My Messy House

Yesterday I picked up all of the toys before I left. I swear. There were no toys on the floor, or pots and pans for that matter. We were only home for a hour, and this is what my house looked like. Yikes!



This is Ashton's room. The table isn't usually in here, but Paul cleaned the living room carpet over the weekend and we hadn't moved it back.


More of Ashton's pig sty!


The entrance to the living room.


The kitchen

What was the cause of this horrendous mess? A tornado? A tasmanian devil? No. It was my boys. Let me just say, I ALWAYS have my work cut out for me!


Culprit #1 - The main one behind the attack


Culprit #2 - The Accomplice

Take That Ashton!

Since Dominic started crawling around, Ashton has been beating up on his little brother. Lately, Dominic has decided he has had enough and it is time to take back the night! He will attack his big bro for no reason. Any opportunity to smack, kick, jump on, eye gouge, or bite (yes I said bite) and Dominic is all over it. Here are a couple of pictures with Dominic caught in the act.


Ashton was quietly playing trains and BAM, Dominic jumps on his back!


Jumping is not enough. Must bounce on brothers back until he pushes me off and my head hits the floor and I cry.


Who me? I am way to cute and innocent to be an instigator!

The Worst 3rd Birthday Ever!

Last Saturday Ashton turned three years old! Wow, I just can't believe I am a mother to a three year old. Time goes by fast. My mother-in-law flew in for Ashton's birthday, and we were poised to celebrate. Then everything went wrong.

On the way to the airport, Paul got a flat tire. It was only a three month old tire! So while he tended to that situation, his mother caught the shuttle to Lafayette.

Then Ashton got sick. Paul had been sick for a few day and was finally feeling better. Ashton spent his birthday throwing up and laying on the couch. He did manage to feel well enough to open some presents (while wearing a pajama shirt).


Everything he recieved was Thomas related!

We didn't sing happy birthday until Sunday. He only ate about one bite of cake. Poor kid!



Then everyone else got sick. When my mother in law went to fly home, she got to the airport and realized her flight was canceled due to snow. Paul had to drive all the way to Indy to pick her up. The next day he dropped her off and her flight was canceled again! This time she managed to catch a later flight.

Sheesh! What a crazy week.

My Son the Pyro

Today when I was making dinner, there was an unfortunate accident. Dinner was going and didn't need my complete attention for a few minutes so I thought I would fold a load of laundry. That was mistake number one. Be weary of multi-tasking when cooking.

Mistake number two. Believe that your sick husband who is laying on the couch dying, but has a really good view of your youngest child playing near stove, is watching said youngest child.

Mistake number three. Walk into bedroom to put the folded clothes away.

I was only gone maybe one minute. But that was enough. I immediately smelled something burning. I checked everything that was cooking but it was all fine. Something made me check the oven even though it wasn't on. Low and behold, Dominic left a gift in the oven.


An oven mitt!

I grabbed tongs and threw it in the sink and ran cold water on it. Then I threw it outside in the snow. Too late. The damage was already done. The house filled with smoke and I inhaled the vapors coming off the burned mitt. It burned my throat. All is well though. We just had to open windows and run fans during a snow storm.

You may ask how an oven mitt ended up on fire in an oven that was off. Well that was mistake number four. I had just washed it, and it was part of the laundry I was putting away. I didn't see Dominic sneak up and grab it. He then proceeded to the oven. The oven was off but the broiler was on (Thankfully the safety lock still works on it). So the oven wasn't hot, but the bottom of it was. Dominic yanked the oven open and Paul told him no. He immediately closed it leaving behind his gift that Paul never saw.

Don't worry though. Whenever the oven is on I do not walk away. A baby gate doen't stop him, it just draws more attention to it. We have tried several oven locks, but none of them seem to work. We have a REALLY old stove, so most of them won't even fit on it. The side one we found took Dominic about two minutes to pull off. So if anyone knows of a good side oven lock, please let me know. It has gotten to the point where I won't be able to use my oven anymore!

Valentine's Day

I know that I am way late posting anything about Valentines's Day, but I have a good excuse. I was busy playing Nancy Drew Legend of the Crystal Skull. There are not a lot of computer games I like, so when there is one I don't stop until I beat it.

Anyways, Valentines Day is not a big thing in our house. We just do small things to celebrate. The Sunday before I knew something was up. It was like 9:00 a.m. and Paul told me to go take a nap. You don't have to tell me twice, but it was a dead giveaway. I mean why would my husband be so kind as to tell me to take a nap? Either he was surprising me, or he wanted something. Either way, I went to sleep. This is what I woke up to:

The boys made me a cookie cake. They helped Daddy decorate it too. Paul swears the M&Ms were Ashton's idea. I'm not so sure . . .

On Valentines day I tried to make a red velvet cake for dessert. It. Did. Not. Go. Well. It was like something out of National Lampoon's Valentines Day. It imploded when I stuck a toothpick in it to see if it was done. This was the last straw. I give up. I can't bake. From now on, if it came out of the oven, it started from a box.

Dominic is MIA

I almost had a heart attack today. Seriously. I was on the brink. Ashton and I were happily playing on the computer and Dominic was playing close by with a couple of CDs he found. Ashton had a poopy diaper, though he insisted he had a "clean butt" as he so eloquently put it. A mild battle ensued which ended in me carrying him to the changing table. It was a massive diaper and took some time.

I put Ashton on the floor and told him I was going to check on Dominic. Ashton's door was mostly closed - a sign that Dominic is merrily playing away inside.

This was NOT the case!

I wasn't worried at first. I started making my rounds through the house (and my house isn't big). But I couldn't find him. Then it struck me. The house is quiet. Too quiet. Dominic is NEVER quite. He plays loud. He makes sound effects. He yells if he is happy, sad, or angry. He gives rasberries to everything including the air. But it was quiet.

I began to freak out. I frantically ran through the house searching everywhere for him. My heart was beating so fast. I actually thought of calling the police. He couldn't get outside. We have childproofed the doors because Ashton has on more than one occasion decided he wanted to go to the park next door by himself (I caught him immediately both times). So where could he be?



Sleeping away under the play table that I ran by like a zillion times while looking for him.

Ashton Gets HIs Dizzy On

I finally got my new camera, Yaaaaayyyyy!!!! It's a Canon and I love it. It is so much better than my old one. I guess my camera dying was a good thing. Haha.

Anyways, I promised my mom a month ago that I would post Ashton playing on Dominic's birthday present. So here it is.

I just love the look on his face when he is done. The first night we had it, Ashton spun so much he was dry heaving. We had to put the zebra away because neither of us wanted to clean up throw-up!