Crazy Weekend with Crazy Kids!

This weekend was full of adventure, friends and mischievous behavior......and I'm ready for SPRING BREAK!!!
We have had a series of several visitors over the past few days which was great, but caused my children to become little aliens!
We love company, and so do they, and to show how much they love company they like to act as crazy as possible!
It all started last Wednesday when our brother in law Uncle Steve came to visit.  The Red's love Uncle Steve and think that he is their playmate.  So poor Uncle Steve was dragged to the basement everyday to play with the Red's.  One of those days Eli got the bright idea to play pool.  But instead of using a stick he grabbed the balls and banged them against the railing of the pool table which resulted in one of the inlays of mother of pearl to shatter!

Uncle Steve left early Saturday morning and we prepared for our next round of guest.  They would be arriving late that afternoon and in the mean time we had our very first baseball practice for Andrew's team.  After practice we headed over to the sporting goods store because we were informed that this years league requires a cup!  Seriously....a cup....for my precious 6 year old!!!  Hilarious!
That afternoon when our guest arrived the kids ran around for a little bit, excited,  and then disappeared.....except for Sissy Lou.  Our guest had brought their little dog with them and Sissy Lou was infatuated with the dog!  I mean, we have never seen her so excited about anything!!!!!  She chased the dog around for the rest of the day screaming "puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy"......you get the point!
I guess I should point out that this was an older couple who's kids are all grown with kids of their own. We did warn them before they came...promise!

Later that evening after supper The Red's went to the basement to play their play station and Sissy Lou joined them.  Only a few minutes had passed before Andrew came running upstairs telling on Eli and Sissy Lou for dumping out a tub of popcorn and spreading it all over the floor.  You see, Uncle Steve had bought a tub of popcorn from Andrew from the boy scout sale back in the fall and this was the first time we'd seen him to deliver it.  Being nice, Uncle Steve opened the tin and shared his popcorn with my crazy kids and then decided to leave the popcorn for them.  Only problem is he left it downstairs......
When we got downstairs to check out the destruction, Sissy Lou was sprawled out on the floor doing her own version of snow angel in popcorn.  IT WAS EVERYWHERE!!!!!  Jesse pulled out the wet/dry vac and got to work while I sent the kids to B.E.D.!!!
While getting them ready for bed I went into the Red's bathroom only to look down and see something wet and shiny on their rug.  Beside the wet/shiny spot I see my kitchen scissors (which belonged in the kitchen not the bathroom).  So I stuck my finger in the wet/shiny spot and smelled......nothing.......puzzled I went to find Eli (don't know how I knew it was him, but I just knew) and asked him what my scissors were doing on the bathroom floor and what that wet/shiny stuff was on the rug.
He looks at me with his big puppy dog eyes and says: "Mom, I'm going to tell the truth" (I guess trying to prep me).  Me: "Alright Eli, tell me what you did".  Eli: "It's the ice pack".

It took me a second to put two and two together, but earlier in the night Sissy Lou had bumped her head (go figure) and I had given her one of those cold boo boo packs.  She loves them, and carries them around with her.  I guess she had put it down and Eli had grabbed it up.  My conclusion is that his precious curiosity had gotten the best of him and he had to see what was inside of that ice pack....so he cut it opened and poured the geled substance on the rug in the bathroom, then placed the empty, cut ice pack back into the freezer.

Today is a new day and I was hoping for an uneventful day!  Our guest left this morning and we have just laid around being bums!  This afternoon I happened to walk into the Red's room and I was graced with the sight of Eli's name written in RED marker on the CARPET! 

You know the saying "God only gives you as much as you can handle".....Well, I'm there...I'm done...no more PLEASE!!!!! 
I only want to find the man/woman who invented Spot Shot so I can lay a big fat wet kiss on them and tell them how their invention has saved our lives!  Seriously, the stuff can get out anything...including red marker! 

I'm hoping the mischievous nature of Eli has passed and we can get back to some normal behavior.....WHAT am I talking about....THAT is his normal behavior!!!!

