No more poo, please!!

Wow, today has just been one of those days I am wondering if anything I have tried to teach my children has gotten through to them. I wonder if any of it has registered or if we just have good days by chance and then revert to awful off days. (Today being an off day, of course!!) With all the whining, tattling, fit throwing I'm going crazy! Not to mention the poo. Yes, I am so very tired of cleaning poo!!! It seems that is all Gideon does these days and then there is Lyla who we are very very weary of cleaning her messes. For those of you who know her, she is very attached to her blanket and I have now started taking it away every time she does not keep dry panties. Been at it only a few days, but does not seem to be working. Are you kidding!!!!! I had to wash poo out of her swimming suit today! Some may think that I'm expecting too much of her, but as her parents, we really know this is laziness/stubbornness, not truly accidental. Any suggestions? As for Gabrielle, she has been whining constantly today. About everything. All day. When she is "tired". When her "tummy hurts". When "Lyla took that from me". The last straw today was when she had a meltdown because I handed Lyla the blue towel-"the blue one was mine!!". (this was as I was wrapping Lyla in the towel b/c she was naked from me hosing all the poo off!!) You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!! (That didn't seem to stop her, though!) Nap time! And of course then all three of them are upset as I get them all in bed. AAAAAGGHH! But now it's quiet and I must go run a load of laundry because of -yep you guessed it-all the poo!!

Zoo Day

Well ,we survived the week! Jesse comes home tonight!
Six days without a daddy and husband- I thought it was going to be the longest week ever, but we tried to stay somewhat busy and it's gone by pretty quick. (I'm just not used to Jesse being gone. Usually it's the kids and I who have gone somewhere!) I was even able to make it to bed last night the earliest I have all week(I'm planning on taking some Tylenol PM and going to bed around 6 tonight!!)!

Yesterday was our main activity this week, Zoo Day! We live about three hours from the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque and it makes for a perfect day trip.We were even able to get a hold of my Grandma Mick and Jim(who live about the same distance on the other side of Albuquerque) and they met us there. Not too many kids get to go to the zoo with their
great-grandparents! What a treat!

It was a great day. I just loved watching the girls. They had so much energy running from exhibit to exhibit-"look at that Grandma!", "what's that called, Mommy?" "What does he eat?"

My favorite part was watching them in the open grass area(where people picnic and such). They were chasing ducks, little birds, peacocks, and even found a little bunny. They couldn't have been happier! Who cares about the lions, tigers and polar bears? We found ducks!!(I may go on a bit of a picture over load here, but it was too fun to watch them!)

Lyla was always on the run(no big surprise!) They were such good little friends all day, too. That is so good for a mother's heart!

(Yes, Gideon was there, too-I hadn't for gotten him!) His first trip to the zoo! And what little trooper he was. Some other highlights of the day were getting to feed the giraffes,
Watching the elephants splash in the water,

and a train ride through the zoo.
It was fun to be at the zoo, but I mostly enjoyed just enjoying my kids!

So Jesse is out of town this week taking his youth to camp and the kidos and I are on our own. Today was our lazy lazy day. Stayed in jammies 'till about three, had pancakes for "breakfast" around eleven on the living room floor, watched Beauty and the Beast three times, made bead necklaces and bracelets, and painted nails. Then decided to get some fresh air and went walking with a friend. Went to the store to get some yummy treats for the week, came home took baths and got back in our pjs! (It sounds a little girly, but Gideon didn't really mind for today! ) We have a few different things planned for the week but thought this was a great way to start our fun week. Hopefully I can keep up with everyone this week, I don't do very well when Jesse isn't here and he's never been gone for so long. I have to admit...I'm a big scaredy cat!! I just can't sleep without him. Last night I made it to bed around 4 and got a couple hours of sleep before Gideon was up at 7! It's only 10:30 right now, maybe I'll do a little better tonight! I borrowed a stack of movies from my parents to keep me occupied during my long nights- right now I'm watching Shall We Dance. I'd love to be able to dance like that. The other day I was watching a ballroom dance competition on PBS(I love PBS!!) it made me kind of daydream about being a dancer!(A bit of a random comment, I know. Just wanted to share! It is getting late I may just start rambling a bit.) Jesse and I are talking about putting Gabrielle in dance next year and I'm soo excited!! I do hope one of the girls will enjoy dance-one of those silly parent dreams I guess, what we didn't get to do we wish on our kids!

Okay, I really should stop before who knows where I'll go next! But I plan to write more this week-gotta keep busy!

Playing at the park

Don't have much to say today but we got to meet my mom in Durango for a day in the park and thought I'd share some pictures of some pretty cute kids!

My girls love swings!!! They would do it all day long!

Gideon got to to try it out today, thought it was pretty fun!

Then the slide...
Sorry little man, gonna have to wait for that one, but you're doing great sitting up all by yourself!What a great day!

Yes, I've updated!

For those of you whom have informed me that I have not been keeping up on my blog adequately enough for you, here I am! Unfortunately for you, I am recovering from a trip to Phoenix(visiting two of you whom were scolding me-shall remain nameless!!!) and do not have the time to write much! It is 3:54pm and I just got out of the shower!!! And everyone is now up from naps, so this will have to do for now. I have officially updated!! I promise to be back very soon!

Aren't they sweet!!

Time out for Mommy!!

Happy April 1st!

I've barely escaped for a quiet moment to write this morning. Gideon's 2nd tooth has emerged and he is a crabby pants! (I think he has a bit of a cold to his credit, too though.) But it's only 11:30 and I'm wiped out already! He's being so needy that I haven't gotten much done today. Fortunately the girls are so patient and do really well entertaining themselves during these days! Right now Gideon's settling down in his swing and I'm at the table with the girls. Gabrielle is cutting out magazine pictures to make a collage and Lyla is playing with play dough.(Don't worry, I will get off the computer in a minute to join in, I'm not neglecting my children! But sometimes I need a grown up time out-and even this counts!! So I've got my cup of tea and am trying to put together some of my thoughts today! Thanks for coming to listen!) I didn't write on Friday but Gideon rolled over for the first time! From back to front-impressive! It was a big day for him, he was cutting his 2nd tooth ,had his first diaper rash, working on a cough and running nose, he was miserable but decided to roll over anyway! What a little over comer! And yesterday he went from front to back and back again. Before to long he'll be rolling all over the house! Not sure I'm ready for that. He's my baby and I'm really not looking forward to all these new things that mean he's growing up! It is fun to watch all the growing and new discoveries they make, though. Lyla has finally decided she's fully committed to the potty thing. We really had a rough go of it with her. She had all the concepts down early,but has a bit of a stubborn streak. About a week ago we were still having problems and were so frustrated because we absolutely knew it was either stubbornness or laziness so I had to lay down the law. She is a sippy cup lover and has her milk with her almost all day long. So I decided that the next "accident" she had, I was putting the cup away and no milk the next day! She had two days in a row without milk or sippy cup and has only had one accident since!! Amazing what a little motivation can do, I had just been trying all the wrong ones before! Now she goes all by herself all day and is so proud she can do it "all by myself"! I'm so glad she can do it "all by myself", too!!

Well, now that I've done a bit of random writing, (sorry it wasn't very profound, but I feel better!) I think I'd better get back to my little ones! (Gideon has not stopped crying) I'll try to get more pics up soon!