Doorman

We found a visitor sunning itself on the prickly bush right outside our front door.

We opted to leave through the garage for our walk so as not to disturb our guest.

First Food

After yesterday's post Bryan reminded me that he recorded a movie of Topher eating rice cereal for the first time, so now you can see his full reaction. Bonus, you get to hear Peter's low voice. He's sailed past the voice change landmark of sounding like his mom, onto sounding more like his dad.



I'm thankful for technology that makes it possible to share this moment and to watch it again and again.

Gross Fun

These three tried Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans on Saturday.

Some were good.

Some were not.

I'm thankful for fun activities that will (hopefully) become fun memories.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

On Friday I noticed that one of my tomato plants didn't look well. Upon closer examination, I found that something had been snacking on the tomatoes.

I looked even closer and found the culprit, or rather, culprits. There are at least three tomato worms in this picture, can you find them? They're green, nearly the same color as the leaves, and they have white stripes on their backs. I was trying to get a picture of the nearest, blurry one. It wasn't until I looked at the pictures tonight that I saw I had digitally captured the others as well.

Even after I saw it, I didn't know what it was. I was amused that our garden was so adored by the little creatures. I mentioned it to Bryan and he knew what they were right away. He also knew that they kill tomato plants.

Oh.

So on Saturday, after some research, I decided to do my part to save the garden. I went outside armed with a bowl of hot soapy water and a pair of sturdy tongs. My aim was to pull the critters off and drop them into the water. Peter was appalled and kept saying things like, "Okay, if you want that on your conscience." I was determined to remove as many as I could find.

It was awful.

Those suckers have a tight grasp. And when they are squeezed too tightly with a sturdy pair of tongs, they ooze green liquid.

See? Awful.

I don't think I got them all, but I got all I could find. Pesky bugs...

Nature's Washcloth

The kids started their very short Spring Break today after school, Our district decided that a four-day weekend was sufficient, so that's all we've got. I'm trying to maximize the time we have, so this afternoon the kids and I hit the park before coming home to watch Studio C sketches until long past bedtime. On the ride home Peter was handing out baby wipes for everyone to wash their hands. That prompted Sophie to announce, "Mom, I washed my hands...with my tongue."

Love You In Spite of...

Phoebe repeatedly complained today about the way her brothers smell. Apparently she just realized they are sometimes an odoriferous group of humans. As the sister to three brothers, I've had this knowledge for many years. Although she returned to the topic several times throughout the day, my favorite happened this afternoon.

Phoebe: Mom, the boys smell so bad! I really think we should spend more time outside.

Me: Why? To get away from the smell?

Phoebe: Yes! It smells so bad in here. Why does Peter stink? (pause) How old will I be when Peter's your age?

Me: When Peter is 35 you'll be 30.

Phoebe: (now in a weepy voice) I'll miss Peter so much!

Me: Why? Where is he going?

Phoebe: (sniffling) I don't know.  He might be married. And I'll miss him! But we should really get out of this house, because it stinks!

Mouse Trap

This is our magical mouse trap. It was totally worth the $40 we paid for it on Amazon. That red light tells us when it needs to be emptied. When we see it flash, all we have to do is carefully pick up the box, dump it into the trash, and turn the light off.

In other news, our mouse death toll is up to ten.

Sometimes You Just Have to Express Yourself Through Song

Sung to the tune of Camptown Races:

On the counters, near the walls, do da do da.
Will they scurry down the halls? Oh the do da day.

Gonna catch some mice
Think they're worse than lice
Dealt with them in other homes,
This time makes it thrice.

Cleaned the kitchen, scrubbed the floor, do da do da
Yet they still come back for more. Oh the do da day.

So far we've caught one.
No, it wasn't fun.
Won't cook at home until they leave.
When will this be done?

There, that feels better.

Gotta Go

I haven't chronicled the potty training process with Phoebe the way I did with the boys. Perhaps it's because we never really labeled it. Before school started last year she asked if she could stop wearing diapers. I said yes, but waited until the boys were in school so I could focus my attention on her a little more. She got to pick out princess underwear (of course); she stays dry almost every night, and she is dry most days as well. She's had lots of success.

Mostly.

We've come to a problem recently. She refuses to use the bathroom. She swears up and down that she doesn't need to go, that she can hold it. And really she can hold it for many hours. But she thinks that being potty trained means you can hold it indefinitely. I can't seem to be able to convince her otherwise.

