STRESS

Life has been a bit stressful lately. We've completed a few projects this summer, yeah! Trying to do big projects with 3 little ones around can get a bit hairy at times. Projects tend to take a little longer, especially when one of us works third shift. Hopefully things will start to calm down a little, really I doubt it though. We have managed to finally get all of our new trim up, tear down a chimney, fill hole from chimney, replace roof where chimney was, dig out play set area, fill with gravel, build play set, these are in addition to the normal things that everyone does like put in a garden, mulch, etc.

Sweet and Sugar may need new nicknames for this coming year. They turn three at the beginning of next month and it's been trying, incredibly trying, lately. Prior to children, we wanted children more than anything in the world. If not we wouldn't have made it through the adoption process. At that time, hearing someone complain about something dealing with their children drove me up a wall. I had a million evil thoughts come through my head every time like I'll trade you, I'll take them off of your hands, I wish I had that problem, etc. I didn't think I would do that, but enter the threes.

Sugar likes to get into trouble just to test the limits which are not budging which results in massive fits over and over again. He breaks a rule, gets in trouble, throws fit, is sent to time out, continues to throw fit, finally gets calm and gets out of chair, then when I ask why he did x, he mumbles because I wanted to do x. He will acknowledge that he knows that he's not allowed to do x and that x is not nice and could hurt himself or someone else, but he doesn't seem to care. He continues to get in trouble for stupid things over and over again. Yes, I know that he's three (almost) but it is rather frustrating all the same. This picture is just to remind me that he really does get along with his siblings sometimes.

Sweet has developed massive attidute. She doesn't break the rules too often, but gives attitude about everything. She doesn't want to do anything that's asked of her, she stomps and sulks around the house like a teenager. Yeah, let me tell you how excited I am about the idea of three teenagers in the house. I a will have gray hair by then, or b will have no hair by then. Tonight she didn't like the choices that I gave for their bedtime snack so she threw herself onto the floor, so I said that's fine you don't need a snack to which she got up and said I need a snack! Too bad you made your choice. When it was time to brush her teeth (this is something that they've always run to the bathroom to do), it was I don't want to, too bad. So after she was ready, she was awarded the privilege of waiting in her bed for everyone else to get ready for bed instead of being able to play.

I know they are three and asserting themselves but really it's like talking to a wall sometimes. I miss work at times just because it was a break from being just mommy. I got to use my brain for other things and acomplished things. Yes, being mommy is rewarding, but it can be very stressing at times. Then again there have been three shootings within blocks of my old work this week, unfortunately one resulted in the death of a teenager (I hated the sad situations that surrounded my job). So maybe being stressed and getting attitude and fits all day isn't so bad. Thank God my kids are cute is something that I remind myself and them over and over again.

Bam has been pretty good lately. Don't get me wrong, he's no angel, he's just as stubborn as he's always been, but he hasn't developed anymore attitude or affininty for pushing the limits. He does however love the gravel around the play set. He lies in it and tries to burry himself as if it's sand. He digs and halls it all over the place. He also has suddenly decided that reading is the best thing in the world. He has enjoyed books for some time now, but suddenly wants to be read to every minute of the day. He wakes up asking for a book and read and continues non stop all day. I'm glad that he loves books, but at the same time I think I've read every children's book we own plus the ones from the liabrary at least a dozen times, and his favorites probably 50 times this week. At this point I could
probably recite all of them by heart. He also has a thing for babies real or fake. He loves Sweet's dolls and will carry them all over, pretending to change their diapers, feed them, and put them to bed. He is very posessive of them, heaven forbid you to touch one of them unless he says it's ok.







This is what you can do if you're in the country and really bored. The kids love it.