When Ya Gotta Sleep...

... Ya Gotta Sleep! (We have no idea how he managed this, but it's certainly a descriptive shot of the life of a toddler: you're on the go. Or you're not. Yes, he was actually standing in front of the futon when sleep overtook him.)

Today was productive, but there was a significant amount of whining going on. I hope it doesn't bleed over into tomorrow. (For the record, it was the boys. Zorak and I were pretty good today.)

The boys spent most of their day getting on one another's nerves. They were just so contrary. It's funny, if you can step back far enough to view it objectively. Zorak and I got to take turns doing that today. I love the tag-team approach to parenting, because it keeps me from getting too focused on the nit-picky things. I can step back and laugh when the child who cried at the mention of having a chicken leg for lunch receives his PB&J sandwich and promptly says, "I'd like some meat with my lunch, please."
"OK," says the unaware subjective parent (in this case, Zorak, which is why I find the anecdote humorous), "What would you like?"

John thought on it for a bit, then perked right up and said,

(Are you ready for it???)

"Chicken would be nice."

Ah, you just can't make that stuff up! And if you don't get the chance to view it from a distance once in a while, it's easy to start thinking they are trying to make you insane. Or that they already have... But no, that's just the process of learning to navigate the world, learning how to bow out gracefully once you've already said or done something less-than-bright, learning how to communicate all those thoughts and feelings and make sense of the mental mush that IS a five-year old's brain. He's doing just fine, and thankfully, so are we.

The master bedroom looks like an actual room. Tomorrow I'll prime the ceiling and Zorak will put the final skim coat on the tape. It can be textured, painted, carpeted, and moved into this week! Yay!

The kitchen received its final coat of paint today, so now all the outlets can stop dangling like gouged out robot eyes and start looking like proper outlets for a change. The makeshift pantries had to be moved away from the walls, so they all got a thorough cleaning, as well. That felt good.

The green in the dining room has grown on us. Thankful for that.

Balto went to the store with us today. He is such a chicken. He wants to ride in the Suburban, but he's afraid to jump in. Then we get home and he's afraid to jump back out. He weighs too much now for me to lift him in and out, so he's simply going to have to get over these little issues of his. However, he's a good traveler once he's in, and he thoroughly enjoyed making the trek with us. I liked having him with us, too. He's a sweet thing, and loyal. He's a good dog.

And on that note, the kitchen is clean, oats are soaking for pancakes in the morning, church clothes are laid out, and it's about time for me to hit the hay so I'm not the weak link in the chain tomorrow morning! I'll leave you with a picture from one of our walks about the property. Zorak and I call this one "Jay and Silent Bob: The Early Years"



Kiss those babies!
~Dy