The Ultimate Frustration

This morning... Oh, it was not a good morning! My boys were fighting each other and yelling and they woke up Warren and I was so frustrated with them I sent them downstairs. Downstairs is coming along nicely. We put up most of the trim last night and have 17 small pieces to put up and I was going to go start caulking during Warrens morning nap time and finish during the afternoon nap and maybe even start painting. I had high aspirations. 

Then disaster struck. Disaster. DISASTER! Dallin was done playing downstairs so he came upstairs and quickly told me that Tristan was drawing on the walls downstairs. My eyes got big and I got worried and I asked which ones and Dallin responded "All of them". Oh. My. Gosh. I quickly ran downstairs and told Dallin to take care of Warren. I got to the bottom of the stairs and very sweetly and nicely Tristan offered me up the PERMANENT MARKER in his hands. I could only see a little spot way over on the other side of the basement where there was one mark and I was upset but I could handle it. So I asked him what he was doing and he said "Drawing on the walls". I said no, that isn't a good thing. I started walking forward and as I got out into the open area I literally screamed. AHHHHHH! It was ALL over the largest wall in the basement. The one you want to look flawless because there is lots of light on it and nothing covering it. And now there was a loooong mark from one side of the room to the other and then lots of swills and loops and doodles underneath it. I know Dallin did the long mark because Tristan couldn't reach that high. 

So, back to the story, I screamed. Then I took a breath. Took the marker away and quietly told Tristan to go upstairs. He quickly obeyed. I walked around looking at the damage. Not only was that wall covered but they had taken the marker and run it up and down in the corners of the room. Not cool. And they got a pen so that both of them could draw. Also not cool. And they marked up every wall in the room. Thankfully the rest of the walls only had small marks but still! I could not believe it. My kids have never drawn on the walls except Tristan did once last summer in June or so. And they have had plenty of opportunities to do it but never have. So I was not expecting it. and it stinks because we had finished painting the walls and were all done with them. We only had trim left to do! Gah!

I went back upstairs and asked them to go in their room while I called Chris and they quietly obeyed. They must have known how upset I was because they don't often obey that request. I called Chris and was feeling a bit upset but was proud of myself as well because I had not yet caused physical harm to my children. Or put them on the side of the street and told them to start walking. Go me! After I talked to Chris I went and found the denatured alcohol and rags and grabbed Warren and the other two and we all went downstairs. As a punishment they had to wipe the walls down. Not that rags with water on them was going to do anything but it was the principle of the matter. After a while they started having too much fun for a consequence though so I had them sit in time out chairs and they got to watch me for the next half hour scrub the marks off of the wall. Then Warren wanted lunch and I was tired of doing that so we went upstairs and told them I was done with them and they couldn't be in the same room as me for a while. So I made lunch but Warren was so tired that he fell asleep before I even finished making it, put him down, fed Dallin and Tristan and put them down for naps. Then I went downstairs and finished rubbing all the marks off of the walls. The marks were completely gone but you could see where the alcohol had rubbed the top coat of paint right off so it needed a topcoat of paint. I quickly got everything out and painted over it and now all traces of their escapade are gone. I am glad that I didn't do something to my children that I would regret but I still wonder if they know how upset I was at them. Here is hoping to no more set backs with the basement!

Breakfast

This morning Dallin kept telling me he was hungry. I usually wait until all 3 boys are awake before I start making breakfast. Dallin asked me 3 or 4 times if he could eat breakfast before Tristan finally woke up. It was frustrating/cute. So Tristan woke up and was absolutely adorable. He slowly walked out of his room and looked like he was still asleep so I said good morning and sat down on the ground and snuggled him good. He sat with me for like 10 minutes, just snuggling and talking to me while he slowly woke up. After he went and started playing I decided to hop in the shower really fast before I made breakfast. And I take a fast shower because you never know what kind of trouble these boys will get into when I am unavailable.

As I was drying off, Dallin came into the bathroom and told me again that he was hungry and could we eat? I said I think we can as soon as I get dressed. He then responded that he put a pan on the stove for me so that I could cook breakfast. "It is a biiiiiig pan so you can make lots of eggs, Mommy!" haha. It was very cute because he was just so proud of himself for helping and starting the breakfast process.

