Potty Break

It isn’t uncommon for Micah to call for a lunch drop off.
But lately, when we get there, Pippi bats her eyelashes, and asks for Daddy to take her to the potty.
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And like putty in her hands, Daddy grabs her and they take a walk.
I’m pretty sure she does this almost always, to get into his arms.

Christmas Picture ‘16

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With a sick mam behind the camera lens, and a nice Nonnie getting them to look..I think we got our Christmas picture.
Hallelujah!
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And this outtake (although it is blurry) stopped me in my tracks.
Maybe I am biased, but I think my kids are as cute as they get!

Brushing Teeth

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It’s pretty bad when your three oldest have to write sentences about brushing their teeth.

A Biker

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Dash, who is new to a bike, just wanted to inform me that he went down “Disneyland”.
I am sure he didn’t have it right, so I questioned Scout.
Scout confirmed that yes, he went down “Disneyland”.
Later, I went over to make sure that I had the biking route’s names wrong.  Clearly, I had mixed them up.  But in fact, Dash did bomb down “Disneyland” — the very steep, rough terrain, 30 foot long drop that Scout only mastered last year at the age of 8.  Dash, you are seriously crazy!  And I am very glad I only knew about your adventure, post adventure!

Navy’s Back

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Navy always complains of a stiff back.  Like really stiff.  And her complaints are more intense when she first wakes up in the morning.  When she was little, she hit the side railing on her bed really hard, and I have always wondered if that caused some damage.  After a few years of wanting to get it looked at, I finally decided to get an XRay. Who knows what can go wrong under the skin’s surface, and I didn’t want to be too lackadaisical.  She was actually a little nervous walking in.  I assured her that it was simple, and about 10 minutes later she told me it was easy.  I was glad when Carruthy called with the good news of everything being perfectly fine.
I guess my little girl just wakes up stiff.
I don’t know what that is like, but I certainly have lived with someone for 10 years who stretches every single day from stiffness.
Glad we cleared that up.

Sour Puss

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I’m not sure why Pippi has a long face.
Is it because I brought her the yogurt that she really wanted into Cheesecake Factory before ordering her favorite pasta?

Outfit Selection

December crept up on me, and I haven’t taken any sort of Christmas picture.  So a few days ago, I got on Amazon and ordered a flag.  As it’s on its way, I am going through the kid’s clothes to see what they can wear.  This would all be simple stuff, but have I mentioned that I have the worst case of Strep Throat I have ever had?  Swollen lymph nodes where I can barely move my neck, or walk on my feet.  I am talking pain!
But life moves on with or without you, so I figured it is time to get these outfits right.
Navy, Dash and Pippi were simple.  But for some reason, I was struggling with Scout.  So I ran to the mall today to pick up a few more options.  Upon the crushing news that he would have to try a few things on, I informed him that the quicker the better — for all of us who wanted to be doing something else — like lay in their bed!
I think it was evident how awful I was feeling, so Scout took it upon himself to lighten the mood.
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And by the end of him trying everything on, I was almost crying I was laughing so hard at his mock modeling.
I don’t think anyone could manufacture dorkier expressions if they tried!
Scout is funny.
And the older he gets, the funnier I think he is.
And today, I was so happy for his sense of humor.

More Corner Time

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Poor Pips, with the luscious locks, is getting well acquainted with the corner these days.
I only wish I had used the corner on my other kids.
But time-out seemed to work for them, so I didn’t have to have a plan B.

Candy Dish

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One of my favorite Christmas decorations, is our snowman.  He sits at our front door, and is holding a bowl that I fill with Christmas treats.  But unfortunately, I haven’t filled it all that much, because my young kids went to town, once they caught wind of the Candy dish.  (Sidenote: I have always been in awe of people who have candy dishes sitting out in their houses.  Talk about self restraint!)
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This year, I decided to fill the candy dish with some mint truffle Hershey’s Kisses.  Day one, everything seemed good.
Day two, still good.
Day three, I walked in our front door, and saw that dish at 25 percent full.
Either we have had a lot of guests over in the last 24 hours….or my rascally three year old discovered the chocolate.
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My first clue — these wrappers were right behind the snowman.
I think I’m on to something.

The List

My kids were so awful last night, that Micah forbade them from suing my services today.  They had to get up on their own for school, get themselves ready, make their own lunches, and be in the car on time.  I slept in.  While they were at school, I made “the list”.
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They were literally on their own.
Micah demanded that I take the day off, and they were to do everything.
(Notice that Pippi and Dash weren’t included in the list — they had their own mini lists, but they were much more innocent last night.)
When the kids got home, they got their list, and nothing else.
They had homework, cleaning jobs, piano, the laundry, their dinner, and cleaning the house at night.
They were basically doing my jobs.  I assigned them to do the laundry together for a little team building exercise.
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At the end of the night, they got an A+ on their work.  They did everything, and they did it well.  The house was spotless as they went to bed.
When they came to give me a kiss goodnight, they said they wanted to tell me something.  I just knew they were going to tell me how insightful and hard their day was.  So when “Mom, it’s fun to be you, we want lists every day”, I shuttered!
Forget that!
I already have enough to do.
I’m certainly not adding “type out a list of what the kids need to do” to my list!