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A quick quiz for all of you who are obsessed with my blog (ha!) How well do you really know me? Come on, it's just one question... you can play along!
When I got home from my Bible study today at 8:15 which of the following did I do before sitting down to write this for your entertainment?
A.) Sat down for a quick supper with my family.
B.) Picked up a few things around the house and did basic housework (sweep, dust, etc) to get ready for Mallori's party on Saturday
C.) Unpacked our suitcase from our Hurrication (Gustav)
D.) Sat down confident that everything would be done by 4pm on Saturday and watched Gray's Anatomy.
E.) None of the above
Come on.. guess before you look down!!!
The answer is... C. Yes, honestly! Isn't that sad?!?! That's how it is though. It hasn't been at the top of my priority list. And to tell the truth, I didn't think we had enough clothes to last nearly this long and though we'd be digging through it just to have something to wear a week after we went home!
Here's a list of other things I have to do before Mallori's Carnival Party on Saturday...
- Get organized! I have no idea what I'm going to do where/when!
- Pick up my house! It's not in too bad of shape (now that the suitcase is put up and out of the way...)
- Vacuum the kids rooms.
- Dust.
- Sweep and mop the rest of the floors.
- Pull the weeds out of the walkway.
- Make and ice cupcakes to look like balloons.
- Pick up another pack of hot dog buns from the store.
- Put up dishes.
- Finish washing/drying/putting up clothes. I did make GREAT progress on this tonight.
- Make a quick clean up of the bathrooms: toilets, sinks, mirrors... not in that order!
- Find something for the kids to wear!
- Figure out what I am going to wear...
- Clean out my fridge.
- Go to work all day tomorrow.
- Go to a soccer game first thing Saturday.
- Set up about 9 different carnival games.
- Make goody bags for the kids.
- Get my mom's picture printer.
- Possibly go to homecoming tomorrow night (don't hold your breath on that one!)
- Make Kool-Aid & Pink Lemonade.
- Make Kool-Aid ice cubes so we can make snow cones.
- A million other little things that I will think of between now and then!
Why can't I just do cake and ice cream and be done with it?!?!?!?! I know it will all be worth it though! It's going to make Mallori so happy! She's super excited and that's what it's all about! By the way, a post about her similar to the one about Jace below will be coming soon. I just couldn't get all of this stuff off of my mind right now! Now it's off to bed to rest up for what is sure to be a LONG day tomorrow!!! Night everyone!
Last Thursday, I had a rare opportunity to stay home with Jace during the week. We were playing in his room (yes, I put off cleaning and about 500 other things I needed to do just to sit and play with him). I kept thinking about different aspects of his personality and how much they show even though he is only 3 (almost 4.. AAHH!) So here's a little peak into Jace's personality.....
First, he's so considerate... especially for a 3 year old. They are only supposed to think about themselves. Right? We were playing a song. He was banging on his drum and tambourine (which doubles as a drum and symbols at the same time!) He stops playing and makes me get out his Thomas the Train tent. Why you ask? "because some people don't like our hanging and banging." That translates to in case someone doesn't want to hear me play my drums... He continued to play the rest of the time in his Thomas tent. Then one of Tyler's friends, Travis, came over. Jace wanted to show him his new gun but made Travis come into this room because Daddy didn't like his gun. It's too loud. If he even thinks you may have hurt yourself, he is the first to run over and make sure you are OK. I'm pretty clumsy so I hear "Mommy, are you ok?!?!?" A LOT! You can hear the true concern in his little voice. He also periodically asks if he can give his toys away to the kids who don't have them and prays for those same kids at night. WOW! He truly has a heart for others already!
Second, he's so creative! When we were playing songs in his room, he was making them up. Here's a sample of his songs... "Tooth Fairy please do the thing I tell youuuu; Please like take my teeth out right now." "Sit down Jace; Sit down Mommy; Sit up everyone else there; everyone else there; therrrrreeeeee, therreeeee, therreeee, please" He was about 18 months old when he composed his first song. He would sing(/scream while jumping up and down) "SPIDERS WON'T COME INNNNNNN... SPIDERS WON'T COME INNNN" over and over in the same tune. He did this for a couple of weeks before he forgot about it!
