Whump

Whump

Whump

THUMP!!!

Did you know monsters live behind holes in the wall?

I didn't either, not until Marshall threw a chair down the stairs, that is. But it's okay, the wall stopped its fall.


After his debut at redecorating my house he retrieved a flashlight from the closet and sat there, waiting for the monsters to come out.


"Monsters in there, Mommy, monsters!"

"Oh, are there monsters in there?"

"Yes, monsters. Monsters get me."

At one point he actually stuck his finger in the hole, yelped, claimed he was bitten, and cowered on my lap.

"You know, Marshall, if you don't throw things down the stairs, you won't make holes. And if you don't make holes, the monsters can't get out."

I have no idea if my last-ditch effort at stopping his throwing habit actually soaked in, but no chairs have been thrown since.

We're taking our time fixing the hole.

Our Halloween Week in Pictures

Pumpkin carving with Papa

Yes...my husband planned to make this...

Moapa's Haunted Corn Maze







My brave fireman, my sweet princess, and my wee little pirate


Here's to hoping everyone's Halloween week was full of candy and fun!

Have you ever heard an explosion in your house?

I hadn't either until today.

"Mom! Guess what!!"

"What?"

"We're having fun with the stairs!"

"Um...what do you mean?"

Suddenly I heard one of the worst sounds this house has ever been witness to.

Airplanes have been quieter than this.

I ran to the stairs to find:
1) Toys scattered knee-high at the bottom
2) All three toy tubs in a jumbled heap amongst the wreckage
3) A trail of toys leading up to the guilty ones
4) And Marshall underneath one of the tubs

"DID YOU THROW YOUR BROTHER DOWN THE STAIRS?!?!"

"No, Mommy! He was down there already!"
"We promise!"

"See, Mommy? We protected him from the avalanche!"
"Yeah, we put him under the toy tub!"

Marshall's two 'protectors' spent the next hour cleaning up their avalanche, wiping down the walls, and endured lengthy lecturing on 'really dumb things to do with your little brother.' Oh - and if anyone has any odd chores needing to be done, they're available for hire.

They're currently saving up to replace one of the newly broken tubs. Somehow it just didn't survive the crash.

Imagine that.

Revenge is Best Served by a Four-Year-Old

Madison wanted to do my hair today. She brought down brushes and combs, clips and bands, and sat behind me ready to do some damage.

"Mommy, hold still!"

"Mommy, if you keep moving, I'm going to have to start over again!"

"Aargh! Mommy! You moved and now I have to start all over again!"

"Mommy, stare straight ahead!"

I hadn't moved an ounce! I swear it! Suddenly I realized every word out of my babe's mouth was not her own, but words she's heard while having her own hair tugged and pulled.

Oh, man.

She's repeating MY words!

Is that what I sound like to her? No wonder she fights me on getting her hair done!

I sat quite still while she finished. I didn't even flinch when she raked the comb across the corner of my eye.

"There, all done. Now try not to mess it up today because it looks really cute. Okay, Mommy?"

"Okay, Madison...and sweetie?"

"What Mommy?"

"Lesson learned."

She gave me a puzzled look and ran upstairs to play.

Yep. This lesson is definitely learned.

Hmm...

When you pick up a few cars here, a few there,

stuff some in a Christmas stocking,

and wrap others for birthdays,

you don't realize just how many you have 'till you're busy in the kitchen, turn around and

HOLY COW!!

Does my son really own that many cars?!?

No, your eldest tells you, there's more upstairs.


...and he's right.

Patience is a virtue

"Marshall, feet don't go on the table, please put it down."

"Marshall, listen to Mommy, put your foot down."

"Marshall, put your foot down now! Time to get down from the table!"

"Marshall you're going to spill my!!"



"MARSHALL JAMES MORRIS!!!"


You know what I realized while scooping chunks of dinner off my lap?

I hate virtues.

When I was little, I lived in a house with a basement.

At night, that's where the evil monsters lived (when they were no longer under my bed).

But when the sun was shining, it was a playhouse, it was our hide-and-seek land, and one glorious day it became Adventure Land.

And it all started with a mattress.

Just a simple, old, mattress, leaning against the wall.

No, that memory is wrong. It wasn't a mattress.

IT WAS A MOUNTAIN

A big, tall, mountain and once the climber reached the top, the reward was sliding down to ground level.

We slid down the mountain for days.

Eventually, that wasn't enough, so cardboard boxes, blankets, even pillows were dragged to the top of our mountain providing more speed to the bottom.

I remember my mountain

My kids don't have a basement.

But we DO have stairs,

...and a mattress.

It felt good to have my mountain back.

My kids thought so, too.