Mommy needs a time out

The calendar says he is 23 months but his attitude says the terrible twos have arrived with a vengeance! Oh my is it a rocky ride right now. I called my sister to be pulled off the ceiling last night and get some "mom of boys" advice. I got the standard, "he's a boy" followed by some practical tips I already knew but was just too tired to think of on my own.

Remember that paci I was worried about removing? Well, he officially bit the nipple off today and ended his little relationship with it. It is currently bedtime and things are not going well. I am blogging in my pj's to prevent me from getting into the van and going after a new one! I know it is time to get rid of it but I also know we are dealing with so many behavioral issues that this was one battle I was okay with tackling at a later date.

Ty isn't my only child rebelling right now. Another little person in my house would like to be boss and has found herself grounded once again to her room and away from friends. Oh the joy. Smart parents shouldn't ground children to their rooms. We should ground them out of the house to maintain peace! Sigh.

Day of Rest?

Praise the Lord for beautiful weather! It was gorgeous here today and we took advantage of the cooler temperatures by cleaning out all the landscape rocks, dead shrubs and removing the old swing. It was hard work but so rewarding! Greg has started the retaining wall with the left over pieces from the fire pit. Once that is complete, we will relocate the existing bushes, replace the dead ones and fill in with top soil before finishing this little endeavor with new weed blocker and landscape rock. The old rock went under the trampoline to help hold the weed barrier in place. We've gone with a permanent arrangement for the trampoline to prevent having to move it every time Greg mows the yard. That little project will be wrapped up with landscape timbers soon. Whew!

Once we trimmed the bushes, we discovered they were dying from the inside and were in pretty bad shape.

Retaining wall has been started......that process will be time consuming but we hope the ease of maintaining the landscape boundaries will be worthwhile in the end.

All the recycled rock being put to good use.....the landscape timber will improve the look of this section.

Good-bye old friend! I enjoyed more hours than I can recall relaxing on you!

Isn't it pretty?

VBS wrap-up

Kate loved her week at our neighborhood vacation bible school. She came home ready for a nap each day and went to bed quite easily each night in anticipation of her next VBS day. She made a new "best friend" who is "practically a cousin" because Ava is Cameron's cousin. This is southern Indiana so it may count! It seems everyone is related in these parts! Any ol way, our little cowgirl enjoyed dancing and singing her VBS songs on stage this evening for all of us and wishes she didn't have to wait a whole year to go back.

She came home after the first day noting a "need" for cowgirl boots and a hat. We were blessed by hand me down boots in brown and hot pink but had to find the hat in our local general store. She may have started a trend as her older sisters are now on the hunt for cowgirl boots too!

One Cute Cowgirl!

The boys!

Cameron....

Colby.....

Ty....

Progress has been made on the "hands are not for hitting" front. Cameron is very curious and is not easily deterred. If Ty is playing with a toy, Cameron has to see how that works and needs to take it away from him. Ty typically will smack me in frustration with the babies, which is still better than smacking one of the babies, but I of course correct that reaction and try to put his frustration into words while attempting to distract the determined Cameron. Yesterday, after moving three times to get away from him, Ty finally came to me and said, "Mommy. Baby. Night-night.". Cameron was placed in the bouncy seat for safe keeping and Ty was hugged.

"I help"

A busy week!

The tooth fairy came.

Erin said good bye to her favorite teachers....

and can't believe she won't see them in the building next year.

We celebrated a school year completed.

A firetruck visited our neighborhood to collect for charity. It was "loud".

And we played until our feet were too dirty to do anything but be bathed, where we now "cook" and "wash" toy dishes.

We relaxed

and played with friends

and started yoga? I have no idea what this really is but Colby does it all the time!

The Tooth Fairy is Visiting tonight!

Kate lost her first tooth this morning! We recently read the really cute Junie B. Jones book about the tooth fairy and Kate is looking forward to adding to the fairy's tooth collection (and hoping to make a buck!).I have assured her that teeth in baggies are easier for the fairy to find and carry....a few too many nights desperately seeking teeth for this fairy! By the fourth, you wise up!

Greg and I completed a lot of tasks around the house this weekend. And Ty, well, he "helped". He was covered in paint more than once! Oh boy is he fun!
Pam and Ken visited us yesterday and treated us to dinner at Cracker Barrel. Ty kept staring at the mounted deer head over the fireplace and finally pointed to it and declared it was "stuck"!We had a great time with them and hope to see them again soon. Kate just adores Ken and has been his buddy since our boating trip with them three years ago.

Even after a bath, some of that paint remained on his legs! Our ceilings are finished and the patio furniture has been repainted. The laundry, kitchen, dining, living, hallway and Ty's room have had the trim painted. At that point, my back insisted we STOP! I spruced up some little items in the landscape and ordered my new porch swing since my old one is literally falling apart. It took Greg awhile to convince me we couldn't salvage my swing. Greg's parents gave it to me just after we bought our first house together. Obviously, I am a little sentimental about letting it go. It is my favorite place to relax but the new bright white swing will look quite nice in its place.