Third, he's particular!! About everything! If you have ever played cars with him, you know this! He won't let you pick what car you want. He pretends to let you but then finds something wrong with every car you pick until you have the one he wants you to have. If he has them lined up, you have to start picking from the end and you end up with the car at the front... EVERY time! It's fun to mess with him though. For example during our little jam session, I got to play the maracas. I thought I'd change things up a bit and held them in the same hand. He stopped playing to show me how to hold them (one in each hand, right side up). So being the wonderful mommy that I am, I put one in each hand, upside down and started playing. He stops again takes them from me and says "No, like this." Then hands them back. We did this a few more times before I got it :) He's patient with you though. He seldom gets aggravated or mad, he just shows you over and over.
He has also bought into the rock star mentality. I asked if I could play the drums for a little while (trying to seize the opportunity to reinforce sharing which he only has a problem with when it comes to his drum). His reply "Singers and players don't have to share." Well, I tried...
There are so many other small aspects I could spend all night talking about it... He has the "it" factor. Girls (of all ages) flock to him. He never meets a stranger. He's easy going and seldom gets upset by anything. He's up for trying new experiences. He hates loud noises. He knows almost all the words to the "Woohoowoohooo song" (All I Want To Do by Sugerland) and sings them without shame.... even the ones about putting make up on. He loves to help, anyone, anytime. I could go on, but thankfully for you, it's bedtime! Until next time....
One Saturday the kids were supposed to be cleaning their room. They started at 8 am. By 11, there was minimal progress made to their rooms and both Tyler and I had completely ran out of patience. It seems like this is a constant battle with these two. They NEVER want to clean up! I know it's normal for kids.. what can you do? Jace is especially frustrating because his excuse is "I can't do it." Those words are not allowed in our house. You can say that you need help to do it but not that you CAN'T. I just don't want the kids to have that type of attitude so we don't even let them say it. Mallori is just stubborn and even when she has the best intentions, she is a girl so she gets distracted. Look at the pictures I drew.. and I need to draw another one.. These clothes are on the floor, let's rearrange my drawer... you all know how it is!
So on this day I had HAD it! I couldn't take it anymore! I should also mention that my children are spoiled rotten and have WAY to many toys which makes it hard to keep them picked up. I tried the tactic my mom tried when we were little a long time ago. She would go through and throw away toys. What we didn't realize was that she was throwing away the cheap, junky toys from McDonald's, etc. When I tried this with Mallori and Jace, they caught on. Jace would say "I don't care.. you can get rid of that.. I don't play with it!" I didn't want to throw away the good ones because that is a LOT of wasted money!!
Ready for the genius plan?? I got two big black trash bags. One for Jace, one for Mallori. I set the kiddos on the couch while I held the bags and explained what would happen in the next few minutes... 1. Any toy, book, car, color, (you get the point) that was left laying on the floor would be put into the bag. 2. The bags would be put up. 3. The only way to get the toys back, would be to keep their rooms clean. For every day their rooms are clean, they could pick out one toy from the bag.
Mallori had one entire bag full, Jace had TWO and a lot of big toys that wouldn't fit so they are just stacked on the floor of our closet in Tyler's bathroom. It has worked great though! Not so much for Mallori, we still have to ask her but it has made the world of difference in Jace! Today I was going to sweep and mop the floors so I asked him what he was going to do. He answer.. "Go clean my room." And he did! He was finished before I was. So he picked out his blocks and played with them while I finished. An added bonus that I didn't think about: Not only are their rooms clean, but they are appreciating toys that they have had for every and just took for granted!
I don't know what I'm going to do when they get all of their toys back and we don't have any more rewards for cleaning... Guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there!
Also, I finally posted pictures from Mallori's soccer games!! If you click on the picture below, it will take you to the album. They didn't have their jersey's for the first game so those are the ones with the yellow shirt thingys.
