What Do You Do With a Plundering Bailey?

This morning as I was getting ready for the day Bailey determined that it was the perfect opportunity to do some rifling around in the bathroom closet. How shocking that her plundering led to the discovery of the potty treats ziploc full of random candy goodness.


She brightly announced "I can have deez tings Mommy!"


In an attempt to motivate and redirect my diaper bound chickmaiden I said evenly, "Oooh, and what are those for Bailey?"


She blinked just once, pointed to her pouty little lips and said "Deez tings are for my Mouth."


I must watch my phrasing with this Literal Lass!

Daddy Daughter Time

Last Friday evening Hayden had the chance to participate in a market research survey and earn his own toy for participating. Michael met us at the office so that I could stay with H and he and Bailey could scoot out for some fun on their own.

When I shared the plan with the kiddos, Bailey got quite excited and immediately announced an itinerary for her outing with Daddy. "Mommy, Bailey and Daddy are going out! Daddy takes Bailey to Da Keeeeeeeeen!" After a bit of questioning I was able to surmise that Bailey was pretty darn sure her date with Daddy came with an outing for ice cream at the queen - aka Dairy Queen. Teehee.

When we met up with Michael I tipped him off to his little gals expectations which not surprisingly was pretty unneccessary given her eagerness to clue him in. We snapped a quick pick of this pair and off they went!

Knowing that big brother would come home toting a new toy Michael suggested that Bailey might be in line for a treat as well. Luckily for us, I had just gotten a few lovely toys from a friend whose little guy had moved onto greener pastures. How perfect to inherit a snappy set of horses just as Bailey enters a horse phase of her own!

As you can see, Miss Bailey was beyond pleased with her surprise!

Not a bad night for our little gal -- dinner out with Daddy and lots of new ponies to corral. Good times!

With a Wink and a Smile...

Here's a fun way to add a dash of happy to afternoon snack time! We enjoyed this tasty treat Monday afternoon while chatting about the kiddos upcoming dental appointments. This idea came from a post on a crafty little blog known as 4 Crazy Kings. All it took was a few slices of apples, a handful of minimarshmallows and a few dollops of soynut butter to leave my crew full of smiles!

Think Globally, Love Locally...

Teach your children well...and they will downsize the manner in which they quantify their affection towards you. This is the lesson of the week at Casa Marx.

Back in his younger days, my eldest kiddo learned quickly that declaring his love for Mommy in grand verbage was the way to go. There were lots of "Mommy - you are the best Mommy in the world!" type conversations to be had. Things really peaked once the passion for all things outer space was discovered, for a time I was the reigning Best Mom in the Universe. Not bad, huh?

And then came the interest in the layers and parts of planets most specifically the notion of continents and countries.

Which leads us to last night. After a rather tumultuous evening riddled with feelings from all earthlings involved, things in our abode finally managed to return to a calmer place. We enjoyed a nice hug to celebrate getting back on track and Hayden curled up in my lap. Full of sincerity he shared this sentiment..."Mommy you are the best Mommy for me in North America."

Keeping Warm...

As Hayden likes to say, "Holy Hot Dog!" It has been many moons (well several at least) since my last post. As usual we are electronically off schedule but I suppose that there are worse problems to have!

Just a quick H anecdote to get things rolling again...

The Mini's seem to have taken on a new tradition - acting up on Mother's Day. Michael typically has soccer games to ref on Sundays and so we celebrate Mother's Day in the evening or some other way. Last year Bailey was in the midst of a MAJOR shopping cart boycott and we spent no less than 30 minutes engaged in an epic battle of wills in the Walmart parking lot. Grrrr.

This year we wrapped up a visit with my folks and were driving home on Mother's Day. The original plan had been to ride into town with my Mother and enjoy a quick visit with Mimi (my maternal grandmother). I had really been looking forward to popping in, although she no longer remembers me, Mimi has held onto her beautiful smile and almost always has one to share when we stop by. She really enjoys watching the kiddos wiggle and play as well. I woke up feeling a bit scratchy and Hayden had a low grade temp so a visit to the nursing home was just not in the cards. So we adjusted our plans and headed homeward. About 2 miles from our house, Hayden fussed and then announced "All of this driving is making my tummy hurt!" Not a good sign...

I scrambled for a bag and handed it back to my boy. I could hear Bailey spouting forth words of encouragement as Hayden tossed his cookies while we bounced over the train tracks. When we pulled into the garage a few minutes later I surveyed the damage and went to work on the cleanup. It was not the first time and it is not likely to be the last time that I muttered something about Mother's Day not really being set up as a day for "Extra" mothering. Despite his best efforts with the bag, it was clear that the afternoon would now be dedicated to dismantling and detailing the carseat. I got H cleaned up enough to be mobile and dispatched him to his lair to select fresh attire.

When I got in the house with Bailey, I was greeted by a such a lovely sight. Michael and Hayden had been surrepticiously working on project over the past week or so and it was there to greet me - and my bag of goodies from the first stage of cleanup. The kitchen was decorated with Mother's Day coloring pages many of which had been colored by my eldest wiggleworm. What a lovely sight and a welcome pick-me-up!

Down the stairs came Hayden, much perkier now that he had been liberated from the car. He had selected a pair of heavy fleece pajamas despite the sunny pleasant spring weather. I asked him if he would be uncomforatble in winter pj's on such a nice day. He was gracious enough to share his reasoning...

"Mommy I choosed something warm and cozy - I want to be warm to help the white blood cells do their work."

And so we snuggled the afternoon away, surround by lovely pictures and warm clothing and in the end it was a very happy Mother's day!