9 months old

And today, just like on her past 4 "birthdays", she is sick and miserable.

I take a picture of her every month on her birthday, and every picture has been totally pathetic. She is going to look at these pictures someday and think that we beat her.

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day (not really, it just worked out that way) Toby planted the first plant in our vegetable garden. I kept him in the seed aisle at Home Depot for an embarrassing amount of time, so as a reward for being good he got to pick out his very own plant. Of course he picked a red geranium, one of my least favorite colors, and one of my least favorite flowers, but geraniums are on "the list" of insect repellent plants, so, its ok. And it made him happy.
And this picture make me happy. He is so cute (sometimes).

I am going to do everything in my power to make him want to garden with me.

Put in check

I went to Hobby Lobby with the kids today. We had already run a few other errands, and they had been pretty good. I debated calling it a day while things were still relatively peaceful but decided to risk it, so we headed out to make one more stop. Of course Aimee fell asleep during the 2 minute car ride from one store to the next. I again debated just heading for home, but I love Hobby Lobby, so in we went. I managed to get Aimee through the slushy rainy snow stuff and into a cart in the store still asleep. So far so good. Toby immediately located a display of little plastic trucks and he chose one to "drive" around while we shopped.

Mommys turn. We headed to an aisle of decorative ceramic bunny's. We weren't there even a minute when Toby drove a truck over one and sent it crashing to the floor. Dang! (Luckily{?} this particular figurine had obviously already been busted by someone else's kid, and there were various pieces of it all over, so, I concluded that I wasn't obligated to buy it)(right? don't know).
So, I restated the rules very clearly(DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. NOTHING. ONLY THE TRUCK. DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING ELSE), and we moved on. 20 seconds later he was attempting to drive a decorative wheel barrel.(I should have left then). 30 seconds after that he was collecting packages of party napkins. Then it was Easter banners. When he went for the 4 foot tall decorative model lighthouse covered in seashells I picked him up and informed him that I would be carrying him until we got the heck out of there, and there would be no further discussion.

I was fired up. I was mentally trying to determine if my voice truly is inaudible to males, or if I should just give up my vain attempts at parenting and discipline, and just send the kids to military school.
Two aisles later I was carrying the 43 pound Toby in one arm and driving the cart with a sleeping Aimee with the other arm, and I was NOT giving up until I got what I had come for. By this time the whining and debating had stopped and Toby had been silent for a minute or so. I was still fully on the defensive.

Then, out of the blue, Toby announced "I am going to spit on the ground!"
What!? I was appalled! I was immediately thinking of it as some sort of deep gesture of disrespect.
I snapped back "if you do I will slap your face".
He paused. He looked confused. He thought about it. Seemingly trying to decide if it was worth it.

Then he quietly reflected "But, Mommy, Jesus did it"

Gasp. Huh? What just happened? I felt like I had been punch in the stomach.
We stopped and sat in the aisle and discussed. I apologized.
Suck! I suck.

Ugh! Why do I do this!?

I bought a wagon today. If you know me, you already know the whole story.....later.