And just to sum up our crazy weekend.....When Andrew got up this morning the first words out of his mouth were: "Hey mom, I prayed to Jesus that he would give you another baby"!
OH LORDY LORDY LORDY, HELP ME, HELP ME, HELP ME!!!!!!

What I Shouldn't Have Done.....

What I shouldn't have done was left the Vaseline out in reaching distance of my precious 18 month old.  Because, if I would have done that, she would have taken it off the counter and opened it.  Then she would have taken gobs of Vaseline out and smeared it over various parts of her body...hair included.  That is if I did what I shouldn't have done....

If I did do that then I really should have learned my lesson years ago when I might or might not have left the Vaseline out in reaching distance of the Red's.  Because if I would have done the "said" above then they would have taken turns taking gobs of Vaseline out and smearing all over each other......

What else are you suppose to do with Vaseline anyways???  Wasn't it made for kids to investigate by seeing the reaction of Vaseline making contact with their skin?
That is if I did what I said that I shouldn't have done...twice!  But I'm pleading the fifth on this one!

The Endless Parade of Children....

Ever had one of those nights where you had an endless parade of children coming and going out of your bedroom all night?  Last night was one of those nights for me, and I am in a true zombie like state as I sit and write this morning. 

Sissy Lou has been sick with a fever and cold for a few days now and is having a rather difficult time sleeping long periods.  Last night I got her into bed at 7:30 pm and the Red's went down soon there after.  I was exhausted from the night before (another sleepless night for Sissy Lou) so I was ready for some sleep! 
Jesse had a late meeting that kept him until after the kids were asleep.  When he came in he wanted to watch a movie together.  Trying not to blow my husband off and cherishing that he wanted to spend time with me, I agreed....even though I was exhausted!  Around 10:00, right in the middle of the movie, I hear the pitter patter of feet running down the hall.....and it was Sissy Lou.  I let her sit with us for a few minutes so Jesse could love on her some and then returned her to her bed.  Ten minutes later she returned.  So we cut the movie off and I took her back to her room again.  She waited a good 30 minutes (just long enough for me to doze off) for her third return.  This time I snuggled her for a little bit and then again took her back to her room.
Around midnight I hear those precious little fat feet running down the hall again.  In a daze I look up to see her standing beside my bed with her comforter in hand.  She drug it all the way from her room and wanted to sleep in my bed with it.  Again I returned her to her room with the comforter in hand.  This time however, I got in the bed with her....her TODDLER bed....tiny little bed with no room....just for her!  Can you picture a grown woman in a toddler bed with the toddler in it....I was kind of tickled by the sight myself!
After snuggling her for 10-15 minutes I rolled off the bed (literally) and headed back to my bed where there was room!
Sometime in the middle of the night Eli appeared at my side of the bed whacking his hand against the mattress to get my attention. Can anyone tell me why they never go to Jesse's side?  After waking I asked him what was wrong and he told me he had a bad dream.  I asked him what his dream was about and he said that T-Rex was chasing him.  So I did what any good parent would do and told him to go have another dream for me and in this one he should shoot T-Rex with a gun.  That seem to pacify him and he returned to his bed.

About an hour later Andrew appeared at my bedside.  He didn't pat my bed, he didn't nudge me, nope.....he just said "MOM, HEY MOM"....and with that I peeled my eye lids back and said "what Andrew?"
Then he says...with all honesty...."Where's Eli?"...I answered: "Andrew, he's in his bed".  Andrew replied: "no he's not", "yes he is son, he is in his bed, go and look".  And with that he turned and left....
I'm going to say that Andrew's trip into my room was a sleep walking event...not sure....but not sure what else to say about that. 
The phone rang at 6:00 am this morning with an automated call from the school saying school has been cancelled due to the 1 inch of snow we have on the ground....WHAT????  Anyways, as I rolled over to see what time it was and I noticed a little figure sleeping beside me......and it was Sissy Lou.  I have to honestly say I have no clue when she came into our room or how she climbed up and got into bed without waking me. 
The Red's woke up around 7:30 demanding their breakfast so up and out of bed went the momma with little to no sleep. 
I might as well get pregnant again....while I'm use to getting up in the middle of the night ten thousand times! 
The kicker is, since there's a snow day then there is a no nap day for momma....sad times people, sad times!  So if you see me today, pay no attention to the large bags under my eyes that make me look like I haven't slept in a week...cause I haven't.
Serves me right after I posted a story about how hard my kids sleep..ironic right!

