Mommy's Little Helper

One step forward, two steps back.

If I could sum up my week, that'd be the phrase I'd use.

For every one thing I get done...

Somebody - and I'm not naming any names, but his name rhymes with "Marley"- helps me take at least 2 steps in the opposite direction.

The direction of Disaster. And Destruction.

We'll get it all packed eventually...

I hope.

Have I ever mentioned how much it helps that he's intensely cute?

'Cause it does. It really does.

thumbody is growing up

During our 4th of July festivities, Avery burned her thumb on a sparkler.

And yes, if you're keeping score, I've definitely racked up enough points to qualify for Mom of the Year. And it's only July.

I have to admit that when it happened, I thought to myself, "Hmmm... this could be the thing that keeps her from sucking her thumb long enough to break the habit." Because a true Mom of the Year looks at her child's injury as a opportunity to make her life easier.

Alright, alright, let me 'splain myself a bit:

After 3 1/2 years of observing Avery's intense affection for her thumb, I've become a little concerned; Concerned that breaking her of the habit would be horribly horrible.

Beyond horribly horrible.

Detoxing a Crack-Addict horrible.

In an effort to prepare myself for the inevitable, I talked with Dentists, consulted with other Mom of the Year Candidates, and conducted my own online investigation.

The options aren't even close to appealing.

First, there's the $68.00 thumb-guard. Which looks like a medieval torture device of some sort.

Pricey.

Scary.

And let's be honest: a little embarrassing.

Am I right?

I'll let my kid wear p.j.s to Wal-mart, but I draw the line at the thumb guard.

I've got standards, people.

Next option: Horrible-tasting sprays and/or ointments

I weighed the options.

I considered the possibilities.

They all stunk (stanked? stunked? stinked?).

Every one of them.

They all spelled t-o-r-t-u-r-e for Avery AND Mommy.

So when Avery's sparkler injury started to heal a bit, I took a look at her bandaged finger and discovered that her while the burned part of her finger had healed, the entire area that the band-aid covered was infected.

I'll be honest, I freaked out a little bit.

Warning: the following picture is not for the weak of heart.

And definitely don't enlarge it.

Unless you are a glutton for punishment.

It was time to visit Dr. Catherine.

Avery was not pleased.

She loves to visit Dr. Catherine when Charlie has an appointment. In fact, she thinks it's pretty fun.

She does not, however, think it's fun to visit Dr. Catherine when she has an appointment.

There was a lot of screaming.

Followed by more screaming.

And a little wailing.

So - Mommy of the Year brought out the bribery tools: a.k.a. a promised trip to the ice cream store.

And a trip to the Teacher Store for some stickers and a chart - so that I could prolong the bribery and attempt to break her of her habit for good.

The deal: fill up the chart and get a super-cool prize.

A Big Girl prize.

A prize worthy of a truly momentous occasion:

(photo from American Girl website)

So far, so good. I think we're almost half-way through the chart now.

Looks like a visit to the American Girl store may be in our future!

And a big 'ol trophy for Mommy of the Year.

wordless wednesday: worst carwash ever.

nesting

One of Avery's favorite things to do is to make "nests" outside...for the ants.

Yep. For the ants.

Cause everyone wants to make the ants more comfortable right in front of their house.

I guess it's better than making them welcome IN your house...

Charlie wanted to join in the fun - which for him means destroying everything that Avery is trying to create..

Avery caught on and quickly guarded her handiwork...

But not before El Crafti-one grabbed a nest peice for the road.

So - if you drive by our house and see several clumps of dirt randomly placed in our yard, you'll know where it came from.

a little crafty fun

I am totally loving the Bit of Whimsy doll pattern I bought a few months ago. Once I got past the initial shock of figuring out how to use a sewing machine, making the dolls turned out to be really fun.

Here's my niece Abby with the doll I made her for her birthday (on the right) and her sister's birthday doll (on the left).

Abby's little sister specifically asked for purple hair on her doll.

I have to admit that I wasn't so sure how purple hair would turn out, but - that shows what I know.

Kids are so creative.

I've got plans to make a doll for Avery in the next few weeks based on her favorite book:

(www.amazon.com )

Check back for the pictures!

from the mouths of babes...

David:
We won't make mommy take the boxes down from the attic. That's a boy's job.

Avery:
And it's a girl's job to tell (you) what to do.

Oh, you.

Dude, where's my sippy cup?

Things you do when you're trying to sell a house:

1. Clean the tile grout with a scrub brush.

2. Wash the windows.

3. Organize the pantry.

4. Ruthlessly purge all unnecessary clothing

5. Actually put clothes away after they've been folded

6. Clean out and organize closets

7. Attempt to clean the gunk off the microwave in a timely manner

8. Dust

9. Make the beds. The right way. Or even at all.

10. Remove 1/2 of everything you own so that the house looks...not as small as it really is.

All are things that you feel totally and completely required to do when your Realtor adds this sign to your front yard:

Talk about pressure...

Sheesh.

You may be the type of Mommy who manages to do those things everyday - between homeschooling your nineteen children, grinding your own wheat to make bread, and growing your own organic vegetable garden- but I'm... not.

In fact, I can't even manage to find the extra time to investigate where the heinous sour milk odor is coming from in my car. I just know there's a sippy cup in there somewhere...

(Last night, Avery aksed me to pray that God will make our car not smell anymore. Fantastic).

So, I think it's pretty clear that cleaning out the Crisper Drawer in my fridge isn't a top priority.

Especially when most of my day is spent cleaning up messes like this one:

...A.K.A. the aftermath of Hurricane Charlie.

That picture is the hard-hitting evidence of Charlie's fondness for dumping Gunner's water bowl all over the floor.

It's also evidence of Avery's fondness for her Hello Kitty rain boots...and her equal fondness for stomping in puddles in her rain boots.

And there you have it.

The reason that Mommy's next house may be the Nuthouse.

Good news: We have a contract on Itty Bitty House and should be moving out soon.

July 25th to be exact.

Not to a new city, just a new house.

Hopefully one that isn't so...itty bitty.

SO  - with the inspection over and contract signed, my house looks like a Tornado/Bomb ripped through it again...Ahhhh...back to normal...

Can't wait to see what God has in store for us next.

Finding that sippy cup may need to be step one.

Followed closely by packing.

I'll keep you posted.