Uh oh, never a dull moment.

So, Linley Claire is going on 3.  With Caleb, I have blogged and blogged about all of his antics.  Let's just say Linley Claire, giving him a run for his money. This all happened just THIS week, so far we are only 5 days into this week.

Sunday:  Linley is telling me she has pooped in her diaper.  So, off we go, let's go clean up (yes, she is NOT potty trained, not for lack of trying on my part).  I notice on her way down from the top bunkin the boys' room that there was a little on her leg, her diaper must have leaked.  Then, I see her hands, specifically her fingers.  Of course, I had to smell because you never know who has been sneaking chocolate around here.  Rest assured, this is definitely NOT chocolate.  Off to the bathroom to wash hands along with a lecture that we do not stick our hands in our diaper and touch poop.  Then, to change the diaper I now see the front of her legs.  There is smeared poop all up and down her right leg.  Picture dried chocolate pudding here.  Seriously?  Why on God's green earth would you put poop on a leg?  So now, as I'm changing the diaper I know that there has to be poop somewhere else.
Me: Linley, where is the rest of the poop?
Linley: In my diaper.
Me: Linley, where is the rest of the poop you pulled out of your diaper?
Linley: In Ethan's bed.

For the love, you have got to be kidding me.  I call John, who doesn't even question when I say strip Ethan's bed, don't show it to me, just put it in the washer.

Tuesday: I'm teaching library at the new Christian school we have started at our church. Mrs. Jeanne, John's mom, is watching the girls.  I'm into the lesson on fiction versus non-fiction when I hear our music minister say, Tori Cole? She's right there?  So, who is that woman running frantically through the church looking for me?  Oh, surely not MY MOTHER IN LAW WHO HAS BOTH GIRLS!!!  After about a mini-heart attack I am told that Linley has stuffed a lego up her nose and she cannot get it out and she is here with both of them.  Thankfully our music minister had the light app on his phone, and yes, far up in the left nostril is a lego, lodged in her nostril, behind the cartilage.  I closed her right nostril and blew in her mouth.  Nothing. Did it again, nothing.  Did I mention that to do this to a two year old surrounded by adults is really not the easiest way to get a lego out.  I finally get the dr on the phone, Russ is calling John who is teaching a college class at the moment,  and I'm trying to convince Linley to blow her nose.  Let's just say there is a reason God made her the child who can blow her nose the best.  Out it shot onto the sanctuary floor during one good blow.  Bless her. I really didn't know whether to laugh or cry considering our pastor walks out with the longest pair of tweezers I've ever seen in my life to help with the situation.

Wednesday: Abigail is sick with a cold and mad as a hornet. I take her to get the mail and walk back in, and I hear Linley.  Crying. Seriously?  I took a couple steps out of the house to get the mail and what has she done?  Gotten in the jumparoo and gotten stuck.  Picture this, her knees are touching the ground and her ankles are behind her back.  And she is stuck.  I mean, I'm pulling her and pulling her and canNOT get her out. I eventually turn the thing over sideways, move an ankle, and tug and out she pops.  Now, she laughs hysterically at this: "I stuck in dere."

Thursday:  I'm getting orders together for my business in the basement. She is down there with me doing her thing.  She tells me now, "I stuck." She is literally 5 feet from me standing but she has walked around some boxes and the treadmill.  "Are you stuck over there? Just walk back around the treadmill?" You know, she's two.  Just walk around it.  No no. She is STUCK. To the GLUE board that has some other insects stuck to it like a couple dead beets among other insects (this is our basement).  So I go over and have to hold onto the glue board, she tugs her legs, and finally her foot comes off the glue board.  And the dead insects stay on.  Lecture again: we do not put our feet on glue boards with insects stuck to them.

This girl, oh this girl.  She cracks me up constantly and truly is a blessing.  This afternoon I told her, in the car, to just take a nap for a minute.  And I turn back around, next thing I know, I hear snoring. Love her.

Turkey Break

Lots of things going on around here as usual. If I had time to write weekly I would, but I don't. So here is everything all at once.

I want to be like my kids when I grow up.

We've been talking about ISIS lately and what is happening to Christians in other countries. Specifically, children who love Jesus enough to die for Him.  The boys were discussing this right before prayer time the other night.

Caleb: Yes!!!!!  I want to die!!! I GET TO SEE JESUS!!!!!!

Ethan:  No.  We can't die yet. We need to tell others about Jesus.