Now That's a Bed Head!

I thought I'd share with you all how my kids sleep.....my kids sleep......they sleep hard...real hard!  And when they sleep hard they sometimes develop the phenomenon known as: Bed Head!

The other morning Sissy Lou rolled out of her bed and this is what she looked like when she walked into the living room:

Now that is BED HEAD!

Here's a picture of Eli as a baby with bed head too:

They all sweat like little piglets which would explain why they get bed head to the extreme and would also explain this:

This would be the sheets on every one of their beds shoved down to the very bottom of the bed (you will see these pictures again very soon on a blog I'm working on about things that irk me!)Here's an example of how the sheets might get like that......

And here's an example of how one of my hard, bed head sleepers look after just waking:

Now that had to be some good sleep!

Wish I could sleep like that!

A Day at the Aquarium

This past weekend we decided to drive up to Cinncinati/Newport and take the kids to the Aquarium.  We have been several times, but this would be Sissy Lou's first time!
We started off by eating at Johnny Rocket's and filled up on some awesome hamburgers and chili cheese fries.....YUM!!!  The Red's were pumped and ready to see some SHARKS!
Here is just a few pictures of our trip:

This is Sissy Lou getting fired up about the fish in the tunnel

She is showing us where to look:

 Telling her Daddy to come here

 Eli just saw a SHARK!!!!!

 Me and my baby girl

 Eli and Sissy Lou with the GIANT SQUID..AAAHHHHH!!!! Andrew was too scared to come near it!

 Getting excited again about some fish!

 This is the face of "I'm so excited I just can't stand it"!

 Notice my kids are not looking at the camera....that's because there is a video game to the side that Eli is playing!  We tried everything to get them to look, but they were locked in!

 Andrew with his pals the jelly's

 My family!

We had a blast and enjoyed seeing Sissy's face light up with pure joy every time she discovered something new.  The only picture I wish I would have taken is watching Payton refuse to go over the glass floor with fish underneath....it freaked her out completely! 

The Boss

Let me just say that just because Payton is the youngest in the house does not mean that she is not the most dominant.  At thirteen months of age she knows how to RUN THE SHOW and has the Red's figured out! 

She seems to know how to place herself in the Queen Bee position!  The Red's eat it up though!

And already has them having  tea parties with her

She knows she has them under HER control!
So the other day Payton, Andrew, Jesse and I were all just sitting around.  Payton was trying to get into something (again) and I told her "No Sissy".  Whenever she hears the word "no" she immediately (just like a girl) turns and runs away crying and throws herself face down onto the floor. I can't blame her, I don't like to hear the word "no" either....especially from Jesse when I want to buy something.  Maybe she has watched me too many times throwing myself in the floor crying ; )  Can anyone say "DRAMA"! 
Nothing different about this time, she turned, ran and put her face in the pillows and started crying.  Andrew starts laughing because it is quite funny to watch.  When she sees that Andrew is laughing at her she jumps up and runs to him as fast as her little legs can carry her.  When she gets to him, she rares back and pops him on the head.  She was going to show him who was boss...and you never laugh at the boss!  Again, I say "no, no Sissy", then just like before the show continues.......she runs away crying, throws herself face down in the pillows again and sobs.  Again, Andrew laughs....and again she runs at him and POPS him on the head.  I know we are suppose to be good parents and not laugh at these situations because it only shows her that it's okay to hit......but THAT WAS FUNNY!  We all laughed....of course trying not too....but sometimes the laughter just takes over your body and you have no control.  It's kind of like getting tickled about something in church.  You know you can't laugh, but that makes you want to laugh even harder.

It doesn't matter how many times Payton smacks Andrew, he loves her so much and thinks she hung the moon!

