Liar, Liar... and how I got my feelings hurt

So it came to pass last night that I asked E something... Something that really is nothing worth remembering - what she ate for snack.

I was cleaning out her snack box from school and the snack was still in there from the morning. I asked her what she ate for snack and E said she did not eat anything.

I'll be honest. I did not believe her from the start.

I asked her a few more times. I asked if she was telling the truth and she maintained that she has nothing but her drink.

I found out from the teacher that she in fact had snack - just not snack that I had packed her.

We went upstairs to talk to Papa. He asked her what she had and she said she had nothing. I told him that the teacher said she gave her something. We told her that she would lose privileges if she was not telling the truth, but she maintained she was telling the truth.

Later she was lying awake in bed and said her tummy hurt. I thought she may want to actually tell me the truth and get it off her mind... but she didn't.

I went to bed that night hurt because my four year old was lying to me. I knew I had caught her in the lie. I so badly wanted her to be telling me the truth and the teacher just got confused - BUT I knew truth. I prayed that she would just tell me the truth

The truth that my little, innocent 4 yr old felt the need to lie to me (over something completely silly, mind you) really hurt me.

Now, I have told my fair share of lies in my life so I get it... sometimes you think something is worth lying over. But I wish I could have convinced her that snack was not lying over and NOTHING is worth lying over but the truth always comes out.

Well the truth did finally come out this morning before school - before we were going to have a chat with the teacher. Privileges were lost but there were some consequences that were avoided. I was so glad when she finally decided to come clean about it.

Parenting decisions are hard.

How to handle un-virtuous actions by your children is even more difficult.

Where do you draw the line of overreacting versus under-reacting?

Post Dinner Activities According to a 10 month old

Sooo this is how M's evening shook out….

Say what… you are leaving me here??? You have to give the big girls a shower?!?!? WHAT ABOUT ME?????????????????

Oh well I guess sitting at my high chair is not so bad but I hear R screaming in the background about her post-shower towel, potty, pajamas problems etc etc etc

WHY?!?!? Is this taking her so long? Oh that's probably because E is screaming in the shower about how she got soap in her eye and didn't use conditioner (even though we did) and how there's a problem with the towel

I'll probably stop crying now because I'm not being heard

Oh yeah… now she comes and wants to take pictures of me 

Let's get this bath time party started… because she's finally getting me out

Oh I'm almost 10 months and stuck in the bebe bath tub

I'll bet my sisters were outta this thing when they were 6 months (truth)… 

This is the life!

Oh sweet… She could not find a a bath towel in the laundry room? Oh that's nothing new… So what'd she do? Grab the towel from the baptism from Sunday… A little extra Chrism anyone? 

So that's a wrap. Survival of three 4 and under has it's challenges (and that was just 13 minutes of the night) BUT that's not NEARLY what my cousin is going through with his little man who was diagnosed with leukodystrophy - a super rare, genetic disease. If you got an extra minute spare a prayer for him and his family and if you have any interest in doing #burpeesforbobby here's what you do. 

Seven QTs - Coffee, Hair Trims and Bookbags

Whoa… I have not done one of these in a while….

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Yeah last week was kind of a bust - for no good reason. By Friday morning before 9 am I spent $10 on 14 Dunkin Hazelnut k-cup and I didn't even care - seriously what's wrong with me - oh and then I proceeded to down two k-cups at the office after drinking a cup of coffee at home. 

A cup of coffee a day per kid? I'm behind on rationing myself a third cup… 

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Friday night we headed to Raleigh-world for a weekend with my parents - sometimes I think we should just get an apartment to live in on the weekends and then I realize that would be an awful idea. 

Late Friday night E was complaining of an ear ache and at 11:45 I was sure she had an ear infection and would totally turn Saturday's plans upside down - but then she woke up fine. 