Everyday I remind her that she needs to go and each day she says she doesn't. I've also tried the tactic of not saying anything and letting her figure it out herself. Did I mention that I've cleaned up two accidents today? Yeah, that's not working too well either.

Phoebe is a strong willed girl, which will serve her well if she channels it the right way. But I'm afraid that this is not a good use of that character trait.

Iron Chef

Last week I posted a clip of Phoebe making her own lunch. This desire for independence is something we've been encouraging. See, most of the time, our children want us to do everything for them. And though it might not seem very kind, we don't really want to. This comic illustrates the issue pretty well.

I've tried, but can't find the original source. The picture says it came from nickmom.com, so let's give them the credit, shall we?

This morning I heard Cooper up and about, but I decided to be all crazy and shower before checking to see what he was doing. Sometimes I do that. And Bryan hadn't left for work yet, so there was still parental supervision. When I got out I asked what Cooper was up to. Bryan reported that he was downstairs getting food.

Cooper is our only child that will do this. Peter and Phoebe are both afraid of being alone on a different level of the house. Phoebe will come into our room to tell us she needs food. Peter will wake up one or both of his siblings and lead the whole troupe downstairs, waking us up during the noisy parade. But Cooper isn't bothered by being by himself. He might be the closest thing to an introvert we've produced.

It only took a few minutes for Phoebe and Peter to emerge from their rooms. I escorted them down the stairs to help with the breakfast routine. That's when we saw what Cooper had decided to eat for breakfast.

We was eating a bowl of Cheese-Its. In milk.

Just as my brain was registering his morning meal, I realized that he had also almost finished making his lunch. I made lunch for the boys during the first week; since then I've been letting the boys decide what to take. I still give guidelines (they need produce and a protein and no more than one treat tops), but they do the building. Cooper had packed his bag and was finishing up his sandwich. What did he make for today?

An applesauce and soy nut butter sandwich. And he had used one of the fancy, single-serving packages of applesauce to make it. I stifled a squeal of exasperation. I'm working on letting go of the little stuff. And using that for his sandwich wasn't the end of the world, right? Besides, he had a look of true accomplishment on his face when he said, "Look Mom! I made my own sandwich!"

A few minutes later I asked if he was done with his breakfast. "No, I'm still hungry. But (pointing to his bowl of soggy Cheese-Its) I'm not eating that. (Sounding a little surprised) It's super gross."

Unfortunately when I asked him after school about his sandwich, it received a similar review. So the meal choices weren't winners, but hooray that he served himself.

The Creature From the Black Lagoon

Just in case you ever move into a house that has a jetted tub, make sure you run the jets before you get in. That way, if scores of black specks come spewing out you won't be sitting in the middle of it.

It was gross.

Until last night I didn't understand the beauty of having a shower that is separate from your bathtub. Now I get it. And boy, was I thankful for it.

Bryan spent a chunk of time today trying to flush out the jets. I'm not sure that we'll be able to get them completely clean. It kind of looks like they've never been cleaned out before.

Here's to showers!

Mickey They Are Not

Tonight I had the job of going to the grocery store after the kids were in bed and buying mouse traps.

Because the mice are back.

If you need me, I'll be deep cleaning, well, everything.

Is This Boy Logic or Five-Year-Old Logic?

Peter: (after taking a big swig of pear juice) Mom, did you know I backwash into everything?

Me: (wondering if I heard correctly) Um, why?

Peter: Because that way everyone will know it's mine.

Creepy Crawlies

I have a really clean kitchen. I'm not bragging about my mad cleaning skills, I'm sharing my shock for how clean it has to be, after what happened this weekend.

On Sunday I walked over to our pantry looking for a snack and noticed something odd on it's ceiling. I couldn't tell if it was food or a tiny bug so I asked Bryan to come take a look. I thought about posting a picture of what it turned out to be, but they were all too gross. It was a dog tick. I shudder just thinking about it. We had already talked about spraying our house for bugs and that discovery solidified our decision. Later that night Bryan was looking underneath the kitchen sink for the poison and found another tick next to some signs that there is a rodent in my house. I am not okay with that.

Monday morning we got up and moved all of the furniture away from the walls and the boys and I ran errands while Bryan sprayed the perimeter of every room with fancy, high-powered bug spray. We went back and picked Bryan up when he was done and found ways to stay occupied away from home while the poison dried. Bryan and I were up until after midnight deep cleaning the kitchen to make sure it was safe for us to eat in there. I even washed all of the appliances that were out on the counter.

I really hate bugs. And uninvited rodents.