Yeah, so I just sat there in silence.  My kids, no worries, no what would happen to me?  Just complete elation to see Jesus and the other the job that needs to be done.  Man.  I want to be like them when I grow up.

The Ten Commandments

Last week we went to the park while Ethan played soccer.  Caleb hit a little girl.  I didn't see it, but I knew it was him because he WILLINGLY went and apologized to her when I told him to.  (Please understand, Caleb does not WILLINGLY apologize to anyone.)  So even though I asked him if he hit her and he said, "No I didn't do it," and "She hit me in the back" I knew that the truth was not being told.  I let that one slide about lying.  For one, I was at the park surrounded by people, 2, monumental step forward for him not throwing a fit to say sorry to a complete stranger, and 3, I had a baby strapped to my chest and a two year old running around my feet.

The next night all 3 are in the tub.  We have the color tablets and I have a rule that only one or two get to go in the tub a night. We don't need brown water, it's dirty enough.  So, when I spilled them and turn around to start picking them up Caleb jumps out of the tub and grabs another and quickly throws it in the tub.  Then, he tells on himself (guilty conscience).  

Caleb: I put another one in.  (Now quickly) One of those fell in the tub.

Me: Caleb, you are lying. That is not the truth.  That does not make God happy, that is breaking one of the ten commandments...we have our talk.  Caleb, that is two times that I have caught you lying.  More discipline talk.

Caleb: tantrum in tub

Ethan: Mom, you need to show grace to Caleb.   Remember, Jesus shows us grace and you should show him some grace.

Me: Ethan, Caleb is lying. I love him too much the let him sin. He has to learn that he can't lie.  

Caleb: continue fit

Ethan to Caleb: Ethan gives him a big lesson on discipline and ends with this: "You won't want to sin anymore and Mom loves you and wants to teach you not to sin."

At this point I think Ethan should be the parent.  

Linley Claire has dropped taking her paci. She just forgot about it one night and I never mentioned it because I knew it was somewhere OUTSIDE and there was no way I was going to look around outside at 9 at night for a paci.  I mean, I did that last week, I'm not going to do it again this week.  So, she's only asked for it a few times.  I mean, wow.  God blessed me with this answer to prayer. Now I'm moving on to potty training.  Here's to hoping she does it by herself...there is always a chance right?

Turkey break 

Our steer decided to wreak havoc on the turkey pen.  So they are out now.  I'm not a big fan of the turkeys, let's leave it at that.  Last night I was taking Caleb to soccer practice and I drive by our neighbors house and out of the corner of my eye I see some huge birds on top of their car.  Is it a crane? Hmm, that's weird.  Then, I turn and I see it:

Those are our turkeys on top of their car.  Holy cow. So naturally I call John.  He is dealing with Abigail so I turn around and go back and deal with them.  I start hysterically waving my arms and they just stare at me.  I grab a stick and try to shew them and they turn their backs to me, I throw the stick and it sticks in the feathers.  For crying out loud, help a girl out here.  I grab a long stick and am running around the car poking them trying to get them off.  As I am doing this, they are pooping quarter cups fulls of poop all over the top of their car.  Are you kidding me?   I finally get the female off and then I start poking at Tom.  Tom, the one with the black beard and on the hood, is kind of arrogant and likes to strut his stuff. I have to say I was running on the other side of the car to get back to the van making sure he wasn't chasing me.  

I get back in the van, Caleb is in the middle next to Linley watching all of this go down.  I wonder what he thinks in his head about me?  We start heading to soccer practice.  I call John. He asks me if I tried to get them to head back to our house. And that's a negative.  Last time I saw them they were headed to the big road, and honestly, I wasn't about to stop them.  We make it to soccer after all of this and low and behold, soccer is CANCELLED.  Now Linley Claire is throwing a fit because she wants to go to soccer practice.  Bless her.  She's two.  Soccer is for Caleb.  We get home after this thirty minute rendezvous and John has the turkeys back in the pen and Abigail asleep.  At least that's accomplished.  I talked to our neighbors this morning and apologized and offered the boys' services of cleaning the car but they had already done it (it's 10 in the morning!! holy cow!!) and she was wondering what it was on there.  Squirrel, cat?  I don't know why she wouldn't right off the bat think of turkeys.  I mean, that's only natural.
*If you want two midget white turkeys, John has them listed on craigslist.  I'm sure we will give you a good deal for them!*

Just a few of the blessings going on around here and I wouldn't change a thing, Well, except for the pooping turkeys, but what would one of my blogs be without a little bit of poop?