Magic Eraser Moments

Over the past couple months, I've learned a few life lessons from my youngest son.  

(Here's a brief reminder of the kid we're talking about, being his normal self at dinner.)

1. If it's the middle of nap time, and you haven't heard a peep out of the bedroom, it doesn't mean the child is sleeping - it means the child is not in there.

2. Nothing makes a better canvas than a white wall.

3. Deodorant can make a room smell nice and fresh if applied properly (and thoroughly) all over the place.

4. Peanut butter is easily snuck from the pantry and meant to be eaten with bare fists, preferably both at the same time.

5. Orange glow is fun to spray, and amazingly harmless on your carpet, furniture, windows and trim, even when applied in large amounts.

6. The school art room is as good a place as any to vomit, especially if it's crowded and in the middle of Parent Open House.

7. Never underestimate the naughty - it could be worse.. and then usually is!

Recipe for Disaster

First, take one incredibly cranky and demanding toddler.  

For best results, use this one:

Next, leave the room while he/she acquires one box of cake flour* 

from the top shelf of the pantry

* any kind of flour you have on hand will work, 

however if there is a picture of an actual yummy cake on it 

-like this one has - 

you will probably have better results

Wait FIVE minutes...

TA-DAH!

Dennis Strikes Again

The last thing I saw when I went to bed last night was Ben glued to his laptop, implementing yet another late-night maintenance for work.   Shortly after I awoke this morning, he was out on the couch, addressing the problems which arose from the late-night maintenance.  He was in a great mood.

Jake also decided to wake up on the wrong side of the bed at about 6:00 am (after going to bed on the wrong side of the bed too), so I was half sleep-walking while making my coffee and going about my morning business, trying not to disturb the 'worker' in the next room.

A couple hours later, I told Ben I was going back to take a shower, and I really did half expect that he might be able to keep one eye on Jacob for the next ten minutes.  Ha No.  I had an awesome shower of yelling through the glass door 'JAKE STOP THAT'  'NO JAKE'  'JAKE GET DOWN' 'JAKE TURN OFF THE WATER', etc etc.  When I got out, he only had half of the hand soap dispensed all over the counter and himself.  Could have been worse I guess.

Shortly after I told the kids to go get dressed and brush, Charlie emerged from downstairs with some wonderful news.  Jacob had taken the toothpaste and squirted it all over the place! Awesome!  Charlie sometimes has a tendency to exaggerate, so I didn't spaz out right away, figuring it probably wasn't THAT bad.  Oh, it was worse.  

When I got to the second to the last stair, I spied the first of several huge GLOBS on the carpet. BIG piles of toothpaste resided on the stair, the hall, the couch, the pillow, the ottoman, love seat AND the couch!  Also, clinging to both Will and Charlie's doors were thick streaks of paste. Another pile was squeezed down the wall, over the trim, ending in a nice pile on the carpet. OMG.  How could there be any paste left in this stupid tube?  Oh, and I almost forgot - Jacob had RUBBED the paste in a uniform manner all over his legs and arms.  SPECTACULAR.

After some initial yelling and freaking, and a lot of dabbing and scrubbing, we actually managed to erase all traces of the catastrophe.  WHEW.  From now on, the boys' toothpaste tube will be kept high on a shelf - not in a drawer- within reach of Dennis.

Tomorrow I have a LOT to do.  I need to pack for the five of us for our trip to Hayward, WI.  Ben has another late-night maintenance to do and a conference call in the morning.  I better be on my game tomorrow, so I'M GOING TO BED EARLY.