Ty broke out with his second cold sore this month. It is healing quickly but revealed he is not responding to preventative treatment. We are disappointed but have decided to pull him off the medication. We've completed three of the six months and are still having outbreaks. His belly was frequently upset on the medicine and it affected his appetite so it was with mixed emotions we made this decision. We pray his body eventually builds the antibodies necessary to fight this virus on its own. Until then, we know we need to eliminate his beloved paci and hope to see noted improvement once he is no longer teething. Still having a lot of things in his mouth certainly doesn't help prevent outbreaks.

We had a beautiful weekend as a family and enjoyed friends too. Memories of those we've lost were also in our hearts as was gratitude for the sacrifice made by our American soldiers.  Happy Memorial Day.

When I stew....

I am not connecting with God as I should and I clean and paint and rearrange and plan projects and buy paint and make honey do lists that make my husband crazy, almost as crazy as when I tackle said projects on my own because he is busy and I am stewing. Sigh. He loves me anyway. Praise God. The last few weeks I have been working through a decision I knew I had to make but didn't want to because I knew it would disappoint someone else. I am a people pleaser and I know better. Greg literally reminded me that I have read Boundaries and need the refresher because when I spend my time pleasing others and not connecting with God, I am not pleasing Him. A new friend gently reminded me of this as well. I love honest friends and count them among my greatest blessings. So, prior to the reminder, I started painting base boards and window sills. I cleaned ceiling fans and planned to paint the ceilings (purchasing paint of course). I vacuumed walls.....yes, you read that right. Polished bathroom fixtures and cleaned the oven. There's more but you get the idea. I uncovered a lot of hidden dirt!

Makenna helped with the baseboards and the babies this week so I took her along to the local farmer's market where I planned to stock up on weekly produce. It was a fun way to spend the morning with Makenna but I have to say the price point of supporting local farmers surprised me. $4 head of lettuce? It was good but it was a one time special around here! It went nicely with our $4 strawberries and $5 loaf of bread......yikes. Meijer will not be losing my business at those prices.

Honeysuckle lines our property and the kids indulged in sweetness this afternoon.

Kate surprised me today by asking how many packages of pop-tarts were left in the box. This is important because I only buy one box at Sam's every couple of months and they all want to make sure they are getting their fair share! I told her there were four packages left and she quickly let me know that there are two pop-tarts in each package so there were eight total! I was excited as I told her she just did multiplication. She had no idea what that was and I assure you she didn't see it in her kindergarten math book this year!

Ty was in a mood that was going to all too quickly land him in bed for a nap! Exasperated, I asked him why he was so bad and Kate simply said, "probably because he lives around all of us"! Out of the mouth of babes.

Crying Wolf!

I spent the night with five nervous kids in the bathroom last night, again. I so dearly wish the media would revisit the fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf because this is getting a little crazy! Tornado warnings mean that a tornado has been spotted, does it not? That's the way it used to be but now we listen to sirens for 45 minutes for a VERY MINOR THUNDERSTORM. Ugh. I am afraid that after too many of these false alarms most of us will decide to ignore warnings and find ourselves in the same situation as those poor people in Joplin. Praying for them and counting my blessings...just tired. Bathrooms are not comfortable places to sleep.

On a side note, my beautiful son has decided that potty training isn't his thing right now. No pressure but I was hoping to be at the end of my diaper buying days in the next couple of months. Oh well. He also really likes his paci. A LOT. We were weaning him to just bed and nap time however the little boys spending their days here like theirs and my little guy appears to be dealing with a little jealousy. I am trying to keep perspective. It does seem highly unlikely he will take his diapers and paci to high school.....

On the other hand, he is quick and smart and misses nothing. Last night he was playing in the landscape rocks. I was okay with him moving them from one bed to another. I was okay with him using Greg's oil change funnel to sort them (Greg was not okay with that....sorry honey, I am used to a dirty boy at the end of the day, what's a little oil debris going to hurt?) but I drew the line when he was throwing fistfuls into the yard. When I told him to stop, he said "can't hear you"! Playtime was interrupted with a time out and I believe he heard me then! This is just one more area where having teens and toddlers in the same house creates little issues. Lauren covers her ears and says she can't hear me when she is playing around. What is cute for a 14 year old is not so cute coming from a 22 month old! God must really be laughing at me! Teenage girls and a toddler boy....at the same time! Really? It's a ride.

We discovered our large decorative window is broken last night. Just one more repair and likely one more series of contractors who will not show up and do the job! We've had multiple appointments with people who just simply do not show up but again, I am grateful to be an at home mom who is here anyway. I can't imagine being a working mom who has to miss work to meet these guys and then have them stand me up. That would not go over well for a "non-local" like me. The nonchalant, laid back, we'll get around to it when we get around to it mentality is something I can't wrap my head around. I am so much more the, "let's get through this list and be done" personality. But then, you probably already knew that! 

Lauren's New Do!

 Lauren had a significant amount of hair cut off on Friday......

And she loves the results.