Wrassling Monkeys

Thursday and Friday were a little challenging for me! The weather brought snow, wind, and cold temps keeping us cordoned into the house. After a couple weeks of spending at least 2 hours outside staying the house was driving us all nuts. Phillip especially turned the naughty streak on. He cleaned out all my cupboards, learned how to open the dishwasher all by himself, and got stuck in the dryer on Thursday during the time I made dinner. Cleaning up the clutter was like fighting the tide!

We attended a fun math show at the library early Friday morning. Ella came with us. A local lady wrote a couple books geared to teaching kids math at an early age. She had a bunch of fun props for the kids to use. Phillip and I wandered the library for an hour. Then the kids stayed and played with the library toys for another 45 minutes.

Saturday Justin worked the morning at Cabela's while the kids and I finished laundry and cleaning up the house. We drove to Sterling, CO for a Home Depot trip. I purchased too many bags of vermiculite for the garden so we returned that and got a shop vac instead. Yes! Justin and I enjoyed a delicious lunch at Santiago's while the kids snacked on rice and lemonade. Phillip was groggy from a nap so did not make a fuss until we were almost ready to leave. We stopped at Walmart for couple items. The kids played at the park for a while before we drove home. It is amazing how much a short trip can recharge your batteries.

Phillip learned how to count 1-2-3 then race across the kitchen floor. He tries to count with his fingers like Amelia, which cracks me up. He makes the funniest faces when he tells himself "no, no, no" or my favorite, "Ohhhhh, nooooo." I keep trying to capture his conversations with me on video but he is no performer. I wish that I could capture those small moments forever.

This morning was a challenge. Justin left for his meeting at 8:30 am. By 9 am Phillip accomplished the following:

dumping his bowl of cooked oatmeal on his head, stuffing the grain into his ears and nostrils
discovering my spice drawer and unscrewing then dumping cinnamon powder and chili powder with a
     smidgen of ginger all over the drawer, floor, etc
taking a black marker (thankfully washable) and drawing all over the cabinets
brushing his teeth with hemorrhoid cream
hitting Amelia four times earned 6 time outs in half an hour

His enthusiasm carried over to sacrament meeting. Boy it was tough to wrangle the little monkey.

Amelia is quite amusing with her new discovery of adjectives. She saw a red dot on the sidewalk and exclaimed how "wondrous and deliciously adorable" the dot was. We made a paper chain, the most amazing chain ever, to count down the days to her birthday. She is ever so excited!