MEAN IS HOW I PLAY THE GAME

April Fool's Day is the bomb. We recently made the brave decision of embracing dog #2. (She is MoJo's daughter and she is adorable). The kids all wrote and signed contracts stating that they would take care of the dog completely in every way. They are doing so so at keeping up their end of the bargain. Even so, I had some fun today. Cookie really is cute.

Brag.... if I must

I was upstairs this afternoon cleaning and I heard magic downstairs. Bryson and Addy were singing and playing instruments together. They have many things to do in their pastime today, for it is Saturday. Not a tv or computer or radio was on(or an x-box or wii). What a beautiful sound for a mother to hear. Bryson even let me take a short clip of him, that is I must say, a rare occasion.

(This is so funny. Carson is hiding over there behind the chair eating a whole pack of gum. You see his back? When he can't see us, we can't see him.)
Addy wont miss a minute to shine so here she is too. I cut off the end of her song, the 2nd time, but she just wouldn't stop singing:) No, really is was an accident.

I love ya kids!!

Lizard Heads are the bomb

So, we had a good time making lizard heads. Thank goodness these boys help me learn what I need to on this earth. Where would I be without the love they continue to give so willingly?

Cole assured me that his nerdiness was cute.

Not what I ordered

At what age do we realize that socks do not magically appear in the sock drawer? It has been a rough morning and I don't remember choosing this life for myself. I know these days only pop up once in a while, so I am grateful for such great kids and great days every other day. But, today, in a round about way, I called my child a dweeb and I need to be taken to counseling. This morning Addy was being great so rahh to her.
Bryson and Cole have been making these dumb, folded, paper, chomper things and I hate them. This is how the bad started:
Me: Bryson, why are you not dressed?
Bryson: I can't find any black socks.
(All 4 kids wear black socks everyday, so that's at least 30 black socks that need to washed and folded and put away a week, counting Randy's and my own.)
Me: Did you wash your clothes this week? (Bry and twins are doing their own laundry-kinda, well not really at all.)
Bryson: Ya, but there are not any clean black socks.
Cole jumps in: We can only find girl black socks.
(To make things easier, we have all uniform clothes in the guest bedroom including all of the kids black socks in 1 drawer. Come on--that's simple right?)
Bryson: I don't know why I can't find any boys black socks.
Me: (As I was loosing it, maybe just a soft yell.) Do ya think the Magic Sock Fairy forgot to put the socks away?
Bryson: Mom, I don't know where to find them and anyway, Cole and Corah wanted me to fold these guys for them.

Me: (Counting slowly to 10 in my head) Bryson, please get some socks in the clothes basket in the laundry room and get your stuff in the car.
We all got in the car to leave and somehow 5 thousand of these dumb chomper guys got in too.
They are so adorable. I got these out of the trash. The other 92 of them were too crumpled up from last night. And, the really good ones, with teeth and eyes and tongues and wings got taken to school. So, I am trying to be grateful that these are simple, harmless joys for kids and they are just being creative and cute. But, I couldn't contain myself any longer when Bryson started chomping them in my face while I was driving. He just had to make these weird loud screeching noises for me to loose it.
I am such a bad mom because I didn't think before I spoke.
Me: Bryson, stop that!!
Bryson: eeeerrrrwwcccccc
Me: Bryson, only dweebs made those kinds of things when I was in school.
(I don't even say the word dweeb, in fact, I don't think I have ever said that word.)
There was a pause.
Corah in the back with her nice sweet voice: Mom that wasn't very nice.
Bryson: Mom, my friends know me and they like them. They make them too. Anyway, I don't care if they call me that.
I stuck my foot in my mouth and softly said, "Bye. Have a good day. I love you all."
So, now I am home and realize that I do not deserve the kids I have. Should I really not care so much if they are not doing their laundry?
I will love and kiss them all when they get home and I guess I will just have to fold dumb chomper guys too.........Such a wonderful life if my worries are socks and chomper guys!!!
(Corah corrected me--the paper things are not chomper guys, they are lizard heads...duh)

When we look for the good, we see the best

In lieu of my recent discovery, that I need help mothering sweet little Addy, I have learned that I can see the princess in her when I try. When we look for beautiful flowers, we see endless gardens. I am not cured, I still need daily help, but thanks for the good advice friends. I have learned that I DO have more patience. The Lord loves us and has given us wonderful determined spirits because he trusts us. Les Clawson said it best, "Just remember, one day your kids will be adults and you will look up to them and admire them more than you know. Treat them like adults now and they will be your examples in years to come." Thanks Dad. Addy and I had a great week being patient with each other. I spoke to her calmly and in more detail. I do love my crazy little Patters.

Addy came downstairs last night and said, "Mom and Dad, I got your bed all ready for you, so, just go right upstairs and get in it." I heard her, but didn't really listen. I had no idea what she meant until I went upstairs to our bedroom and saw this:
She turned our lamps on, took out some pillows so we could get in, she gave us each a remote(I don't know where she got 2 or how that would work.) She also chose some wonderful books from our library. "Better Dads, Stronger Sons" and "HELP! Around the House" for me. Thanks Addy.

I DID A BAD THING

I am not repenting but, I would like some advice.

This morning was just another Sunday morning:
Me and kids rushing around getting ready for church, getting suits on, curling hair, grabbing scriptures, eating breakfast, brushing teeth, getting Carson necessities, getting calling folders and hoping to be there before 9:00am. If we are lucky, we find dad there saving us a seat. (Sometimes we are blessed enough to get in him in our ward.) Anyway, things were great, it was 8:30am and we were all ready except for our lovely Addy. Addy is 6. She is our most extreme. There is no middle ground anywhere. I really do love her to death, don't get me wrong. This morning was like most, Addy didn't want to wake up, so, I assisted her. (Nicely, I might add.) We love "Love and Logic" in this house. (We have loved it for 6 years.) I gave her choices concerning her outfit, her hair due, and her breakfast. She wanted nothing from me so, I chose for her. I put her dress on her that I chose for her and took her in the bathroom and curled her hair while the other 4 children were obediently getting in the car with all of their gear.

All crap hit the fan when I curled one of her curls too tight. She said:
"Why do you curl so bad?" "You should know how to curl, you are a mom." "Why do I have to be in this family?" "You can't make me wear this dress, it's so ugly." "I don't even have on a necklace to match it, so I am taking it off."
She took off her dress and got her curls wet and ran down to her bedroom before I could open my mouth. I didn't want to chase her and say things I would regret......so, what did I do?...........

I LEFT HER!!!!

Please don't call child protective services on me. I thought it might be a good thing in the end.

Well, we got to church and Randy was there saving us a seat. I waited to see if he would notice that a child was missing. He is so smart....he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Where's Addison?" I said, "We had a bad morning and I left her." "WHAT, you left her where? In the car?" "No, at home." He immediately left the chapel on 2 wheels.

He came back 5 min later..we only live 1/5 a mile from the church so it's not that big of a deal. Anyway, Addy came in holding dad's hand with a big smile on her face. She walked past me and whispered in my ear, "I am going to tell the whole church that you left your child at home BY HERSELF."

It wasn't a good thing in the end. If I could only find more patience. I need help.

Please don't judge me if you do not have a determined child. I really thought parenting was easy and wonderful before our 4th. I DID judge others that could not control their children...I guess it is payback time. I would love any advice.