First up Saturday was a bebe shower. Who does not love a good baby shower? Well this baby girl got showered on so so so much. It was great and she got tons of cute/fancy handmade hairbands. Excellent girl baby shower activity! E and R came with Grammy when it was time for the shower to start. They did well. Obviously the cake was a serious highpoint and as well as the several bowls full of candy on hand and eye level that I gave into often were also fantastic. 

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Then it was off to haircuts (which is why they are still in their nice party dresses)… No no hair TRIMS E repeatedly said. It was the first time either one of them had their hair cut. E was super not excited about it but got through it when she realized it did not hurt and mama could not get more than the bare minimum taken off just so it would be even.

R is at that crazy funny 2 yr old stage and I love it! Tonight she pitter-pattered up and down the hall checking on E who was in the bathroom and giving Papa reports about her status that he could not quite understand

No I did not save either of their hair from the first cut. I have ENTIRELY too many other things that clutter my life and I cannot have one more thing! See #4

Then we hit up school shoes after stopping by to visit M and Papa and company… I don't like buying new shoes especially for kids who are rough and tough on them but I give into new ones for a new school year. I told E before we walked in that I had all veto powers over every single pair of shoes. Let's just say the $55 pair of neon light up shoes stayed on the shelf. (Bring on the commentary Nani : )

Saturday night at my parents was great - dinner, wine, mint chocolate Dove candies. We found a house to buy that is insanely massive so that my parents and Lee's mom don't have to move into retirement home (aka 'being put out to pasture' - Grammy's words not mine!). Everyone would have their own space. We could have set days for dinner gatherings. We could basically have our own mini-commune with me in charge of laundry and Grammy in charge of dessert.

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Toying with the idea of a one toy rule at Christmas… One toy/one outfit (shoes, bathing suits, socks, parkas, dresses… whatever) /one (set of) book… Any other toys I reserve the right to leave them at the house who gave them so that the girls can play with them there? Okay that sounds super super meany. But the house is FULL of toys…. Maybe I just need to be better organized...

Why does it take kids 5 minutes to make a mess and 45 minutes to clean it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I was running around the house to get the house semi-not-disasterous and get teeth brushed, pjs in the wash, clothes on, toys put away (kinda) and Lee was leaving for work:

Lee - Are you ready for another body?
Me - Errrr… You mean ready for another soul?

Kinda changes the perspective on things when you think about the eternal rather than the temporal, no? 

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R's 'booook-baaag' came yesterday...

She loves it. And proceeded to tell Grammy all about it. And yes the speakerphone light on the phone is on so that I can decipher R's part of the conversation and relay it to those on the other line.

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How about this kid? I'm trying to entertain her with just about anything to keep her out of MMO. I cannot stand it. I cannot believe she's 9.5 month old. It makes me sad that she's so big and not a teeny baby. Don't get me wrong I love my sleep-filled nights it just hurts my feelings that she won't be a work with my much longer (it hurts my bank account too!). Nani and I almost had a moment over it. 

With E I knew I needed to cut the cord and my half day daycare option was the happiest, livable medium for us - not full time working mom and not full time stay at home. So I was anxious to try MMO out - and then I cried like a baby the first day I left her. 

With R, she was so loud and not a great morning napper so I was kind of ready for her to go to MMO because I knew she needed the stimulation. 

With M, she still takes a great morning nap and she's super quiet but she's just a squirmy worm before and after nap so it is time. I'm just not ready...

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Here's to sprinklers and water slides and sandboxes for a few more weeks of warm, humid, muggy weather...

Just not for M… yet

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Answer Me This - Fairy Rings, Soapy Mouths and TV shows

Mushroom circles anyone? We've been having a weird week around here and the lawn is apparently no immune. Last week everyone was just a little off. E wants to go back to school. R is 2.5 yrs old so that means everything is glorious or the world is ending at any moment in time. M is desperate to pull up and get into stuff. I don't know it's been weird. Oh and E called R 'stupid' so I washed her mouth out with soap to make a point (because she had a warning about that word about 7-8 months ago). She freaked so I think the point was gotten. I felt really old school and kinda bad when I was doing it - though it lasted for all of 12 seconds maybe. I mean I don't remember having my mouth washed with soap. Any one else do this? I cannot say I would do it again but seriously blatant mean-ness is not tolerable. 

