A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Yesterday was a great day! I went walking and then decided to clean the bathrooms while I was already hot, sweaty and smelly. I also got laundry going. Then I showered. Aaah, there's nothing like a nice hot shower when you really need it! *grin* Then I picked up the house, dusted it and vacumed it.

So, what did the kids do while I was super productive? Well, when they first woke up (I was still working on the bathrooms), Russ was in an argumentative mood. He got a time out or two before breakfast even started. Then during breakfast, I talked with him about his attitude and about being disrespectful to me and he improved dramatically. (Oh, yeah, I threatened to take away some Wii minutes if he didn't. That might have had something to do with it. But, whatever it takes!)

During one of Russ' time outs (before the Wii warning), he was kicking his leg and hit his teeth with his knee. He had a loose tooth that really needed to come out because the permanent tooth was already coming in behind it and it was the one he bumped. It was hurting him and by the time he finished breakfast, he said he wanted it out.

I had bribed him earlier in the week and said I'd up the normal $1 tooth prize to $2 if he'd let me pull it. It needed to come out quickly and I didn't want to pay the dentist to pull it. He had hemmed and hawed all week and had said he'd let me pull it tomorrow. I told him that tomorrow the prize would be down to $1.75 and it would decrease by a quarter each day. With Randall, that wouldn't have worked, but Russ was quick to realize that he would be getting less money and agreed to let me pull it.

So, we went into the bathroom and it only took one hard pull and it was out. I use a dry small washcloth (the baby washcloths from when they were little--I still use them for their baths or to wipe faces after meals or whatever--they're great!) He said, "OW!" loudly, but then was fine afterwards.




After we got the bleeding to stop, I told him to carry his tooth into the kitchen (where Randall was still eating breakfast) and pretend to fall and say that he had knocked his tooth out. He laughed and did it and we tricked Randall. *grin*

After breakfast, Russ and Randall got along great and played while I did a lot of cleaning. Then we read a few chapters in a Boxcar Children book. I knew Russ would enjoy them, but I wasn't sure if Randall would sit still for them. But, he does and he seems to follow the story line and enjoy them. We're on our third one.

After lunch, I prepped for supper, which I never do, but I should do it more often! We had Mommy and Daddy Lion over for dinner, some MOPS work (Mommy Lion and me) and then some Wii fun. Since the boys have swim lessons in the evenings still this week, I knew I wouldn't get dinner ready until 8:00 if I didn't do some before hand.

Oh, my goodness, the Wii is way more fun with 4 than just 2! They brought their remotes (or rather, wiimotes) and after the kids played while Mommy Lion and I did MOPS stuff, the adults and the big kid, Cousin Cheetah (you'll have to check out their blog to figure out who all these animals are!), enjoyed playing. Today my arm is sore from serving in tennis. And, truth be told, I didn't even serve all that great. But, my arm feels like I played like a pro. *grin*

They stayed until around 9:45 and the kids did great! Little Pumpkin went to bed, but the boys stayed up and played and had a blast. We rarely let the kids stay up that late, but they were behaving great and having fun, so we let them. Hopefully they'll sleep in this morning!

All in all, it was a productive and fun day! It helped that we weren't going and doing all day! I need to be better at staying home. Today, we have to return some books to the library so Russ can redeem his reading points, but that's it again. I'll finish laundry and clean the kitchen and that's it.

We went to a fruit/veggie stand in Big Sandy on Saturday when we went to visit Slade's mom and I got a watermelon (well, two, because the guy selling them gave one to Russ--he was very kind), some peaches and some tomatoes. I really, really wanted a canteloupe, but the person before me bought the very last one. Oh, well, everything is delicious! Makes me really, really want to do a garden next year. We'll see if that comes to fruition (pun intended). *grin*