Telling the truth

As many of you know, my kids are VERY intense (a lot like me!) So, every night there is a ton of threats to kill each other (between the kids), screaming, name calling, throwing things and pushing people (...when there's love at home.) Last night was no different. I was doing some late night cleaning and ignoring all the ruckus until it just got way out of hand. I went into the family room to see who was bleeding and why. Ethan was holding his shoulder and rubbing his head all while blubbering and trying to tell me what had happened. Since I couldn't understand him, I asked the closest sibling - Justin. This is how it went.

J= "Well, Ethan was bothering me and making me really mad and so I pushed him into the door really hard."
M= "So you purposely hurt him? Does that make you feel better that you hurt his shoulder and head?"
J= "Hey, I meant to purposely push him into the door and hurt his back. I didn't know I was going to get his shoulder - the head was just lucky!"

OK, so is it just me or is it funny that he thinks it's OK that he hurt Ethan because he told me the truth? It is so hard for me to say "Thank you for telling me the truth that you meant to hurt your brother, however, you are still grounded forever because you took action on it."

I did what any frazzled mom would do, I shook my head, walked away, and told them to get in bed. Some nights, it's all about survival!

It could be worse

I decided to print these pictures for all of the people out there who were sad that we had snow yesterday and are bound to get it again before long. Yes, I was one of those people. It's not that I mind snow (on the grass and in the mountains is fine) I just wish it would be solid cold and then turn into Spring. So, it could be worse, we could be back to inches of snow and blistering cold (although, the kids seem to be having fun!)

Lame post - but proof we are alive

I just wanted to let you know that we are still here. Between being sick and rearranging the house (including cleaning it) I only have time to play with the fun backgrounds! Hopefully I am turning over a new leaf and will find stuff to write about in my sleepless life. Speaking of sleepless, does anyone know a great trick to get a sweet 2 year-old to stay asleep through the whole night? My daughter who has always been a great sleeper has decided over the last couple of months to stop sleeping - she was up at 2:30 this morning and has not slept soundly since - aka, Mom and Dad got NO sleep and are on auto pilot! This happens 4-5 nights EVERY WEEK! Please help if you have actually advice that has worked.

I did it!

Our sweet baby Emily turned 2. I can't believe that she was this little and oh so precious! I loved these moments when she would nap with anyone who happened to be holding her at the time!


It has definitely been an exciting year of oops! and adventure. She broke her arm right after she turned 1. It didn't hamper her at all - matter-of-fact, it helped her learn to walk!

Our sweet "Tinkerbell" is such an amazing spirit. With no fear installed, she has helped open OUR eyes to the world around us. She makes us laugh every day and we love her so much!!

"I did it!!" This was the first sentence Emily ever spoke - great motto, huh?

Cruise 2008, Part 4 - Labadee, Haiti ... finale!!

Here is my final post of the cruise - honestly! It was such a fun trip and I took so many pictures that I couldn't compact it all into one post. Labadee was a beautiful island. It was warm but really windy so we couldn't play in the water or do the zipline. As you can see, we got to practice the zipline but then when we got to the top, they said it was too dangerous so we came back down. A funny thing on the island was the guys selling drinks - they would say "I've got your medication for your vacation!" He said it in a singsong voice so it stuck in your head! Oh well. Hope you enjoyed my drawn out posts of the cruise. It was so fun and we can't wait to go again!

Note: I'm writing this while looking out the window at snow-I needed a pick-me-up.

Cruise 2008, Part 3 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Here are the pictures of San Juan, Puerto Rico-my favorite stop. I loved all the colors and cool flowers. I took a lot of pictures of flowers because I had never seen them before and you can't take them back with you! We learned that people here repaint their homes all the time. They had just repainted the houses last Christmas! We met a really cool artist and fell in love with his paintings. So much fun-can't wait to go back!

I LOVE spaghetti!