6-30-12 Slow Saturday morning to Birthday Celebration under the Big Top

Joe had a busy day today, but the boys and I didn’t have anything on the agenda this morning.  Recently, I’ve let most of our mornings start the same way:  Caden wakes up and I go and get him out of his crib.  He immediately asks me to make dinner.  I suggest we snuggle in my bed.  Within minutes Max cries for me.   In his 3+ years, he has gotten up and come and found me about six times.  Other than those six times, he calls/cries until I go and get him.  When I go and get him, he insists that I carry him and indicates where he would like to go.  Most of the time he wants to go to my room and watch cartoons.  Conrad is soon to follow and climbs in my bed and joins the cartoon viewing.   Today followed this pattern.  Not a bad Saturday morning. . . but we couldn’t  didn’t watch the “Fresh Beat Band” all day. 

I had a lot of cleaning to do today, but my unfinished shelf was nagging at me.  So I loaded up the boys and we headed to the local hardware store.  They did not have the amazing paint (Rustoleum textured in dark brown) that I needed, so after spending 75 cents on three gumballs, we were off to Lowe’s.  It sounds much quicker and easier that it actually is to load and unload three kids from the car for these stops. 

Lowe’s has the paint and we were out of the store relatively quickly.  When we got back to the car Max was in tears because he didn’t get to walk in the store.  How could I have not remembered to let him out of the cart once we were inside the store?  I’m guessing my brain did that in order for me to protect my young and my sanity.  The more kids that stay in the cart, the better.  Every mom knows this!!

The boys wanted to pick up the sticks and branches that were knocked down by the storm last night.  Max said, “Dad will be glad at me.”  They worked hard to make their daddy happy.  They managed to hook Joe’s small trailer up to Conrad’s jeep.  I took the first picture because I thought they had come up with such a good idea.  I took the second one because I was so surprised that it worked!  The Jeep is more powerful than I thought!

I finished up painting my shelf and the boys cleared the debris from the driveway and yard.  Max asked, “Is today family day?”  When he didn’t get the answer he wanted, he asked, ”Is tomorrow family day?”  I went ahead and told him it was.  That made a sweet smile spread across his face.

After a wash up and Caden’s nap, we headed over to Olivia’s 3^rd birthday party.  The carnival was in full swing!  My friend threw an adorable birthday party for her little girl.   As if the games and food weren’t enough, in came a clown.  Skittles put on a show for the kids and Caden was captivated the whole time.  Conrad belly laughed through the whole show and was the first in line for a balloon animal.

6-29-12 Another Pair of Swim Trunks Bite the Dust

I have this shelf that I picked up for $3.99 and a bottle of spray paint that has been begging me to use it and get the shelf on the wall.  I finally took the boys outside to play today and set up a painting station (a couple of 2x4s on the grass). 

I sprayed the bottom of the shelf first and as I was ending the first (rather thick) coat, I was at the end of the can! 

We were all pretty hot so we played in the hose while I waited for the shelf to dry.  When I went back to the shelf there was a large section in the middle of it where the paint has been wiped away.  This baffled me.  And I wondered out loud, “How did the paint get wiped off?” 

Max answered, “I don’t know.”  So, I asked if he had sat on the shelf. 

“No,” Max claimed.

Then I told him to turn around.  The evidence was all over the seat of his swim trunks.  Brown paint all over the back of them.  I didn’t even try to wash it out.  I know when I’m going to spend a lot of time on a fight and not win the battle.

It started to rain so I ran my shelf to shelter and convinced the boys they should go inside too.