The toys vs. mean mom

In my last blog I meant to talk about the conflict I've been having with toys. My Inner Mean Mom (apparently not so inner) has come out and attacked a couple times the last few weeks, and we're trying to decide how to stop this. See, a few weeks ago the toy room and the family room were a mess with multitudes of toys. I told the kids they had to clean up before dinner, and Caleb looked at me and said "no." Inner mean mom started to rise. I told him I was going to put some of his toys in time out unless he cleaned up. He just said no again. So I told him I was going to get a big bag and everything that wasn't cleaned up was going into the bag for a long time out. He laughed and said no and started running around the room. Inner Mean Mom was not Inner at all any more, and all the toys throughout the house, even the stuffed animals they sleep with were shoved in the guest bedroom. After I calmed down I made a deal with them that they could get a toy out each time they made their beds or helped us or something like that. They were really good about cleaning up after that, and we had guests coming and a play group at my house, so I eventually brought all the toys out (except the toys I decided were D.I. bound). Then on this last Friday the Mean Mom reappeared. This time it was Felicity that said no. It's really the defiance that gets me mad, as long as the toys aren't too chaotic and are all in the toy room out of sight I'm o.k. But when they start acting like teenagers (or two year olds) look out. Anyway, this time I had the kids put the toys on the shelves and then the whole toy room went into time out for a week. I have the door barricaded and everything. They had a few toys up in their rooms and they have their bikes and books and coloring so they're o.k. (they've been pretty creative: Joseph played with a cardboard box last night, and Felicity and Caleb were using books to make tents for their stuffed animals.) So now we're thinking about keeping some toys out and switching every few weeks. They really don't have a huge amount of toys, it all just seems to multiply when it's on the floor. And the bag of 150 balls and bags and wagons with 500 or so mega blocks doesn't help. So that's the situation at my house. The mean mom is still lurking but maybe I can keep her inside for awhile.

toys and dancing and stuff

Yes, it's definately summer, we jumped from 60 and 70 degree days to 90 degree days. Felicity and Caleb have started their communtiy classes. This week and next week they both have a dance class everyday, Felicity's in creative dance. She loves it, but can't wait for ballet next year. Caleb is in an all boys Super Heros dance class. I was hoping maybe it would teach him not to walk into walls and doorways (yeah, we have a little problem with that). This morning he told me that he learned that Super Heros have stinky feet. So maybe he'll have to learn some grace later. Caleb did get a bike for his birthday, it says "Rockit" on it, so whenever it bucks him off or is a little hard to turn he sighs and says "Come on, Rocket, let's go!" We found a trike for Joseph and had to give it to him for his birthday a little early because he kept trying to steal Caleb's bike. Last night for my night off I went to a fabric store that's having a good sale and got material for a quilt for little baby #4. I've finished Joseph's quilt top, but since I've never actually quilted the whole thing together before, I'm not sure when he's going to get an actual blanket. Mom (and Nicki), I might have to come visit with a couple projects in tow. Well, Joseph just walked up and announced that he's poopy, so I better go. Next time I should talk about Joseph's growing vocabulary, he never stops talking now, which is pretty funny.

boys, boys, boys...continued

Soooo...I got my ultrasound today. Felicity was disappointed. She got bored pretty quick after the announcement and tried to walk out. She seems to be coming around, and has already decided we should name the baby "Mark" after one of her friends here (Yup, Julie, that's your Mark). Caleb and Joseph don't seem to care now, but maybe they will when they realize the balance of power is still in their favor. I'm glad, he's a healthy little guy and is a little bigger than average, the due date is October 21st, his size is on schedule for October 12th, but it probably won't change the due date. It is really neat that they can check how many chambers the heart has, if the spinal cord is growing as it needs to, if some of the major arteries have fused together and all of these other things to rule out health problems. He's looking good, and we're excited to have another little guy running, jumping and playing. Even if I do have to sanitize everything, all the time.

boys, boys, boys...

I know I just wrote yesterday, but I want to complain and see if any one else with little boys has the same problems. I'm talking bathroom, so if you're squimish, stop reading now. When I first got married (yes, this was at Deseret Book), I worked with this great lady who told me that with her sons she put a sign above the toilet that said "It's not as long as you think. Stand closer." Caleb has decided he wants to pee like daddy. I thought he was doing so well, and he does most of the time, but saturday I realized that I need to sanitize the floor around the toilet and the toilet seat about every other day. And to make it worse, Joseph who is still getting potty trained, wants to stand up too. The problem is he's short and no amount of toe standing and streching is going to make it. But he is demanding that he stand up. After I tell him about how special his seat is and all that I can usually get him on it, but he has problems with that, too. He's not real good at aiming inside the toilet (I might have to try that bullseye trick with the cheerios), the other day he put his finger in the wrong spot and it was like a hose when you put your finger in front to spray the garden, except it was the rug and walls. Now, don't be scared of going in our bathroom, I use a lot of Lysol (we're working on a year supply) and I steam the tile in the bathroom, and I'm learning to move the rug so I don't have to wash it every other day. But do I have any sympathy out there? Any great ideas? Any other good stories so I know that I'm not alone? This week I'll find out if we're having boy #3 or girl #2. Either would be wonderful, but sometimes I think I can handle the girly-dramatics more than the boy- sanitize-the-world. We'll see.

Needed: A real day of rest

What a week! we finished planting our garden, dropped my mom off at the airport a couple hours before the President of the United States flew in (luckily, we missed all the security and media), went camping, had a birthday party, had visitors from where we lived before and I lost Joseph for 45 minutes. For those of you who know Joseph and how fast he is and how much of a terrible two year old he is (he's not even two yet, but he is the busiest little creature. We do love him alot) will not be suprised at how quickly I became terrified when I found the backyard gate open and not a Joseph in sight. The kids and I searched the house three times, drove the neighborhood, alerted friends and neighbors, and looked all over the place. Finally, I checked the house one more time, and he was fast asleep on our bed, curled up between four or five pillows. It took about two hours for my heart beat to slow down. I'm a little embarassed now, but I did get to meet some neighbors that I hadn't met before. It's wonderful how quick everyone set down whatever they were working on and immediately helped me, what a great neighborhood I live in! Thank you to everyone that helped. And happier topics, Caleb turned four on thursday. For his birthday we got together with Farris' sister and her family. Her little boy, Tennessee (yes, my Virginian friends, they couldn't name a little boy Virginia, so Tennessee was chosen instead. Sorry) was born 8 days after Caleb, so we celebrated together. We went camping on Friday night, then had a birthday party Saturday morning. I made a tractor cake, the pattern says that it's an excavator, but apparently (Farris wants to write to the editors of Familyfun.com) it is a backhoe. Caleb enjoyed it anyway, it was diamantled in about three seconds. After the party, we slept. And cleaned. Then some of our friends from Many Farms, AZ came by, they were dropping their daughter off for school, so we had a nice catching up session with them and they took off this morning for the long drive home. Whew, this weekend has been busy, I'm glad it's sunday. If you can call working in the primary a day of rest, anyway.