Quickly picked up today

It was a mild mess day

I'm not sure I'm going to keep taking pictures of these. She usually gets a spanking for the offense, but then I turn around and take a picture and tell her to smile. That smile just melts my heart. Thankfully she hasn't figured it out and still gets the deer in the headlight look when I find her at the crime scene.

Today while Alex was making lunch Brooke was supposedly playing contentedly stacking jars in the pantry closet. But then he looked down and Brooke had found an unopened bottle of mustard. She had quickly managed to take off the cap, peel off the seal and cover herself in mustard. Alex commented that she was sitting right next to him and managed to make a mess. She doesn't have to be out of your sight to creat a mess. Yesterday she was sitting as my feet while I was folding laundry. I looked down and was just in time to save my tub full of detergent from being dumped on the floor. A little while later she was at my side while I was putting the laundry away. I looked down and found her with a tube of lotion about to squirt it all over the carpet. I'm telling you, you have to be quick with her.

And again.

Today it was a permanent marker

and I'm thankful it was just the skin and not the clothes.

I missed getting a picture of the flour that got emptied on the kitchen floor, the potting soil on the balcony, and the honey on the carpet.

Warning

Where is Brook?

So what is she doing? This is not a repeat picture, the other one was a cupcake. I cried, but go ahead you can laugh, my husband did, only becuase he wasn't home and hadn't been the one to deal with the numerous messes that day.

My other two kids never got into this much trouble. I realize now I must have had it good because they never, and I do mean never, climbed out of thier crib. They waited for me to get them up in the morning and in the afternoon after naps. And my other two never saw chairs as tools to get something out of reach. The kitchen counter was a safe place.

Last week I awoke to a quiet house and thought all were asleep in their beds. When I walked into the living room I found Brooke sitting on the balcony enjoying the sunrise. Thankfully that incident occured with no mess to clean up. Last Sunday, however, we put Brooke down for a nap and lined up several toys for the older two to play with and took a much needed nap. An hour later we discovered Brooke had not stayed in her crib and had been running free. The older two didn't think to come and tell us and ignored her while she ran amok. The pepper grinder had been taken apart and pepper corns strewn all over the floor. Elias and Emma's pencil boxes filled with crayons, glue, pencils, and scissors were everywhere. Thier piggy banks and my coin jar were spilled all over the kitchen floor. The electric pencil sharpener had been emptied out and lead shavings smeared all over the kitchen table. And all of these things had been buried with the baskets of toys she dumped everywhere.

If things are quiet and Brooke is not in the same room we quickly go looking for the mess: a dumped out puzzle, a soap covered bathroom floor, crayon marks on the sliding glass door, a turned on burner. I almost posted this yesterday but didn't get time. I'm glad I didn't because this afternoon my neighbor knocked on my door returning one of my credit cards. Earlier in the day I had found Brooke playing with my wallet and thought everything looked intact. However, she must have gotten away with the credit card and thrown it over the balcony (we've seen her throw many things overboard). If we and she survive these toddler years it will be by God's grace.

Yummy

In our home - We like our sweets!!!

Our neighbor dropped off a plate of cupcakes the other day. One little piggie had two without asking. I am partially to blame, I did leave them in full sight on the kitchen table. My question, however, is why did she decided to wear them.

We're not even safe at the Beach

Don't ask me, I just took the picture,
but apparantly she doesn't mind sand in the mouth.

Fire

This is What Happens...

when a close eye is not kept on Brooke. Evidently she turned on the back burner starting a little fire and tons of smoke. Thankfully it was Alex who found the flames and calmly extinguished the fire because I'm pretty sure I would have panicked. Good news though, I get a new dishrack. The old one was getting a little small for our growing family. And just for the record I don't usually keep the rack on the stove top, I just needed some extra counter space today.

Eat your Veggies

So clean you could eat off the floor

Ok, I had just mopped the floor the night before, but if I hadn't it really wouldn't have changed my actions. This morning while making a salad I dropped a bunch of frozen corn on the floor. Multiple responses ran through my head: a) sweep it up and throw it away b) gently pick up the pieces and toss them in the salad (hey, I had just mopped the night before) c) call the kids to come and have a snack. My kids love frozen vegetables (if I don't cook them). I need to remember this healthy snack. Often, however, it's just a snack they get when I make a mess and call them to come clean up. Frozen corn is thier favorite, but they'll clean up frozen mixed veggies pretty quickly.

When Mom wasn't looking

I should have listened.

I was in a groove and I didn't listen. This morning I began the daunting task of going through the kids clothes. I did this in December and thought I would be fine for a while, however, all three kids have since then gone through a growth spurt. So in preparation for summer, drawers were getting cleaned out and laundry put neatly away. I was a woman with a mission. I am usually very distracted, but this morning I was getting things done and was trying to be finished with the huge task before lunch. Emma came to me letting me know Brooke was into something and I should have listened. When I finally did come into the kitchen I realized I should have listened and acted more quickly. The mess really could have been much worse, and for that I am thankful. It wasn't until after I discovered Brooke that I realized Emma had come to me and said something about Brooke and the trash. I am very grateful it was just the trash bags and not things out of the full trash can just a few feet away. As far as 1 year old messes go this one was really quite easy to recover from: styrofoam cups thrown away and trash bags stuffed back in to the box. Note to mom: listen to three year old.