Holiday Craziness Hits Early

Warning! Super long post ahead.

Ok, maybe it's not just the holidays.  Maybe my kids are just like this.We have moments in the house that are so perplexing. What are you doing?, You've got to be kidding me, What are you thinking? or simply a jaw drop to the floor have all been heard a time or two.

E has been known to color on walls, take a marker to the carpet, squirt a water bottle all over the house, and leave food messes everywhere. It's not that bad, I'd have to say. 

But one day she did THIS! I was not a happy Mom.

The boys are different, of course. It seems they begin each day with some sort of crazy plan in their brain. What can I get into today? What can I break, rip or soak to get a reaction out of one of those girls? How can I prove to Mom that I am bigger, stronger, and oh so independent? A and I were talking the other night about this, and lately, it seems there is something happening every day. Is it a boy thing? Is it an almost twin thing? Is it a stage they're going through? Is it our parenting skills? I don't know, but whatever it is...it's exhausting...and my house is almost in shambles.

I've blogged about a few instances where the boys get into the refrigerator and start a smashfest. Remember the eggs? They have smooshed tomatoes into furniture.They have sloshed milk around in the kitchen way too many times to count. And no matter what I do, I think I will always have milk splattered on my cupboards and baseboards daily. Someday, I'll repaint to rid the ceiling of all those milk spots that just won't disappear no matter how much I scrub. The worst milk incident was in the living room. E had a 'dinner' set up around the coffee table, complete with chairs, books for plates, and silverware. The boys emptied two gallons of milk everywhere. I was walking through milk! Literally, milk was moving across the top of my feet as I hurried to soak it up.

Most things, I don't have time to take a picture of (milk in living room). Some things, I'm upset about and I don't think about the camera at all. But every once and awhile, I take a picture to remember all the crazy things my kids have done. It's usually true that I'll look back at something and laugh about it. It may not be funny in the moment, but it soon will be. 

I'm sure the crazy list will grow as they do, but for now, here are a few things off the top of my head.

*Getting into any type of lotion, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, soap, or shampoo and smearing it all over the body and surrounding area. It's like an addiction. MUST HAVE HAND SANITIZER!

*Filling the sink full of soap and then letting the water run, flooding the bathroom with water and suds.

*Ripping up the linoleum flooring in the kitchen. Yip. We LOVE the way it turned out. So fashionable.

*Taking markers, crayons, and colored pencils to the walls, bedding, and furniture.

*Breaking their cribs, side table, coffee table, toys, and home decorations. I still can't believe they climbed up the back of the couch, ripped the picture frames from the wall, and not only left holes in the wall, but broken frames on the floor.
 

*Shredding bagged and boxed food, books, bedding and clothing. I'm not talking holes in the knees from playing. I'm talking the hulk and ripping pajamas from their body. And that's not a food stain on his pjs. It's paint. That was from the time W climbed on top of his crib railing, stretched to the top of the armoire, and knocked off a bucket of craft paints that I put up there to keep away from the boys. He then got into a few bottles and painted himself and the carpet.

*Ripped apart the grill cover, released the gas of a brand new gas tank, and pushed the grill to the ground. The fall dismantled several things, but to tell you the truth, we have yet to check the damage on that one.  

*Need to get out of the fence? No problem! Simply climb over it, hang on it, bend it, sit on it, or pull repeatedly until you get what you want. When you're free you can visit a neighbor, dig up the landscaping paper under the plants, or dig trenches around the air conditioner.
 

*Shredding used diapers from their body. We just love this one. Makes the room smell so fresh and clean. If you think this is a sign for potty training them...it's not. It's really not.

 

*Scratching, banging, kicking the walls and outside screens to create permanent marks and holes. Yes, parts of sheet rock are missing...holes are all over the house.

*Tore off the railing to our beadboarded hallway. Um, yeah...O grabbed the rail and ripped it off the wall. It was nailed. This is the second one he took off. The first was a four foot section across the top.

*Dumping 1/4 container of laundry detergent in the hallway and then walking through it...and then touching everything.

*Randomly sampling food in the fridge.

So, where's Mommy when all these things happen? I'm here, believe it or not. The boys are fast and they work together on most things. The second I go to the bathroom, they spring into action. The phone ringing is a battle cry for mischief.  My footsteps on the stairs are the All Clear signal to move ahead with their rascally plans.

Things are a little crazy around here. Nothing we can't handle, but I've had my days where I don't feel bad about leaving the house when Daddy gets home. I know some of you can relate. Am I right?

So, is this normal? Medically, they're normal. Developmentally, they are average, if not above in a lot of areas. So, is it a boy thing? Is it an almost twin thing? Is it a stage they are going through? Please tell me it's a stage. Some of you have already told me it's a mix of all these things. Hmmm... Time will tell, I guess. 

In the mean time...batten down the hatches!

 Regardless, they are

 still my rainbow

at the end

of a rainy day.