distracted.

Today is just one of those days.  You know the ones.  Where your mind has a million thoughts spinning around, playing tag, never catching up, and certainly not organized.  There is hardly any room for the thoughts for normal everyday life.  One moment, I'm wishing they'd all go away and give me some peace.  And the next, I want to think about every one in so much detail because I genuinely LOVE thinking.

Then there's this mini implosion in my brain...and by the end of the day I'm so exhausted.

Yes...today is one of those days.  I feel bad for the kiddos, because I'm not as focused on them as I could be.  So much so, that while I was feeding Ender, I got lost in skimming my facebook newsfeed and failed to notice that Miss K was being far too quiet.  All of the sudden I hear a thud and she begins crying and exclaiming, "Uh-oh!" in quite a frantic manner.  Yanked rudely from my thought-laden reverie and mindless facebook stalking, I take a still-feeding Ender to the bathroom to find quite the scene.

Hydrogen peroxide is spilled all over the floor, and there are about 10 (flushable) wipes in the (clean) toilet.  Sure, HP is clear and pretty harmless.  Sure, the wipes were flushable (though I'm not sure if ten are...so I fished them out).  And I have a slightly hysterical girl who obviously feels bad for the mishap she has caused.  How does one discipline a child who already feels so bad for her actions?  Answer: i have no idea.

Well since then (that was about twenty minutes ago) she has been wandering around the house being really weepy.  if I try to engage her, she cries and lays dramatically on a pillow mumbling something about Ender and the puppy.  If I ignore her, she comes to me and weepily begs "up" onto my lap.  And sits whimpering and not wanting to do anything.

All clear signs she is in need of a nap, even though it's only 10:02. So we got some "melp" (milk) and popped her in bed.  She went willingly.  Somehow she knows...she just knows.  Whew. Baby #2 has a full tummy, a clean diaper and will be ready for his nap in about an hour.  right now he's just hanging out on my lap, occasionally banging the keyboard.

This week has been VBS.  Pretty last minute, I realized that I wasn't going to be working at the restaurant.  So I was able to participate fully.  Which transitioned me from "helping" to teaching.  It went well...there was a bit of winging-it, so to speak.  But I teach 5 year olds...they don't know when I don't know what I'm doing.  =)  (if you are a parent of one of the kids in VBS, reading this...don't worry, Mary is helping a LOT, and your kids are learning much regarding Jesus.)

Anyway, one of the families at church does a mentorship program with their children.  So they brought their mentee and his little brother.

This is Ray-von.  He is four.  Sweet little boy with a sad background.  He was asking why my dog licked so much and I told him because she likes to give kisses.  Our conversation went something like this:

R: why she wanna give kisses?

S: Well cuz she liked you.  don't you ever get kisses from anyone?

R: Nah.

S: No one?!  

R: well my momma gave me one.

S: Well I'm gonna give you lots of kisses tonight, is that ok?

R: *with a big smile on his face* Uh-huh!

The whole evening I'd give him a kiss on the cheek, and he'd turn around and give me one back.  It was so sweet.  The kid just needed some lovin'.  

Alright, moving on.

Sierra.  

Oh the love and frustration I feel towards her on a regular basis. 

She recently discovered that she loves swimming. So when we go to the dog park, her energy is drained by me throwing sticks in the pond and her getting them.  over and over again.  It really is a lot of fun...and requires no physical exercise for me (other than repetitive arm motions).  But when she doesn't get enough of that...

...this happens.

I was SO upset when I came home and found this.  She discovered how to open my trash can (bought specifically with a lid so she couldn't get in it).  And she chewed up and spread out all the trash (it was full).  Then she pulled out the plastic removable pail (for trash-emptying convenience), and proceeded to bite it all to smithereens and strew it about the bathroom as well.   I found my NEW glasses on the floor, with three little teeth marks on the glass, and the frame bent. she got  all cute and jumpy and I was SO not in the mood to be nice.  I took deep breaths, asked God for patience, asked myself if she was worth it, and repeated to myself over and over, "They're just things...they're just things."

I still have Sierra.  She is still cute.  And worth it. 

The other day at work, it was really slow.  I was talking to our executive chef, Greg, and we got on the subject of fish.  This is not unusual.  As one could imagine, he loves talking about food...and his words sound like poetry as he describes various ingredients prepared different ways and how they are arranged on a plate to compliment each other.   Anyway, he told me we had just gotten in an Alaskan King Salmon and he was about to filet it and invited me to watch.  Well not only is Greg a fantastic chef, he's got some mad filleting skills.  Not to mention, he explained the whole thing step-by-step as he was doing it. 

This is the King Salmon himself before Greg got a hold of him.  Good sized fish, right there.

It really was like watching an artist.   I asked him what his favorite meat to work with was, and he said seafood.  It was quite apparent in how well he handled that fish.

Now on to kidlet pictures:

Miss Karlina strapping her hug-a-bear into the booster.  She loves imitating real life with her babies and bears...

...or Ender's little noise-machine lamb

 

we still haven't used this potty formally, but it sits in the bathroom, waiting for JUST the right day to be put into use.  Lucky me gets to do a fair amount of the potty training process! 

Technically, Ender is supposed to take his naps in his Moses Basket.  But he fell asleep while I was carrying him around in the front-carrier, and I just didn't want to put him down.  So he laid on my lap like this for a long time, while I just looked at him.  I love the innocence, serenity, leg pose, and perfection of his little body.

Sometimes Karlina loves getting up on a chair by the sink to help Auntie "wash dishes."  This usually consists of a steady flow of water, with a lot of plastic containers (measuring cups, sippy cups, tupperware, bottles, etc...).  She can entertain herself for a LONG time here. Until she starts dripping the water on the floor on purpose, followed by a million "uh-oh's" until I come over and make her stop.  (she tends to do "naughty" things on purpose and then clear her name by saying "uh-oh"...as if that makes it all better.  silly girl.) 

The apron is one of her favorite things to wear, and it's just so cute!

Here we go...

I love looking at this happy face.  He's such a well-behaved and good looking baby.  We have so much fun giggling and smiling at each other.  He has ticklish toes and sides and he loves being "scared."  All I have to do is put my head down, and then bring it up quick and growl like a bear, and he just laaaaughs and laughs. 

 

 I love her cheesy grin.  You may be wondering why the pool water is so muddy.  Well, there is a lot of mud, and sierra runs in the dirt and then jumps in the pool to cool down.  But Karlina doesn't mind.  =)

And just to finish you off with some absolute adorableness.  Here is Ender laughing at his Daddy.