I decided to get out of the house today with they boys. We went to JoAnns (which they hate) and then to Chuck E Cheese's for lunch. It was nice to get out, but I can't say it was any less stressful. At least Ethan wasn't able destroy things at home since he was strapped into a stroller much of the day. But then he seemed to make up for lost time after we got home. He nearly broke the chalkboard portion of the new easel I bought for school. He just walked right across it while I was assembling the whole thing. Before I finished that task, he managed to find some scissors and cut through the strap of my BRAND NEW Crocs that JUST came in the mail today. How does he think of these things??? Sometimes I just want to scream--today I just settled for crying.

The Tindols were here for dinner Tuesday and ended up staying the night. We always enjoy having them over.

Ethan's Adventures

Well, he's up to his usual methods. :o) Tonight he took a tube of my makeup (Arbonne, no less) and squirted it all over the living room carpet. Of course, it won't come up. Later when he was supposed to be in bed, I walked in to find him on the step stool in his bathroom trying to drink water from the tank of the humidifier. He had his diaper off and both legs in one hole of a pair of underwear halfway up his legs. Yesterday he dumped a potty full of pee right onto the bathroom floor. . .oh, the list could go on and on. He stays quite busy and always manages to achieve the shock factor. Somehow he rarely does the same thing twice. I don't know where he gets the imagination. Or maybe he's been reading a book I don't know about or something--Top 100 Ways to Shock and Enrage Your Parents. All he knows is he's having a lot of fun.

On a different note, we went to the zoo yesterday. It was a beautiful day, and it almost seemed like we were on a mini vacation. Nathan pretty much took the day off, and we had a really good time. We bought a membership to the zoo so I'll be taking the boys back soon.

Abby's in China for her 12th birthday.

Well, Daniel's Kindergarten graduation was over a week ago now--May 19. He did a great job! We were the first people there in hopes of getting a decent place to sit. We had good seats, but Desiree White was standing in front of him, and even though he was a step above her she still blocked half of his face. :0) Mama and Daddy came and brought Grady, Brody and Enoch with them. It was a crazy night. Of course, Grady and Brody were asleep the minute the lights went out. Daniel, Joseph and Enoch were up forever. They were all up early since Grady and Brody are such early risers. It was fun for the boys though, and I enjoyed the visit with Mama and Daddy.

They brought some things for me that belonged to Granny. Her cookbook and some pictures of the boys that I had given her over the years, a bucket of buttons, and a cross stitch I'd made for her a very long time ago. Granny fell this week at the nursing home. I guess nothing was broken--she's just really sore.

Jordan rolled over for the first time a week ago yesterday (May 22). The same day that the Howletts came for a visit. He's growing so fast. I need to figure out how to post pictures on here soon.

Yesterday was a busy day. Karah came over to make strawberry jam, Jennifer came to go through the books I'm getting rid of, and later we went to eat and buy groceries. All in all, a pretty uneventful week, but busy as usual.

I took the boys to pick a few strawberries this morning. We ended up with 11 quarts--Daniel and Joseph picked three of those. I'm beginning to think that they will have them all eaten before I have chance to put any in the freezer.

Today Ethan tore up the hat I made for his first birthday. It was on the shelf over his bed along with some small picture frames. He took the pictures from the frames and stuck them behind his bed. He also poured his cup of water all over my shelf with the cookbooks on it. The damage was minimal today since we went to pick strawberries and he was strapped into the carseat a lot of the morning.

My first post, hmm. . .what to write about. Well, among the four boys, one of them is always saying or doing somethng interesting, funny, annoying, mindboggling--you name it. I just wanted to get some of it down because I forget so easily, and one day I'll really enjoy looking back to remember just how crazy life was. For now, I'm choosing not to make the blog public. I don't want wondering what someone else might think to keep me from writing how I want to. I hate the fact that I worry so much about what others think, but that's just how I am. I'm sure I can't keep you, Nathan, from reading my posts every so often, but with your sometimes critical ways (which you come by quite honestly), I'm even a little hesitant with you. I guess we'll see what today holds, and I'll post again tonight.