It has been a good morning for us so far.

I Love You

Chris and I like to think we are good parents. I am sure we do well in some areas and not so well in others. But one area that I like to think we do very good in is telling our kids that we love them. They might not always feel like we love them but they will hear it an awful lot by the time they move out so they will know it by then!

Dallin has recently started telling me all the time that he loves me. And he hugs me and kisses me. Because I tell him that it makes me happy and that I really like it. Dallin has anger issues sometimes and can't contain his anger in his little body and it comes out in the form of hitting or screaming or throwing or knocking things over. I have been trying very hard when he is like that to try to talk him out of it rather than be upset right back at him which is unfortunately my first instinct. But we are learning creatures and able to change those habits I am happy to say. So now when he starts flipping out I grab his hands and try to talk to him and ask him what he is feeling and tell him that I love him. Because I do love him.

So now when he sees that I am upset or angry or crying, he will grab my hands and look in my eyes and tell me that he loves me. Today in the van I told them that I was frustrated with them and that they weren't obeying me at the library. So Dallin immediately piped up "I love you". And it is amazing how quickly those words from a 3 year old can calm me down.

Tristan has also noticed that Dallin says I Love You a lot and so he has started saying it to me in the last day or two. Though I think he just says it to get what he wants... "Mommy, I want a drink... ... ... I love you!" Either way, I am glad that my boys are hearing it lots and I hope they understand how much I really do love them.

Painting Party

Last night I had 4 wonderful women come over and help me paint my basement. In about 2 hours we were able to paint the entire thing, including corners! They were very helpful, especially when it came to painting the ceiling. When I did it my pinky and ring finger on my right hand were numb and then tingly for two days before they felt normal again.

So THANK YOU to Helen, Alisa, Tami and Rebecca!

I love the friends that I have here so much since I don't have my sisters near me. Not that they replace my sisters but they definitely help fill the void that I feel. Who would have thought I ever felt that way? haha

Friends

Today the boys and I had to go out and buy an air filter for our HVAC because it was over-do for one. After we bought I didn't want to go home and have all day to deal with my sweet darlings. So I called my sister in law, Jess, but she was sick so we swung by Food Lion and bought her some flowers and one of the problems with having 2 little boys is that they both wanted to pick their own flowers to give so I eventually gave in and said okay, that we could buy two flowers. But now I had 2 flowers on my hands and didn't know what to do so I thought who else is around that I could give it to and I remembered my friend Dawn.

I had tossed out directions to her house and didn't remember exactly where it was so I told the boys we were going exploring. We had a good time turning around a few times, Dallin telling me I was going the wrong way. Finally we got there and we went up to the door and surprised her with flowers. She was happy to see us and it was nice to give her flowers. Every mommy deserves flowers once in a while in my opinion. My husband isn't the best at that... I do love him dearly though! And then she invited us to stay for the rest of the morning so we did and the boys had a great time, getting out of the house and also being able to make someone feel special.

After we left Dawn's house we dropped some flowers off and chocolate covered raisins for Jess to help her feel better. Hopefully they did! She was napping when we showed up so we just have to left them. Tristan didn't get to help leave them since he was asleep but Dallin understood this time that we were leaving the flowers for Jess to help her feel better and happy. I hope I can keep teaching him that so that someday he can make his wife happy with surprises!

Sunday Sunday

Today on our way to church Dallin decided he wanted to talk about Jesus Christ. He told us all about how Jesus was born and that is why we have Christmas and then after he was born he died. I explained to him that there was a bit more time between him being born and dying though. And that when he died he did it for us because he loves us. It was nice because Dallin doesn't usually talk about stuff like that.

During the Sacrament Meeting Tristan was playing with his Lightening McQueen car and every time we said prayer, he would put him away so that he could fold his hands. It was so good of him! When he would fold his hands though, he would tuck Lightening in his coat and so I showed him that he had a pocket in his Sunday shirt that his car would fit. He thought it was the coolest thing to have a pocket in his shirt.

