, 2 two year olds and the baby -- admit it, you're jealous) found me. If you don't hear from me in a few weeks, send reinforcements.

FHE (warning: lots of links!)

Last night we had two other families come over for a combined Family Home Evening. It was a lot of fun. This is the third month we've done this. We usually have it the first Monday of the month, but my kids were sick.
So, anyway, it was our month to host. This means I spent all day cleaning like a mad woman and cooking awesome food. We had Enchiladas with homemade Green Sauce and Cafe Rio style chicken. For dessert I made these Mint Brownies. It was an excellent dinner -- even if I am the one saying it. The brownies though, yeah, special occasion brownies. They are good and super rich. They do take a bit of time and effort though. So if you want a simple mint brownie I suggest making a simple brownie or use a brownie mix then placing Andes mints on top as soon as you remove the brownies from the oven.
Dannelle did a great lesson about the Savior's admonition to Peter to "Feed my Sheep". She had this cute craft where the kids traced their hands then turned the tracing upside down and filled it in with cottonballs to make little hand sheep.
It is alot of fun to get together with our friends every month. It does get at bit crazy when you consider the kids. If you take D out of the equasion there are 5 kids 3 and under. There's another family that usually comes but she just had a baby. That will make it 7 kids 3 and under. D is the far away oldest at 5 - and the biggest.
In other FHE news, I am planning on making a lesson about the prophet Elisha from the Old Testament for my FHE packet group. Anyone have any ideas about Elisha activities. I am thinking I will make a little flip book telling some of the miracles of Elisha. I'm also thinking about making Elisha Go Fish cards. My friend's husband is a great artist and can draw any illustrations I need. What do you think? What would you do to teach your kids about Elisha?

Random Random Randominity

We seem to have broken through the...uh...barrier with K. I think it was the proper combination of reverse psychology ("Don't you dare poop in my potty!") and bribery (Trident Gum). Put those two together and K will do practically anything. Practically. She is just stubborn enough that when you tell her not to do something she will. This could be a big problem later in life....
A is getting two more teeth. She currently has her bottom two middle teeth. Now she is cutting her top two on-either-side-of-the-middle teeth. You know, the teeth between the front middle and canine. I don't know what they are called.
I was at a yard sale this weekend and found SAFETY KIDS!!! Totally 1980's music/dialog discussing safety practices such as "look for a grandma or mother with children" or "always use the buddy system". Man. The memories. Naturally I bought the tapes and coordinating coloring books.
I donated a few things to this same yard sale (it was a fundraiser for the ym/yw in the ward), including a small table and three chairs. This caused no small amount of consternation for D. He clung, screamed, whimpered, grabbed, yelled, cried and just generally carried on. Being the loving, sensitive person I am, I laughed. I know. That sounds so terrible. But he was seriously hilarious. When he had finally calmed down and I could keep a straight face, we talked about how it was just "stuff" and stuff is replaceable. We can't keep all stuff that comes our way or we wouldn't be able to even get out of our house. It was a good talk. Still, if D has a hoarding problem as an adult we will know where it started.
I need a new camera. Mine only takes blurry or over-exposed shots. I have had it for nearly 6 years now. It has had a good life taking literally thousands of pictures. So if you have anything to say about cameras, please please let me know before I buy one.
I went to the store yesterday and totally planned of buying a squirt bottle. I forgot. *sigh*

All this about a squirt bottle?!

So I started to mop the floor today. Stop. I do mop. Occasionally.
Anywaaayy.... I have a swiffer that I like to attach a regular old washcloth to for mopping purposes. I use a squirt bottle to spray the floor and the swiffer/rag combo to wipe it up. Simple.
Let me explain my history with squirt bottles. I have never in my life bought one. I am not opposed to buying a squirt bottle, I just don't "get around to it". So what usually happens is my mom comes, tries to give haircuts with out a squirt bottle, takes pity on our poor bottle-less household and purchases a squirt bottle to leave here for next time. This new bottle lasts for a while and is very hand when it comes Sunday and we comb D's hair. (Really. We only comb his hair once a week. Unless he can't find his hat.) Eventually something happens to the bottle and it disappears or gets eaten or something else mysterious.
This time, Roy threw it away. Sure it had a hole in the bottom so I had to keep it tipped on it's side so as not to leak. Sure we had stopped using it for regular hair combing experiences. So it would seem perfectly logical to throw it away. Except it had a job to do. A once a month (or so...) mopping engagement wherein I would use it again.
And mom isn't due to visit for....uh....well, we don't actually have a visit on the horizion.... And I could buy my own, but I won't. Honestly, I know me. I'll forget at the store. I won't make a special trip. Seriously, I just won't buy one.
So this is silly and dumb, but I really was getting annoyed at Roy for throwing the squirt bottle away. How dare he rock my boat?! Why can't he just leave well enough alone?! Yadda yadda, you know the self talk rant.
Then I realized something: I knew when he threw it away and said NOTHING. So how annoyed can I be? In my mind I thought, "Hey, I still use that." But out loud I said NOTHING. Because....uuuuhhhhh. No reason comes to mind. I guess because it had a hole in it and therefore the garbage was a perfectly reasonable place to put it. However, next time Roy wants to throw away my perfectly good garbage that is still serving a purpose I am definitely saying something.

