Where Is Their Mother?!

Okay, I admit, I have been unusually busy since my kids arrived from my mom and dad's house on Saturday. But aye yi yi. Are they ever trying my patience. I don't know if ya'll have ever experienced the phenomena that occurs after a child has been away for more than, oh say, an hour, and then returns home. Some switch goes off in their brain that tells them that they can relax and no longer have to be on their best behavior because,

"Hey, Mommy, we're home!"

Josh and I so enjoyed those two days of quiet, let me tell you. I was due for a break. But when the kids got home, we still had some finishing touches to complete. Is there a name for the phenomena that occurs when a child is told not. to. touch. something because it's still wet? It's as if they suddenly can do nothing except wonder what might happen if they do. Josh and I sucked so much oxygen out of the air from panicking when kids kept taking turns touching the last coat of polyurethane and paint that I'm surprised we all didn't suffocate that night.

Dillon is ......... a mystery to me. I call him my teddy bear boy. As a baby he was incredibly cuddly and sweet. He still is a peacemaker and enjoys playing quietly by himself. Josh and I joke about it, but really our greatest fear is leaving him someplace and not realizing he's missing right away. That's how quiet he is. He just blends into the general chaos. LOL

Usually when he's quiet I don't think much of it, but lately he and Nathan have been teaming up as partners in crime. Then it gets too quiet. I have found myself suddenly thinking, "Something's not quite right here." followed by a suspicious "where's Dillon and Nathan?"

The answer???

~In the bathroom playing in the water i.e. dumping cup fulls on each other's heads, but mostly Dillon dumping water on Nathan.

~Spilling concentrated MelaMagic floor cleaner on the floor and spreading it all around either trying to make use of the wasted cleaner, or trying to hide what they had done. (I thought my floors were slick after they were dry when cleaned with that stuff; it was like walking across an ice skating rink with it spilled!!! Mercy, I'm glad I don't have cameras in my house. You all would have gotten quite a laugh out of watching me "water ski " across the floor with my arms flailing as I tried to stay on my feet.)

~Playing with toothpaste and using toothbrushes to "paint" the walls with it.

~Snitching ice cream sandwiches and other "special" treats and sharing them while hiding underneath their bed or the stairs.

There's more, but I already feel enough like a failure as a mother so I won't go on.

I'm really hoping that things will slow down after this week. Every night there's something; Tuesday Josh is helping Riky and Amanda with Michael's new bedroom, Wednesday's church, Thursday's ladies bible study, Friday is the Friday night singing, Saturday is a fund raising dinner for the Republican Party, and Sunday is Jordan's birthday and we're having company all afternoon. PLUS, I only need three more people before I get my products for free from Melaleuca. Three. I'm so close, and yet so far away.