~It's a good thing these kids...~

are cute. Because things have been a little scary around here lately... and not because it's Halloween time... though my children do regularly turn into vicious little Gremlins. Yes, you heard me right. Vicious Little Gremlins.

While the boy has left me mentally and emotionally exhausted, the girl has left me physically exhausted. The boys is demanding of attention and the girl is demanding of attention. When they do not receive constant attention they

A. beat the tare out of each other (and believe me, it's a two sided battle... Lyssa can be terribly vicious)

or

B. join forces to reck absolute havoc on everything they see (shredding paper to pieces, throwing every book, emptying all clothes and blankets out of dressers, destroying each others art projects, taring apart couches, futons, couch covers, emptying out DVD cases and scratching cds, destroying folded laundry piles, climbing on tall bookcases, dumping and grinding cereal/crasins into rugs, toilet papering the bathroom, opening doors and escaping to the outside, dumping perfume, taking italian showers with Nicks cologne, emptying out my purse, building tall towers to reach the oreos on top shelf and eating them all, locking me out of the house when I try to get the mail, locking me out of the bathroom, locking me out of bedrooms, attempting to lock me in a bedroom, etc.)

My mother once told me that she never felt like she had any time to herself until her youngest child (at the time... after the 1st three she spread us out a bit) turned 2 years old. As we quickly approach that long awaited birthday for Lyssa, I find myself feeling more trapped and my children more demanding than they were even three months ago.

I woke with so much hope for today, the sun shining and babies sleeping in until almost 8 am! By the time I got out of the shower and got the kids up the sky was dully clouded over, and the vicious little Gremlins appeared. Then Monster Mommy finally snapped and came out of her cave. It was a nasty, painful day for everyone involved. Even at Sam's Club they were going at it...

Is this just a stage? Is it the season change? Or is this just the self diagnosed seasonal affect disorder talking?

Whatever it is, something has to change.

Say it with me. "Tomorrow will be a better day. Tomorrow will be a better day. Tomorrow will be a better day."

~Flaring Heat, Flaring Tempers~

As the heat of the day flared yesterday so did my babies tempers.  Let's just say it was one of those days.  After no naps and lots of whining, I decided that even if babies didn't want to sleep it was time to take a chill pill. Sit back, relax...

Check your nails...

Eat a Popsicle...

and by the third snack of the afternoon... 

everyone was much much

happier.

Epilogue:  

Alec and Lyssa both fell asleep on the swing later that afternoon.  They were very happy to see their Daddy, as he still had some patience left for whining.  Their mother went to Enrichment and found a way to not be home until long after they were fast asleep, though they did go to bed extra early that night...

Someone Took My Jacket...

It was just another typical day in nursery.  Some kids cried, some hit, some pushed, some fell down and got goose eggs on their poor little heads.  Some kids listened, Alec didn't freak out every time I walked out of the nursery, and we all practiced saying "I love you, Mommy!" in preparation for Valentines Day.  

Not necessarily a bad day, but I still felt pretty beat after spending most of the morning with my kids (while Nick was gone at church meetings... funny that not even Sunday is sacred or a "family day" but that is a whole different topic in itself) and then all afternoon with a bunch of cute napless kids.  I knew that Nick would have even more meetings after church, meaning I get to go home alone with my hungry crabby kids.  

YEA for me! (dripping with sarcasm)

As chaos ensued in the nursery room, the last child is picked up and I make my way down the hall following Nick with Alec, Lyssa, the diaper bag, and my Singing time Valentine poster in tow.  I walk to the coat closet to grab our jackets... and mine is gone.  My black The North Face Windwall jacket that my dad lovingly gave me for my birthday last year was gone.  The babies coats were still there, but mine was gone.  

I'm mad.  Why would someone take my jacket?  I would like to think that someone accidentally took it... that someone got it confused with their own jacket... Only it wasn't even hanging up.  I had put it on top of my babies jackets up on a shelf.  There was nothing even remotely similar hanging up on the coat racks.  

Funny that I almost didn't wear my jacket today.  It wasn't all that cold and I didn't want to carry it around the church, but I shook off these warning feelings and took it anyway.  How am I supposed to get my kids to wear their jackets if I don't wear mine?  Besides, by the time we leave the sun will almost be gone and it will be cold. 

Then when we got to the church I put my keys in my jacket pocket.  As I went to put our coats on the coat rack I felt prompted to take my keys out and put them in my diaper bag.  I'm glad  I listened to the voice in my head that time.  

I know it's just a jacket.  Jackets can be replaced... even if I don't have the money to replace it with something that works as well, looks as nice, or actually fits (one of my biggest problems with jackets is that they rarely fit my shoulders).  As I walked out to the car in the dropping temperatures I was cold and mad. 

And I'm still mad. 

Happy lame Sunday to me!  It's all too easy to sit down and think about my fussy grouchy kids, my MIA husband, my hermit calling in nursery, getting NOTHING out of church as I try to attend sacrament meeting with napless children all for the sake of "teaching by example", and wondering if the time and effort that goes into my calling really matters at all.... only to know that another week of being home alone with my children will start tomorrow.  Can you tell my kids were sick all last week and Iowa Winter is beating me down?

Good thing the last two days have been unseasonably warmer and sunny.  Good thing I have good friends that care and love me and my kiddos despite our faults.  Good thing I know the gospel is true.  Good thing I'm going on vacation in a few weeks.  Now if you'll excuse my grouchy self, I'm going to eat a chocolate chip cookie and try to smile at my whining kiddos.  

Because you deserve it...

Last Thursday was a long day.  In fact, there wasn't a person I talked to that had a spectacular Thursday.  We did have a play date with a favorite friend that morning, but that was the highlight of the day.  It was just a blah day.  No one thing really stands out as being awful... well except when Alec pushed Lyssa off the folding chair onto the hard wood floor and the chair fell on top of her... yikes.  It was kind of cold, kind of gloomy, and my kids were cranky/bordering on toxic midget status.  

By the end of the day I felt grouchy at my crabby kids, and grouchy at myself as my patience grew thinner and thinner.  Nick, my eternal optimist, came home chipper as ever and let me pour out most of my frustrations (those pertaining to myself, my lack of parenting skills, as well as the kiddos).  I knew what I needed to do.  I knew the next day would be better, but as I turned off the lights and curled up under the covers I truly was in a glum state.  

The next day, Friday (Oh, my beloved Friday... how I look forward to your weekly arrival!), Nick came home from work with these for me.......pastries for snacking while vegetating to the latest episode of LOST, and a sweet smelling rose "just because you deserve it".  I must admit that a good night sleep and a nice workout at the gym made the world seem a lot brighter Friday morning, but this was the icing on the cake that was my day. 

Sometimes it's nice just to have someone acknowledge that what you do everyday (day in and day out) matters and can be extremely challenging and emotionally taxing. 

Sometimes it's nice to get flowers and a treat because "you deserve it."