Germs, Germs, Everywhere!

AAAHHHH.......We are infested with Germs!!!!  The Red's are both sick with something that looks a lot like strep (although they tested negative).  I am washing myself in purell hourly and scrubbing my house in Lysol!  I hate feeling that something is going to get me!
In the middle of the night Andrew's fever reached  nearly 103 and while he was in a half stupor/half asleep he started saying weird stuff....like "my teacher has a frog in her throat".  I know he is sick, but that made me laugh!

 While the boys are sick Payton has been keeping herself busy.  It's like she senses my weakness and attacks. I've been a little busy with the Red's.  She got into the bathroom cabinets again and squeezed a whole bottle of lotion onto the floor and smeared it all around:

Oh and I would like to update my previous post.....my package finally got delievered to me!  This would be the one that they lost and said there is no way they delivered it to someone else.  However, when the package arrived someone had written on the front in large black ink: "SENT TO WRONG ADDRESS".  That is what I had asked them if they did and they adamantly denined........sometimes it feels good to be right!  Either way, I got MY package..YEA! 

Now if the kids can get well, the t.v. delievered, and Payton to stop dumping things out, this week will be turning around!

Whip Cream Anyone?

The other day I put Sissy in her swing to take her afternoon nap.  This nap usually consist of at least 1 1/2 hours so this is when I try and get some things done around the house.  The Reds were busy running around playing like the thunderous children that they are, so I sent them downstairs to play.  I got busy with my chores and somewhere in the mix Andrew and Eli escaped from downstairs and went in the room and woke Sissy up.  They knew I wouldn't be happy with this situation because we have talked about them waking her up a lot.  So Andrew decided to remove her from her swing and carry her to the couch.  When I walked into the room this is what I found:

Yep.....that is whipped cream he is squirting in her mouth......and she wasn't complaining!  I just choose not to ask why he had the whipped cream in the first place.  My guess is that he did so to get her not to cry so I wouldn't be upset that he woke her up.  My sweet little angels!

Traditions Of Watermelon Eaters

Being from Alabama, watermelon eating is a must and has been a tradition in the Beasley family for generations.  We take pride in how we have perfected the art of eating such a fine fruit.  I grew up with a watermelon practically stuck to my hand and countless watermelon spitting seed fights as memories. 
I feel like it is my duty to pass on my love for eating Watermelon's to my children.  I think I succeeded:

We are classy......we don't use forks.....It's the best way to eat one!

Dumpers

I don't know what it is about my kids but they are dumpers.  They dump everything out.....everything!  It all started with Andrew dumping out his issy (sippy cup).  He would hold it upside down and mush the top against something and out would come the milk.  Then he figured out how to open things and dump on Eli's head, carpet, couch, etc...... 

Eli just joined along and helped out.  Eli's not so much a dumper as an accomplice.  Payton, however is another dumper......bottle, cups, and her favorite dog water!

Almost everyday she dumps it out no matter how many times she gets in trouble.  I've even tried moving it to different places around the house. 

I have shared a lot on this blog about my dumping kids so here are just a few photos of their best dumps.

 This would be syrup

 on Eli's head

the culprit

What you don't see is my couch, rug and ottoman that they poured the syrup on also.......the whole bottle!

 I think this is oregano

again the culprit

 Goldfish

more goldfish

Let's not forget the 5 lb bag of sugar and the bag of flour

Salt

more salt

bubbles

I didn't get pictures of them all so here's a list of just a few (I cannot emphasize the word 'few' strong enough) of the ones I missed:

dawn dish soap in the carpet

lotion dumped on the carpet

3 + bottles of shampoo on the carpet and lathered up on each other's head

dumped buckets of water out onto the carpet

dumped glue out on Jesse's mounted bobcat

and the worst:  Desitin on carpet...the whole tube.

Remember these are just the dumping stories...I have a whole other list of how many times I've had to call a plumber or times they've flooded the bathrooms and basement.

I have to say though....they are a lot of fun!  Looking through these pictures made me laugh even if I wasn't laughing at the time.