On the drive home Dallin started to volunteer lots of information to us about his very first week in Sunbeams. He says he did fun things in there. He learned about different things in there. They did a game (I am typing this right now as he tells it to me). It went with magnets. They learned the Holy Ghost song, which is the First Article of Faith. Dallin's teacher says that he was very good. He participated lots and he would jump out of his seat but unlike the other children he would sit back down. He obeyed and he had lots of fun. Just what I wanted to hear. It was his first time ever doing something quite like that where Chris or I was not there. He is just growing up so fast sometimes.

Painting

We recently hired someone to finish taping and mudding our basement. Our goal is to be done by the Super Bowl so that we can have the family party at our house and in an effort to do that, I have been painting like crazy this week working down there! It was Chris's job to get us to this point and now it is pretty much my job to finish it! Peggy came over on Wednesday and watched the boys so I could start painting. I got over half of the walls painted that day but there was still lots left to do! My friend Tami came over Thursday and we sanded and swept up all the dust and then today I started painting again. I did all the corners today which took forever and then I painted the ceiling and that took FOREVER! I don't have the arm strength to hold the roller up very well and so I had to stand there and look straight up at the ceiling and use the roller behind my head. It was slow and somewhat painful since I had to look up at the ceiling the whole time. So now my back and my feet and my neck are a little sore. It was also weird because as I was doing it after a while my back-most molars were the only teeth touching when I would bite down. It was weird. But I am good now. I ran out of paint so I couldn't finish tonight, plus I am way tired, but I only have 2 ceiling areas left to paint and then I am all done! Yipee! My visiting teacher, Alisa, is helping me set up a painting party so there will be a few women from church over on Thursday to help paint so we should be able to finish! I can't wait to have my basement back and a craft area and toy area and a t.v. area. It will be so nice to have to much space!

The Frog Prince Puppet Show

Today the boys and I went to the library for a puppet show. I will admit I don't enjoy the puppet shows that much but they are geared to small children so maybe that is why? Anyway, it was The Frog Prince. And out of the 3 I have seen I think it was their best one so far and Dallin and Tristan and Warren loved it!

Dallin understood a lot of the jokes. When he would think something was funny he would turn around and look for me. He was sitting on the ground near the front and I was near the back. He would laugh and have this big smile on his face as though he was saying to me "Wasn't that so funny, Mommy?" His ability to smile and laugh is very endearing to me.

I was worried about Tristan because the last time we went he had a very hard time sitting still for the show. But this time he went up next to Dallin and Jillian (their cousin) and sat down and stayed put for the entire thing. He never turned around looking for me so I couldn't tell if the thought it was funny but I could tell he was entertained because he did not get up once!

Warren sat on my lap and I would bounce him up and down or have him stand on my lap but he didn't fuss once. He happy sat or stood there and watched the play. He didn't ever laugh but at one point the princess was crying and he started to look very concerned and even starting making sad noises like he was about to start crying with her. Very sympathetic is my baby boy!

I am going to be trying to write a small blurb every day so that way at the end of the year I can have lots of wonderful memories written down. Maybe I will even get motivated and put pictures up too sometimes! For now though, I just want to try to remember the highlights that make me happy to be a mother.

Todays funny moment

This evening I was working in the basement but before I went down I told Dallin that if he cleaned up all the books in his room on the ground that Chris would give him gummies or M&Ms. So he proceeded to clean them up while I was there and I guess he stopped when I went downstairs.

A short while after I had gone downstairs Dallin ran out to Chris and said "Daddy, Mommy said I could have gummies or M&Ms if I clean up all the books in my room. *Pause* I cleaned them up. *Pause* (While holding his hands up to stop Chris) Don't check!"

Chris replied "Good job. I am going to come check"

Dallin said "No! Don't Check!" and he ran off into his room.

A few minutes later Dallin yells out to Chris "Okay Daddy, come check!"

He had picked up all the books. They were shoved into the shelf and horizontal rather than vertical, but I figure that is better for them than being on the floor, right?