The best part of Easter???

If you ask Sabrina, the answer is "CANDY FOR BREAKFAST!!!"  Yes, I let them eat the candy for breakfast on Easter morning (along with a hard boiled egg or two), and yes, I recognize her thinking this is the best part of Easter is a sign that I really need to bring them back to Church on a regular basis.  They had a blast yesterday and the weather cooperated for the wearing of Easter dresses and Pop-Pop's egg hunt.  It was a good day.

How many pairs of socks should a 2 year old have?

Mine has almost 40.  That's too much, isn't it?  LOL.  Today is a miserable, rainy, can't go anywhere type of day so we figured we would pull down the summer clothes from the attic, take out what the girls have outgrown and put those away; basically get organized for when spring and summer finally appear.  We have enough clothes for these children to open up a pretty nice consignment shop.  Ay yi yi.  With three girls in the house, I'm not really complaining.  I'm grateful that I have enough that the younger ones have full wardrobes until they are at least 6 years old thanks to what their older sister has accumulated.  And my niece gets in on the deal too since she can wear what the 2 year old won't be ready for until next year.  So everybody is definitely getting their money's worth out of these clothes.  With that said, it is a lot of work to keep up on cycling these clothes through the right seasons and sizes.  If anybody has any tips that would make this easier, I'm all ears!

Lent is OVER!

At least in my house it is anyway.  I was doing so well, and was really kind of proud of myself...until yesterday.  I had all of the girls upstairs with me so that I could clean my bathroom.  All I wanted to do yesterday was clean my bathroom.  They usually play wonderfully upstairs.  As a matter of fact, before the Lent cancelling event, Sabrina had told me how she and Corrine were playing "Neighbors" where their bedroom was Sabrina's house, and Reese's room was Corrine's house.  It was so cute because my sister and I used to play the same game when we were their ages.  The gate is locked so nobody can fall down the stairs, I put the gate up across the doorway into my room so nobody could sneak into the bathroom and drink the Scrubbing Bubbles when I wasn't looking...it should have been a non-eventful day.  Then, they asked for a snack.  I told them to wait until I was done, but as I continued scrubbing the shower I was thinking to myself, "If you don't get them some crackers or something now, they are only going to keep asking and it will drive you insane.  Just get the snack now, and they will let you finish in peace."  I took off the gloves and headed downstairs to get the snacks.  As I was gathering up the bowls of crackers not even 2 minutes later I hear Sabrina yell down, "Corrine said Reese just ate a penny!"  WHAT?????  I run upstairs to find Corrine and Reese in front of the toy box playing with that little pink Fisher Price piggy bank, but instead of using the big plastic coins that come with it, they have a pile of real coins sprawled out in front of them.  Well, where did they get the coins from, MOM???  I knew you were going to ask.  My darling 5 year old stashed them there after she was specifically told NOT to put them there with this very scenario explained to her.  She had asked days before this if she could play with the coins in this bank and she was specifically told no, and to put the money in her piggy bank, and not leave it where her sisters can get it.  The memory of this conversation must have suddenly popped into her head because when I turned to look at her she had the appropriate, "Oh, shit" look on her face.  And I yelled.  As I took the piggy banks out of her room and stashed them where she can't get them and told her she could have them back when she is an actual mother instead of a 5 year old who just thinks she's in charge I kept thinking, "You almost made it to Easter...almost." 

All turned out fine.  Reese did NOT swallow any coins.  I took Sabrina with me and Reese to the ER though.  I figured it would be a good way to teach her some of the consequences that go along with not listening to what we tell her.  Plus, I was mad at her, and if I had to sit in the ER all afternoon on a beautiful day for this, damnit so was she!  Everytime she complained about sitting there not doing anything I would remind her that we would not be sitting there if she had not disobeyed on purpose.  And she wasn't allowed to watch the TV that was in our room either because that privilege was removed for the previously mentioned television incident.  Then, somebody came around with a complimentary beverage/snack cart which I declined.  I saw a flicker of comprehension of consequences when she asked why she couldn't have a cookie and I said, "Reese's doctor said she can't have anything to eat or drink until they find out if she swallowed the coin.  If Reese can't eat anything because of the coin, neither can you."  By the lack of protest, I sensed she was getting the point.  She was still trying to pin it on Corrine though when we got home, so who knows.

If this is year 5, I can't even imagine year 13

I would normally put something like this up on FB as a note, but I figured I should put them here to try and get the blog rolling along.  So, here is where these little nuggets will be found from now on.

My kids are allowed to watch TV.  Sabrina is 5, so I taught her how to use the remote control so she can put on her shows when it is ok for them to watch a show.  She knows 3 channels and the "last" button so she can always get back to one of her channels if she punches in a number wrong.  A couple of nights ago, one of the kid shows was on an OK'd channel, but I don't really like her to watch this particular show, so I told her she is not allowed to watch it.  I also explained that if I catch her watching it after she has been told she's not allowed she will not be allowed to watch ANY TV for a yet to be determined amount of days.  Tonight, all of us, except Sabrina, went upstairs so I could cut my husband's hair.  She was throwing a major snit fit because she was told she would not be allowed to watch the new Harry Potter DVD, and missed out on the opportunity to pick another movie because of the level of the fit she threw.  She was told she could come upstairs to join the rest of us when she was done with her tantrum, or she could stay downstairs and watch one of her shows on regular TV.  I went upstairs, got all of the hair cutting stuff set up, and my husband was putting on a show for Corrine to watch.  He joked and said that Sabrina was probably downstairs watching the banned show.  I said, "Oh, she better not be."  He said, "Relax, I don't even know if it's really on.  I was just kidding."  Then he checked and said, "It's on."  I left to sneak downstairs to see what the little angel was doing.  I quietly walked into the kitchen from where you can see clearly into our family room to view the television.  I was rooting for her; hoping she had done the right thing and changed the channel.  No such luck.  Sure enough, the banned show was on.  So, I stood there for a minute...giving her a chance to change the channel as it was just starting...maybe she was in the bathroom and didn't have a chance to change the channel.  The bathroom door never opened and the channel did not get changed.  So, now I moved into the doorway of the family room, and just stood there, waiting for her to see me.  She doesn't.  Then, I give the little, "Eh-hem" cough.  SHE TURNS HER HEAD TO SEE ME AND ROLLS HER EYES!!!  ROLLS HER EYES!!!  She did not have an expression of "Oh, darn I'm snagged, let me say I'm sorry so she doesn't get upset and punish me!"  Her face said, "Un-f'n-believable.  Now, I'll have to listen to her shit for the rest of the night."  I figured since a flip-out is probably what she expected, and since we are still in Lent, I calmly told her to shut the television off and come upstairs to put on her pajamas.  I just kept shaking my head and saying to myself, "She's 5 years old...5... and already pulling this stuff."  Lord, give me strength!