Never a Dull Moment...

Over the weekend Mike sat down with the kids for a life sciences lesson. (Mike is really good about taking time to teach the kids about scientific principles through simple experiments, and they love it!) He was trying to teach them how to read and interpret a timeline. He read through some example scenarios and posed questions to the boys about where on the timeline each event might fall. They seemed to be following the concept. At one point, Mike gave the hypothetical example, "If Annie loses a tooth before her sixth birthday, where does it go?" Everyone thought for a minute and Keller piped up, "In her mouth!"

Yesterday afternoon the kids were particularly hyper. I was trying to feed the baby quickly so that we could get outside and run off some energy. It was a tough choice, mind you. I was tempted to stay inside, put on a movie, and get the dishes done. It would have been more satisfying for ME, anyway. They were chasing each other and doing laps around the house, with the occasional mishap and bought of fussing, which I tolerated with mild and mostly silent frustration. At one point, Declan got a little ambitious and announced that he'd discovered he could pick up McCrea (his 27 lb 21-month-old "little" brother)! He proceeded to carry McCrea back and forth across the living room multiple times, to McCrea's apparent delight. I then heard Keller call, "I can do it too!" To which Declan responded, "Not by the head!" Great. We are DEFINITELY going outside.

Finally, last night, I am again feeding the baby, and Mike is graciously herding the kids around the house as they get ready for bed. They need minimal direction at this point, a HUGE plus, and aside from McCrea, they are mostly self-sufficient. Mike sent them to brush their teeth and use the bathroom before heading upstairs. All normal pre-bedtime events...at some point he went into the bathroom to help McCrea, and I heard him call, "Who put toothpaste in the toilet?" Hmmm, this should be interesting. Declan immediately disavowed any involvement...leaving...of course, Keller. Keller said, "Well, I had too much on my tooth brush." "And how did it get in the toilet?" Mike asked. "Did you WIPE it on the toilet?" I can only assume there was an affirmative response, because Mike responded in somewhat horrified exasperation, "Keller, you NEVER put your toothbrush on the toilet!!" Ah...never a dull moment in our house!