Also we went to church Thursday and did not pack up into the van until 9:45. Yes in the P-M. A solid 2.5 hours late for bed. The girls did not seem like they were going to fair well - which I was giving them a nearly free pass on behavior because it was 6:30 on an off week to begin with but then things got better and one nice lady took M so that freed up my hands - which is always welcomed by R.

Anyhow the winds of weirdness be gone… We headed to Raleigh for a weekend full of activities which was super fun and exciting. 

1. What is your favorite room in the house?

Hmmm.. I kinda like my whole house especially after last year's reno. Except for the garage because I found a snake in it once and now I cannot go out there without reliving the moment. 

2. Do you subscribe to any magazines or other periodicals?

Funny you ask. We just got our first National Catholic Register in the mail last week - it is part of a trial. We still have not decided if we'll keep it but it was neat to get. 

Lee gets Our State magazine which is about NC. That is usually a good one. 

E gets High Five and used to be SUPER into them but the novelty is fading BUT they still have good stories

3. How do you feel about the sign of peace in Mass? Enriching? Awkward? Overdone? Just right? Some combination of the above?

Hmmm.. yeah. We don't do that in the DL but when I do go to Mass it is only awkward because I'm not used to it anymore and my kids are totally clueless about it so yeah. 

4. What is your least favorite sound?

M's screaming has recently hit my nerve in the wrong way. She's on a screaming-in-her-crib-before-rest-and-night-time kick and it drives me cra-zee. I cannot listen to it because I feel bad that she's crying but I know she's tired and it makes me want to snuggle her up (and sometimes I do). But then I realize I should not complain because Morgan's boys outcry my girls every day of the week (so say a prayer for them!). 

5. What was your favorite TV show (or shows) growing up?

7th Heaven. Enough said. 

6.  What are your favorite TV shows now?

I hate to say because as soon as we find a show to watch together it gets canceled or weird or something happens and I don't like it. 

- 19 Kids and Counting - don't agree with some of their principles but whatever
- The Great Food Truck Race - one of the only shows we'll watch on the Food Network and it is only 6 episodes a season
- Downton Abbey - Loved it until the car wreck and my favorite character was killed off. I have not gotten back into it since
- A Beautiful Mind - Was on for a season and got cut
- Person of Interest - We religiously watched this and DVRed and everything but then something happened and things got too weird and creepy and that got axed

The Sisters - A Quick Update

I should periodically update what each of the siblings are doing… so here goes!

Currently E is anxiously awaiting the start of pre-K. I got her a pre-K workbook from Sam's and she is almost done with it and her efforts will be rewarded in the form of new markers (her pick) and possibly some new Legos (my pick). She is so scared of bugs and dogs it kinda drives me crazy but other than that she likes going outside to play in the Sprinks and swing and make water slides on the playset. Of recent E has gotten into a whiny - I don't like this, that and the other thing - mood sometimes and we are working through how to deal with it. I'd heard dealing with your kids character issues can be quite the challenge so here's to a long road of character training. 

This picture pretty much sums up R. She is in this generally carefree 2.5 yr old mode. She like her big sister is afraid of dogs and bugs and she cannot be reasoned with so usually it does not end well. She continues her laissez-faire mindset about using the potty - which drive me cra-zeee. But I'm taking a I-got-bigger-problems-to-stress-over attitude which has resulted in some potty successes. She is getting so stinking big. I looked a pics of her from last fall and I think where has my toddler gone? She recently spent the night a Jibbes and she packed up and waived bye to everyone and gave everyone a squeeze and was on her way {tears}. She is attentive to M. Whenever M is crying, R brings EVERY single toy of M's that is in sight and piles them up in her face which is hilarious and usually overwhelms M and then M forgets why she was crying in the first place. 

Gah! The cuteness of this kid. I pretty much cannot handle it. M is still going to work with me - for now but I imagine her days are numbered. The only reason why she is able to is due to the fact she still takes a good 2 hour morning nap - in the bathroom with the lights off and fan on. {insert mom judgement here : ) } E and R were not as into their morning naps so they ended up going to Mothers Morning Out around 8-ish months maybe. M now holds the record for longest nursing bebe. Again E and R had dropped nursing at 9 months (nearly to the day). M does not seem ready - though I think that will change when she started going to MMO. I'm ready for her to wrap it up but it is not about me. Currently M is doing an Army crawl on the hardwood floors and getting around quite well. She loves to find a cord and pull on it and chew on it - which is currently a problem. We have maneuvered several cords out of her reach. Overall, she like here sisters, are getting way too big, way too fast.

Answer Me This - Pools, Poems and Pies

1. What do you still want to do this summer?

Summers are currently overrated in the Kibbe house because well you know the whole our papa is a pool man issue. Nothing changes too much with the girls schedules in that they go to the same school - just that it is much less structured and they are not divided by age. 

Moving on from my whininess. I would like to go back to Jibbes pool and swim one more time. Yes we have only swam ONCE this entire summer. 

Also, I must order R's book bag for 2 yr old class. 

2. What's your favorite kind of pie?

Derby pie. Mainly because it has chocolate in it and I am so addicted to chocolate it is not funny. Fortunately my sister in law only makes this around Thanksgiving  

3. How much sleep do you need each day? How much do you get?

I need and get about 6-8 hours a night. I WISH I could sleep less and still be a productive functioning human being - but I cannot. Well when I'm pregnant I don't sleep as much and then I'm exhausted but then I guess I can justify being exhausted on the pregnancy and not on the lack of sleep. 

4. Do you prefer to swim in a pool, lake, river, or ocean?

E in the ocean last year

Pool. Pool. Pool. I like being able to see the bottom and know nothing creepy is in the water. I can handle the ocean but I HATE when a piece of seaweed or other creepy, slimy object brushes my leg. 

Probably my favorite pic from The Beach Trip 2013

5. Do you know any poems by heart?

No. I know a bunch-o kids books by heart. Does that count? Goodnight Moon (English and Spanish), The Foot Book, etc etc etc. For the record if I were to memorize a poem it would be Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

Pretty much sums up my life.

6.  Do you use the public library?

No and I am slightly embarrassed by it but I'll move on. 

Theme Thursday - Panic

We hit the tape hard last week for Papa's birthday presents and totally ran out of scotch tape. And the girls have a birthday party to go to today so circa 6 am this morning I was THRILLED to find another roll. Because you know even though I've known we needed tape for 5 days... I did not get any. 

So we gathered around the table for a ceremonial present wrapping a good 7 minutes before we needed to leave the house - because that's how we roll here. But here's the thing the new roll of scotch tape had been started and not turned over upon last use, which means you and pick and pick and pick at it and it WON'T start... So in my tape panic I used Heavy Duty clear duct tape to wrap a 4 yr old's present. 

Judge me. 

I had no other choice. 

So that tape is actually AWESOME for wrapping presents because there is just about zero paper movement and the dispenser won't let you lose that sticky part of the tape.

I'm putting on the finishing touches and doing that last nice neat and boxy fold over (giving myself a little pat on the back for how good it looks) and I panic yet again because I think:

"Oh I wonder if I took the price tag off. And I just wrapped this present in duct tape so there is no chance in the world of my being able to check without tearing the whole thing up"

#winning

#goodthing4yroldcannotreadpricetags

#classy

Next birthday party is 36 hours after this one so I have ample opportunity to get tape or just take off the price tags... 

7QTs - Tweets from the Ladies of Edel

Oh one more Edel post… Why not? This time we'll let the ladies do the talking because we had enough of the guy's tweeting earlier...

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For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!