Reading, Dancing, Swords, and Hide and Seek

What did we do today? Oh boy. We did a lot and yet it feels like I got nothing accomplished. Both boys were very self sufficient today. In the time it took me to get out of bed, use the toilet, wash my face and come downstairs, the boys helped themselves to the last chocolate chip cookie, the melba toasts, a pear, and DS1 got out bowls, had cereal poured, and was pouring the milk. Impressed, yet a bit annoyed at the amount of spilled milk, crumbs, and the eating of a cookie for breakfast - but it was made out of oatmeal and whole wheat, and they were sharing it.

play silks were attached like this

After I made myself breakfast and ate it, we read a ton of books on the couch, most of which I already listed in prior posts. We then listened to Making Music, Praying Twice - Winter Ordinary Time - as I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. DS1 colored, and DS2 played quietly in another room, then I played some CDs I borrowed from the library. The boys got out their tinker toys which they fashioned into swords, their play silks, which I had to fasten into capes, and their cardboard shields. I danced, they fought, then then told me I was Peter Pan and had to fight them, "man-to-man."

Snack time consisted of a small helping of goldfish crackers, half a toasted english muffin with peanut butter, and half a clementine (all for each boy).

We then played a long game of hide-and-see
k. DS1 was having a rough time finding me today. DS2 must hide with whoever is not seeking. In DS1's defense I did have the music turned up nicely so we could hear it all over the house, that probably hindered him from hearing DS2 giggling and shutting doors, trying to give our hiding space away. At one point I was able to sneak upstairs and hid next to my bed behind a pillow. I was sure they would find me, but they just popped their heads into my room, didn't see me and walked right out. I got some decent Facebook time in - LOL!

As I was making lunch, enchiladas, DS1 decided he was hungry and had to take matters into his own hands - he got out cereal for himself and his brother again. We are now officially out of cereal. I will be heading to the grocery store tomorrow after our schedule at the local recreational center. DS1 starts gymnastics tomorrow and then we have a swimming play-date to follow. A friend called as I was getting my lunch ready - chicken enchiladas with plain yogurt. We had them for dinner since and after the boys tasted it, they loved it and wanted more, which I didn't have anymore since I had to eat it twice today. But they got to eat more of their pear from the morning. I cut up the pear since it had half a dozen bite marks and was put down in the morning. I guess they really didn't like the green pears that they insisted on buying. That was the final pear of the four I bought and they insisted on eating before they were ripe.

A surprise Valentine's package arrived in the mail from my in-laws for the boys and I. We all got a heart shaped box of chocolates, both boys got a spiderman sweatshirt (which they just LOVE), a life sized baby alligator that squeaks (so it sounds like a real alligator - and they LOVE it too), lovely board books about how much they are loved (the books had them giggling in stitches and I had to read them again and again and again), and a Harry Potter Valentine; and I got a pair of Valentine themed socks (can't go wrong with socks!), along with a nice little note tucked into my card. My in-laws are very sweet and generous with the holidays.

The boys were hungry again around 2pm because a bowl of cereal just doesn't hit the spot very well, so I gave each of them a hard boiled egg while I was finishing my lunch.

After dinner we listened to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, from The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, on the computer in my room up stairs while the boys played who can hop on Mommy in bed while she's trying to listen to the story. They beg to listen, but they never seem to pay attention…I guess that's just what happens with you're almost five years old. It's just much more fun to do tumbling on the bed and see how hard we can body slam each other. While I wasn't getting body slammed, I went onto our library's catalog and put items on hold on different topics: alligators (because we got the toys), owls, animals in winter, poetry, and books regarding the tender topic preventing sexual abuse (how to say no, be the "boss of me", and the right touch - because stories such as these: "MONSTERS SPEAK OUT: Molesters tell how they 'groom' children for sex" keep coming up). By the way, have you read Protecting the Gift, by Gavin de Becker? If you haven't, I totes (do you like how I'm keeping up with the times? It feels so weird to write that) recommend it to ALL parents.

We then did our bedtime routine, brushed our teeth - the boys have been asking me to push an imaginary button on their toothbrushes and pretend that it's the dentist's polisher - I have to make the buzzing noise. It's fun except when the two year old decides he doesn't need help getting his teeth brushed anymore so you have to wrestle him to get into his mouth, but the four year old needs lots of prodding to get started on brushing his own teeth and still loves you to do the final go-over.

We re-read the books from the in-laws in bed along with another goodnight book they bought us over a year ago which always ends in giggles as we say goodnight to the body parts - especially when the mama hippo hugs baby hippo's bum and we say good night to the bum. Prayers were next, then the begging for water, DS2 spilling water all over himself because he didn't want to sit up, and then he needed a full change. Oh the life of a 2 year old - so stubborn. DS1 didn't want to go to sleep and wanted to ask endless questions about Narnia: Is the White Witch good? Why is she nice to Edmund? How is she fake nice?

how is the White Witch so evil? why do her eyes turn black in the movie? why do we have black in our eyes? does that mean that we're evil? what's the white in our eyes? what's the White Witch's name? does Aslan kill the White Witch? why doesn't he kill the White Witch? does he love the White Witch?….and on, and on, and on, and on, and on until I answered so many I just said, "you have to wait for tomorrow to ask me, I'm too tired." I then pretended to fall asleep and he started pulling my ears and elbowing me to get me to wake up so he could ask me if he could get a drink from his cup at his bedside table. I told him he didn't need to ask me, he just needs to go to sleep. Oi vey!