Boogers

Yeah, this is a post about boogers. I'm terribly sorry if this is gross or inappropriate to any of you, but it's all I can think about lately. Boogers have taken over this household. I can't get away from them. I find them everywhere. I scrape my arms on the dried ones on my kids' clothes when I gather the laundry. I have a crusty shoulder at all times. At our little party the other day, I realized I had a huge, wet booger on the bottom hem of my Gap turtleneck. Don't know where (well, I guess I can narrow it down, but I don't know exactly from which nose it came) it came from and I don't know if anyone noticed. And we are now down to our last box of Kleenex and payday doesn't come until Saturday. It's reached epidemic proportions.

It started roughly two months ago with your average cough/cold/crusty booger combo. All three kids seemed to have runny noses, but as long as I had Kleenex and some Tylenol Cold nearby, I was fine. I really only had to tend to Reese and Rhett anyway because Avery figured out the shirt-sleeve-swipe pretty quickly and took care of herself. I had it under control.

But then pink eye came along. If you haven't dealt with pink eye, I'll give you two key pieces of information in case you encounter it in your future. One, it's not really that big of a deal to cure if you don't have a problem sitting on top of a two-year-old's arms in order to squeeze eye drops into sealed eyes three times a day and two, there are TONS of eye boogers involved. And we're not talking a little gook in the corner of your eye when you wake up. No, I mean, BOOGERS. Sealed shut, crusty, gooey boogers that have to be scraped off of little eyelashes with your fingernails because even a warm wash cloth won't budge those suckers first thing in the morning. Naturally, they all three got it. Separately, because it would be far too easy to just spend a day or two on Booger Patrol and then be done. No, it drug on for a solid week. And now, the pink eye seems to be gone, but the boogers remain. And, of course, Reesie has had it the worst, God bless her little middle child heart.

Here's wishing you all a booger-free Tuesday! :)

Gross-Out Story

Warning: Not for the faint of heart (or stomach). It's not that bad and if you are a mom, you won't be fazed by this, but some people are more sensitive to bodily functions, so I felt like I should put a disclaimer so I don't get mean emails saying "I puked all over my keyboard because of you."

Ok, so on with the story.
Last night's bedtime routine started out like any other. The girls took a bath together, got out, dried off and ran around naked for a few minutes while I cleaned up the bathroom mess and put towels in the wash. They hadn't been out for more than 5 minutes when Reese came in the kitchen with a very worried, very upset look on her face.
"Momma, yuck. Momma, yuck." What is it, Baby? She did her 'yucky' face and made her gagging noise, which I have no idea how to type so you'll know how it sounds. I was fixing Rhett a bottle, so I yelled, "Avery, what is she saying?" "She's scared of a bug, but it's no big deal," Avery responds. So I continue what I'm doing, hand Aaron the baby and the bottle, and get Reese a diaper. Reese doesn't let it go. She is frustrated because I don't understand and she's very upset over the bug or whatever it is that she saw. Finally, I follow her to her room to see what is going on.
Avery is on the floor, reading a book (still naked) and isn't the least bit concerned with her sister's obvious panic and fear. I, however, spot the object of her distress immediately. I don't know whether to laugh, gag or cry, so I just run and grab the camera.


"Momma, tee? (see?) Yuck. Yuck." What is that, Reesie?
"Me! Me! Me!" (She is pointing to her bottom as she says this in great distress.)








Let me get a closer look, Mom.
"Me! Yuck! Poopy!"
Reesie, did you go poopy on the floor? "Yuck! Me! Mean up (Clean up), Momma."



I ask Avery if she has any idea what is sitting on the floor next to her. She barely looks up from her book and nonchalantly says "She's just scared of a bug, Mom." That's not a bug, Avery. Look at it.







"Is that POOP????" (Notice Reese nervously scratching her ear, waiting to find out if her sister is completely disgusted or a little bit proud of her.)
Yep, that's poop. "Who did it?" I would imagine Reese did it. (Laughs) "Reesie pooped on the floor!" (More laughter.)




After a few more minutes of distress and worry, Reese joins in the laughter. If Big Sister thinks it's ok, then it must be ok.


She proudly declares "ME DO IT! Poopy. ME!"

The Best Part of Waking Up

Because I have three children and what I think is a slight case of insomnia, I rarely wake up ready to get out of bed. I usually get up and immediately wish for 2 or 6 more hours of sleep. It's not that I get up at the crack of dawn, it's that I have a really, really hard time getting to sleep at night, plus, I have three kids and most nights, at least one of them wakes me up in the middle of the night. So I'm always tired in the mornings. This morning was no exception. Today was a school day, so I was awakened by the alarm and Rhett simultaneously. My first instinct was to shut off the alarm, shut off the baby monitor and forget about school. But I didn't. My husband was home today getting ready for a business trip, so I couldn't be the loser mom I wanted to be without him knowing about it. So I got up.
And you know what I noticed? No matter what kind of mood I wake up in, these crazy kids of mine can manage to put a smile on my face. See if it works for you...
Look at this face. She is ready for school. She is always ready for school. This morning, she saw a bus outside and was convinced it was for her. "Mom, there's a bus! Remember? I have to ride the bus to the pumpkin patch? I think I have to get on that bus." Her class is going on a field trip October 30 and they are riding a bus and it's all I ever hear about. If we see a bus anywhere, she wonders aloud "Mom, is that the bus I'm going to ride to the pumpkin patch?" I finally got her to believe that the bus she saw was not the field trip/pumpkin patch bus, but we still had to run outside and check. Plus, I think she looks so darn cute (I want this outfit for myself), I had to snap a waiting-on-the-nonexistent-field-trip-bus-before-school picture. It makes me smile.

And then there's this guy. I have started adding fruit to his cereal. And his eyes literally roll back in his head when he takes a bite. If there's one thing this kid enjoys, it's a good meal. He doesn't make much of a mess because he doesn't want to miss a bite. This morning was no exception. This makes me smile.







And last but certainly not least. My little sleepy head. Reesie sleeps later than anyone. I usually have to wake her up. If I don't, she'll sleep until 9:30 or 10:00. On school mornings, I have to wake her up a few times to get her out of bed. Her daddy got her up this morning. And if this doesn't make you smile, then you just aren't trying.


Smile! And have a great day!!

They Have to Earn Their Keep

We don't believe in raising lazy, good-for-nothing kids around here. We want them to be productive members of society someday, so we start them early on good, old-fashioned hard labor. They really don't seem to mind. Of course, they don't know any better. That's why we start them so young...so they'll never know any different.

Here's my 4-year-old, doing a little vacuuming. She has a little trouble maneuvering our 500-pound Kirby vacuum, but she does pretty good for such a small girl.












This is my almost-2-year-old, trying her hand at sweeping the kitchen. I have to be honest. She is not very good at it. I always have to follow up after her. But she tries. And she's precious, so I let it slide.













And then there's the baby. So far, we haven't found anything he can do. But we're thinking of getting a riding lawn mower and strapping him to it. He wasn't too happy to find out that his days of lazing around, sleeping and napping, are numbered.












My husband I figure we have about 5 more years of training these kids before they take over ALL the chores and then he and I will do nothing but lay around watching TV and barking orders. Ha. It's fun to dream anyway, isn't it?

New Vaccine?

I know with all the controversy surrounding vaccinations in small children, that it seems a bit odd to propose a new vaccine, but here I go anyway.
I propose a Whining Vaccine. Children would receive this vaccine on or immediately following their one year birthday. While it is given in shot form, it works almost immediately, so that any tears or protests are eliminated on the spot.
There is a 99% success rate in studies so far and the side effects are minimal and not that bad anyway. They include excessive smiling, uncontrollable bursts of laughter, involuntary hugging, and a general attitude of agreement.
I allowed my middle child, age 21 months, to be a test subject for this vaccine. Here are the before and after photos:

BEFORE










AFTER












Check your local pediatrician's office for availability. :)