Paint

Since it's been a while since I took the time to write out one of our adventures here (and there has been no shortage) I thought I would rest my aching muscles for a minute and start one.

Today I decided that I would check off one of the many painting projects we have going around the house. Painting the table and chairs from the playroom. We've had this furniture since Jonah was 1, and it originally only came with one table and two chairs. Obviously, 3 girls do not fit at that table amicably anymore. So my dad made two more chairs. Let me tell you, he made the new ones look exactly like the original two. He's pretty awesome at woodworking. You can't tell the new from the old except that the old ones are colored all over, and well, painted.

Which brings me to today. I have had paint for some time, but we've always been too busy to actually do it. For the time being, they will just be white. That's easy to do, and if I decide later down the road to decorate, I can do so then. The plan was to get everything set up, unleash the kids on the back yard, and paint until lunch. I figured I should at least get everything base coated (two coats), and if I need another coat, I can do that during nap time and this evening, when everything would be dry I can assemble.

I had everything ready, and even had an awesome little 3 year old helper who was really good at taking the screws out of the chairs so we could paint them piece by piece. Of course, being 3, Jorja soon lost interest in taking the screws out and began jamming everything she could find into the screw holes and hopefully not completely stripping out all the threads. So she got the boot.

After I finished that, got everything laid out and started spraying primer, they flocked like flies. I had to keep yelling to them to get behind me and not in front of the spray, but they migrated downwind again and again. They were like little huffers. Standing there inhaling and commenting on the smell and how they were getting painted. After some more threatening, yelling, and waving them away, they went back to the swingset and embarked on some dangerous behavior that only went uncorrected becuase they were leaving me alone. I did have to yell a few "be careful's" and "don't wash your sister's hair with dirt" type comments just for appearances. Then there were a million "don't touches" especially to Josie who somehow discovered that dirt and boogers create such a strong substance they could be used to erect a pyramid. We don't need any of that wiped on the pretty white table and chairs.

So everything was primed and ready for the top coat of satin that I found in the garage and decided to use. But one look at the kids and the clock told me I better hold off and do bath and lunch first. They were a mess. I think dirtier than I've ever seen them. Mud, boogers, bug guts, oak tags...oh, and poop on the little one. I couldn't tell if they were three little girls or if someone had delivered children raised by wolves to my home.

I ushered them all into my bathroom for immediate cleansing. Jorja brought me bubble bath and I thought "what the heck". What the heck was right. I should have known it was going to get bad when Jorja held up a handful of bubbles and in her sweetest voice asked "bubble fight, mommy?" I told her no, we had to get some lunch, and then the antics began. Josie stood up with her bum covered in bubbles and Jonah laughed "Josie is wearing bubble panties!" So they all took turns mooning me and showing me their bubble undies over and over. It was one antic after another until Jorja got bubbles in her face and with body fully covered in bubbles, stared waving her arms around screaming. Bubbles were flying everywhere and each time her arms went down, they reloaded and a fresh batch of bubbles was launched. I finally had to jerk her out of the tub, wrap a towel around her and plop her butt on the floor. The others were given the same treatment just for being in the vicinity.

I made and cleaned up lunch, put the little one's in bed and have managed to get one side of all the pieces finished off with the satin top coat. For now, I've lost all will to paint. Hopefully it won't rain because I'm taking a nap and maybe Jason can finish the other side when he gets home from fishing.

Signs that you are potty training

• Your 18 month old stands in the middle of the living room screaming "POO-POO!" and you run to her like a bomb is going off.
• You have on hand (at all times) clean cloths and Resolve Pet Odor and Stain Remover. You panic when the bottle is low.
• You have 3 - yes 3 - potty seats. A cute pink one on the floor, one that attaches to the toilet, and a portable for the van.
• You do loads of laundry based loosely on what color the wet panties are.
• If someone removes the potty book from the bathroom, it's grounds for a spanking.
• One of your toddler's favorite things to say is "Bye, Bye, Poo-poo." as she flushes the toilet.
• Your favorite sound is of pee or poop breaking the surface of the water in the toilet, instead of hitting the floor.

Say cheese!

This is Josie's cheese face, just in case you have never had the pleasure. It always gets a smile out of me.

Since getting Guitar Hero, we have a different sort of family time. The kind the Partridge Family had, only with less raw talent. The girls love it, and we have to play “Livin’ on a prayer” every time.

Wanna know why I haven't been blogging?

Because my priorities are out of whack. (what exactly does "in whack" mean?)

Instead, this is how I should feel:

Psalm 127
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

I need to commit this to memory, especially the parts in bold. I think my days would go much better if I could live this out. It seems to me that verse 2 affects how well I remember verse 3, and verse 3 greatly affects my ability to do verse 2.

On that note, blessing 3 is waking up, and I'm going to take the opportunity to snuggle her before blessings 1 and 2 wake up.

DRUMROLL PLEASE!!!

Our Chicken Mummy is wrapped.

Apparently, we had an extra-juicy chicken. (Tyson, eat your heart out!) But it was finally dry enough to wrap, so today was the day. The smell was very faint compared to those first few weeks. Although, Jonah did say "this smells like a dog", and Jorja responded with "no, it smells like poop!" I think it smelled of rotten cloves.

The girls lost interest in wrapping toward the end, so they watched cartoons while I prettied it up.

Enjoy the slide show: