Being Three is Exhausting

It is hard to be three. It is hard to throw countless temper tantrums. It is hard to make demands that can't be met. (Thank you Yo Gabba Gabba for your wonderful song "You can't always get what you want. It won't help if you keep on asking." It might sink in eventually.) It is hard to scream and cry. All Molly wanted to eat was chips. But mean mommy made her eat a veggie burger first. After about 30 minutes of screaming she decided to eat the veggie burger. She finally gets her bowl of chips. She sits down to enjoy them but well, it's just so exhausting to be three. She's so very lucky that I love her so much.

Soccer Season Comes to An End

It feels so good to slow down for awhile. I think I would have enjoyed the season more if Clarissa was happier about being on the team. She loved the practices and so did I. It was good to get out of the house and actually play with her for awhile. But during the games she was unenthusiastic about playing. She was the first to sit out and was the first to switch out if she was in the game. We had a good time though. I enjoyed meeting the other parents and playing soccer with the kids. They were very cute.

Happy Birthday Molly

Well, I've been seeing it coming for about a month now. I've been bracing myself for it. And on the actual day it was full blown and out of control. It's that lovely three year attitude that I absolutely hate. I just take a lot of cleansing breaths. (Not enough though) And I remind myself that this slow and dreadful year will come to in end. Some of the fun we have is described as such:

• Clarissa is sitting nicely on the couch. Molly decides she wants that very same spot, gets in behind her and then yells at Clarissa for not being able to see the TV.
• Olivia was at a soccer game with us but didn't have a jacket. I took mine off to put on Olivia and Molly decides she wants the jacket too, even though she is well dressed.
• Adam or Clarissa have a toy and she decides she must have it too.
• Making a meal for her is impossible because she'll ask for one thing, you take it to her just so she'll throw a fit and say it isn't what she wants.
• Getting out of the door takes about 15 minutes because she has to sanitize her hands, then check the basket for keys, check to see if I have my glasses, try to take about 100 different toys with her, oh and don't forget a snack.
• Tantrums over the no eating or drinking in the car rule.

I've had a little discussion with Adam and Clarissa about how she will go out of her way to create tension for herself and for others. It will now be their job not to create any. Let her be the only one causing trouble and mom will stay sane. Otherwise, they will never get to see the outside of their bedrooms again!

But, on a more positive note, Molly had a really nice birthday. We met for lunch with some of her friends and played with them. Then I took her to Walmart where she picked out a pink cake that was decorated with a tiara and princess wand. All afternoon she fussed about not being able to eat the cake until Daddy come home from work. She decided she didn't want Adam, Clarissa, or Daddy at her birthday because of the whole cake issue. We took her to McDonald's for dinner and played at the indoor play place. We then went home for her to open gifts and finally eat some cake and ice cream. Well worth the wait I'm sure.

The next day was too funny. As soon as she woke up she wanted cake with a candle in it. In fact, I've given her a small piece of cake and lit a candle for her to blow out several times during this past week. I think that might be her favorite part. And so you see that there are still precious moments that make Molly so lovely. But just be warned. She's not necessarily my favorite anymore : )

The Warm South

I will admit that I enjoy living in the South during the autumn months. I love how it can be so warm and sunny for the kids to play outside. The summer is too scorching so we usually stay indoor so it's nice to be out again. And we have become close to our neighbor friend. He is a very sweet boy. I love how they have been able to go back and forth, playing so pleasantly together.

Our Cheerleader

It was fun to go to Clarissa's cheerleading class and watch her learn the dance routine they will most likely perform somewhere. It's our first year participating so I don't know how it runs. She is so adorable out there moving to the music. If you're familiar with the cheerleading movie "Bring It On", it's the same song they did their routine to, "Y'All Ready for This". I was expecting to see some spirit fingers but they aren't going to use any : ) What I am happy to see though is that she has good forms. Those legs will get higher as she gets stronger. Way to cheer, Clarissa!

Corn Maze

Clinton-Sease Corn Maze

We were going to meet up with a nearby cousin at a pumpkin patch/maze but those plans didn't quite work out. But I still wanted to do something so we drove down to Lexington to check out the corn maze there. The theme this year was Space Exploration so as we went through the maze we could look for activity stations that had trivia questions, paper etchings and a secret map viewer. It was fun. Definitely a team building activity. Todd commented that we should do something like this often until we can get it done right. We got lost, of course, there was fighting over who was going to hold the flag, notice the fine photo of Clarissa crying, and it was much, much warmer out than I thought it would be. So there was a whole complaint area for being too hot and thirsty. But I liked it and a bit bummed that we won't be here next year to enjoy it. And to top it all off, the crew teased us for exiting the maze through the entrance : )

Molly's Halloween Party

Once again the YMCA Wee Wonders Program finds a fun way to get the little ones ready and excited for the upcoming Halloween. There were costumes, cookies, and a cute little trick or treat lane around the multi-purpose room. They were adorable and they all had a great time.

It's all About the Candy

We had some great opportunities to collect as much candy as possible. I don't think we got as much chocolate I would have preferred but I suppose I shouldn't really have that much anyhow. The Trunk or Treat was a blast. Our activity committee leader did a fabulous job! Which thanks goes out to the committee members that helped make the magic happen. (Our trunk won some cupcakes for being spookiest.) We also had a good time walking around the neighborhood for trick or treat night. We had our friend next door join us. He made a great Michael Jackson don't you think? Although I will admit that trick or treat night for the kids today just isn't the same as it was for me growing up. At least not here. I guess the homes are just too spread out But we had a good time and got a lot more candy.

A week with Grandma

It was so wonderful to have Grandma come visit with us during all the Halloween excitement. She came the day of our Trunk or Treat, so fun. And then she brought some adorable pumpkins for us to paint for our FHE activity. We had a great time sharing our week with her. She came to the school with me to do some volunteer work. We went to Molly's Fall Festival at school. We ate out for dinner. She did my laundry! She got to watch Clarissa at cheerleading and soccer practice. And they even enjoyed a fun pizza movie night so that Todd and I go out and have a quiet dinner together. It was sad to see her leave. We had a great time! Thanks for coming Mom! We loved it!

Candy Stashes

Self Control is such a hard thing to learn. As an adult I don't always stop myself from eating just one more piece of chocolatey goodness. I have a feeling this is going to be a particularly difficult concept for Adam to learn. Not that Clarissa doesn't do her fair share of sneaking around. It's just that Adam's appetite is much bigger. Of course I'm worried because how well he learns to handle these smaller situations will eventually be the tools that will guide him through avoiding bigger temptations he will face as a teenager. Pray for him. But until then, it's just candy and we'll keep practicing how to control our behavior. The majority of the candy has been thrown in the trash. I did keep enough and have put it away in a bag. And just so they can practice some amount of control, I've put enough candy for them to have just one piece a day in a bowl that is always sitting out. It should also show him to be honest with others so that they'll be honest with him. Oh yeah, it's going to fail. I'll probably hear complaints until the candy runs out. But hey, success sometimes isn't seen until they are all grown up. (I just hate waiting that long.)


I found this in Adam's room when I went in to pack up toys. In between the bed and the wall!

I found this inside the recliner cushions. After I had just found the wrappers in Adam's room.

I found this a week later inside the couch cushions. We just had a FHE lesson on sneaking. We had arrangements for every one piece of candy they would sneak I would take 5 pieces of candy from their bags. I did catch them a few times during the week and I took the good stuff too. But I guess there are quite a few other times I just didn't know about...until now. Our lies will always catch up to us, won't they?