Lately...

-Taylor dragged me to his room bursting with excitement. Upon my arrival, beaming with pride he introduced me to his "pantry". Pantry, you say? Yes, pantry. He turned one of his dresser drawers into a feeding frenzy for himself, stocked full of string cheese, nutri grain bars, a can of pink lemonade, and some Easter candy. Good to see his mind is always working on ways to better his lifestyle...

-Once again Liv is using my carpet as a toilet. Just when I am noticing some progress in the potty training dept, I get summoned back to reality by a pile (or two) of poop. The other night we were sitting around watching T.V. as a family. Livvy came running up to Dave with her finger covered in the good stuff. I tell you what- nothing insights a riot like a finger loaded with poo. Kids started screaming and running for diapers and wipes, Dave cleaned up her finger and changed her diaper. Back to our T.V. viewing. Within seconds, a sniff from my nose let me know that all was not right with the world. It still smelled like poop. We couldn't find the source and Dave was sure it was just Livvy's pajama pants. We tossed those into the laundry but still, the smell did not leave. Finally, the answer to our problem came crawling across the room and pulled himself up onto my chair- his little bitty hand covered in poop, but not just any poop, Livvy's poop! Once again the riot began. Dave grabbed Spencer and hauled him over to the sink. I went in search of Livvy's pile o' poop. No wonder the smell was so strong- she had wiped her poop on the carpet right behind my chair! What is up with that child? Dave came back with Spencer and I asked him, "Did you wash his mouth out?" The answer- "No, I didn't see any on his mouth." So then I asked, "Did you smell his mouth?" I just got a dirty look in return. Good times at the Jackson house. In my years of parenting it is becoming clearer to me everyday that certain rites of passage exist, and I'm beginning to wonder if eating your siblings poop is one of them.

- Taylor is off track from school right now so I signed the kids up for swim lessons at the rec center. One day we were leaving the building and (surprise surprise) the kids were a little out of control and not listening. They were running and laughing and I kept asking them to stop. Now, before I continue, please note that the entrance to the rec center is all glass doors and windows. Sara took off in a dead run toward the front doors. A few things happened all in the same moment, 1. I realized that Sara didn't notice the glass, 2. I screamed for her to stop, 3. She slammed face first into the glass wall that was right beside the door. I don't think she has even been more stunned by anything in all her life. I ran over to her and asked her if she was okay. She shook her head yes and then burst into tears- tears that lasted for 10 whole minutes. I picked her up off the ground, scraped her 4-year-old pride from off the window, and we made our way out to the car where we were serenaded by her wailing nearly the entire way home.

-Because I deserve a break every now and then, I put a ban on dress-up clothes this week. Ahhhh....sweet bliss. I have actually been able to find the floor all week. I love it!

-The other night we went over to my grandma's house to celebrate her 87th birthday. She is having a bit of a mice problem lately. Forgetting that she has sticky traps all over her house and not paying all that much attention to where Spencer was crawling, he landed himself right into a one. His fingers were covered and the whole trap was stuck to his pants. While it was an unfortunate disaster, I am counting myself lucky that the trap didn't already have a mouse stuck to it. I would probably have to be institutionalized if it did...

-While driving in the car today Taylor was back in his seat explaining some important issues to Sara. I overheard the following words coming from Taylor's mouth, "Sara, dads are not slaves. Only moms. And sometimes dads get a day off." Exactly. For those of you who haven't felt sorry for me in the past, please feel free to start now.