I was putting on my makeup this morning.

Look what I found:

The one I like.

The one I don't like.

Life is full of never-ending surprises with K around!

*sorry about the blurry pics. my camera and I are in a fight....*

Guess what we did today!

Yes, I scrubbed my couch at 3:30 a.m. --or-- The BOWL son use the BOWL!!!

Saturday was supposed to be a fun day. We got to stay in and watch General Conference. We eat cinnamon rolls and M&M's. We color pictures. Plus it was the Saturday before Easter which means the Easter Bunny comes.
So this year the Easter Bunny had some serious procrastination issues. She didn't go shopping until after the kids were in bed Friday night. Which means the egg filling and hiding didn't end until after midnight. Naturally, I figured that I was just tired when I didn't feel well on Saturday. As the day wore on, this proved to be inaccurate. I was actually SICK. It lasted all day and part of the night. Sunday morning I felt better.
But K started in not feeling well. We figured out just how bad she felt when she vomited all.over.me. Being K, she recovered quickly and was eating noodles within the hour.
Everyone went to bed in peace Sunday night. Then at 2:30 a.m. D started in. All over his bed. He took a bath and decided to watch a movie on the couch. I gave him a bowl and made him promise up one side and down the other that he would use it. He didn't.
Now it is mid morning on Monday and so far everyone seems to be doing well. A is taking a nap. I'm keeping an eye on her.
D says some crazy funny things when he's sick. My favorite last night was when he was getting out of the bath and speaking of his sickness said, "This is horrific!" also, "This is the worstest time I have ever been sick."
Thank goodness this is a short lived illness. If only the laundry would go so fast.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

I remember my mom had this little bunny with a button on the bottom that would play this song. It was in my head pretty much the entire Easter season! I found this and D, K and I watched it at least 5 times singing along at the top of our lungs. Enjoy!

Feeling Queasy

I googled "what's for dinner" and this article was third on the list. I have to say I've had three kids and seen a placenta. The thought of eating it in any form makes me feel absolutely ill. People do some really strange things.

Happy April Fools Day!

I know I said cupcakes, but we had pie instead. It was super good! Even the kids enjoyed it. Plus, as an added bonus the potatoes are colored pink, not by food dye, but by beets. Hooray for extra vitamins and whatever else beets give you. Double hooray for not actually tasting beets! (D heard me telling Roy about the beets. He asked me what a beet was. I said, "Beats me!" Roy and I both laughed more than we should have over such a silly joke. For the rest of the night, D would ask something about beets and either Roy or I would reply "beats me!" The simple things of life...)

D wasn't too sure he wanted dessert when I kept calling it meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy. Then we talked him into having "meatloaf" but he didn't want potatoes. When he saw daddy's dessert though, D was all for everything!

Before dinner, D decided he wanted to call his Grandma B. I didn't realize this until I heard him on the phone. Once he got grandma on the phone he asked her, "Grandma, is your refrigerator running?" It took at least 5 attempts before grandma could even understand him because he was laughing so hard in anticipation of the joke! When she said yes, he told her she'd better go chase it! D has been waiting to use this joke on her for awhile now. Roy told him a story (which he told to me while he kept grandma on the line then told to grandma) about how a couple of Roy's siblings would call the neighbors and use this joke. You know, back in the pre-historic days before caller-id.
D was on a kick tonight. He talked and talked on the phone to grandma and then grandpa (she finally handed him off). He told them his favorite Knock-Knock Jokes:

knock-knock

who's there?

banana

banana who?

banana-banana, knock-knock

who's there?

banana

banana who?

banana-banana, knock-knock

who's there?

*repeat the banana thing as many times as you want, which if you're 5 is at least 50*

orange

orange who?

orange you glad I didn't say banana?

knock-knock

who's there?

interrupting cow

interrupting moo cow who?

Immediately following each joke is uncontrolled laughter. He was really having a great time.

During dinner, Roy told about one April Fool's day when his mom colored some water yellow to look like lemonade so when everyone drank it they were surprised by water. D decided this was a great prank. He had to pause dinner so he could make some "lemonade" to fool daddy and K. Roy was a good sport about it even thought he was in the same room while we made it.

All in all, it was a great evening. Now the girls are both asleep in bed and D is piddling around like the pokey little puppy. I've given him the deadline. We'll see if he gets his stories tonight or not.