Pictures!

Evan - My blue eyed boy!

My Princess

Leah doing 'airplane'!

Leah laughing while Maddie attempts to steal her toy!

High Low

I haven't written in what feels like forever. I've been so busy lately. Matt is still working, even though he did get two days off last week, thank goodness! He's back on nights until Tuesday. We are finally getting carpet installed in the new room either Tuesday or Wednesday! I'm thrilled!!! However we're now going back and forth about who should have the new room. Originally we wanted it to be the twins room since it would be out of the way a little bit from the chaos for when the twins are napping and going to bed. However, I'm not thrilled about the fact that I'll have to run up and down steps during the night if/when they need me. Also, since the walls are slanted their cribs won't fit flush up against the wall thus wasting a ton of floor space. And we need all of the space we can get until we can buy another house. So that leads me to Grace...She sleeps in a twin bed which would fit perfectly up there, can go up and down the stairs by herself and we could double the room as a play room if she was up there. However I'm a little concerned about the change in regards to her sleep habits. All of my kids are on schedules. It's the only way I can maintain any order in the house. Grace especially responds well to schedules since she knows what's coming. I know I cannot shield her from change forever but do I really want to have twins who are still learning how to sleep well AND a 3 year old who isn't going to bed well?! What do you all think? Any comments or opinions are welcome!

In other news, Grace is finally better!! She was sick on and off for the better part of the week. Luckily no one else got sick (so far)!!! Hooray for that! I have never been so behind on laundry than I was (and still am) this week. Grace had bodily fluids on everything!! Numerous outfits for each of us a day, 3-4 sheet changes per night plus blankets and towels - oh my! I feel very much behind on regular housework this week since any "free time" I had was spent doing the laundry and cloroxing everything in sight and policing Grace for signs of future bathroom accidents or vomit episodes. Ahhh being a Mother!! Speaking of bathroom accidents, I think that was the worst things this week. Grace had horrible bathroom issues and sometimes couldn't control it. She was mortified. It made her so incredibly upset that she had accidents. She's been potty trained for just about a year now and never, ever has accidents. Embarrassed doesn't even begin to describe it. I felt so bad that her ego was hurt. But she has bounced back and then some!

And now for some really good news about Grace's behavior...She was feeling so good that I took all of the kids to the park on Friday afternoon. Evan and Grace couldn't get out of the car fast enough! They had a blast!! There were a few other Mothers there with their kids and we all got to talking. Most of them asked questions about the twins and ages of the kids and how I "had it so together"?! And for the first time in a long time, probably since the twins were born, I did have it together! I had Maddie and Leah in their car seats since it was close to their nap time and they just played quietly with the toys hanging from the bars of their car seats and they eventually fell asleep without so much as a peep out of either one of them. And Grace and Evan were playing so well, waiting their turn and staying right were they should be. Evan fell down at one point and Grace stopped to see if he was ok. All of the Mom's were commenting to me how well behaved they were. And then the kicker---it was time to leave so I told Grace and Evan that we were going to be leaving in 5 minutes and to take a few more minutes to play. After 5 minutes was up I called for them to leave and low and behold both of them stopped what they were doing and started walking towards the car!!! My kids folks....MY KIDS didn't throw tantrums or even argue one little bit! All of the other Mother's were asking how I did it and that I had such good listeners!! I left feeling rejuvenated! Feeling accomplished and finally feeling like a good Mother. To some this may not sound like a big deal, but it was to me.

Poor Little Thing

I feel so bad for Grace. She is still sick. I took this picture of her tonight at about 5:30 when she asked me to put her to bed. She's been there ever since.

Chuck

Grace is sick. The poor thing is throwing up everywhere. I feel awful for her. I guess we have a 24 hour stomach bug going around the house like rapid fire. I'm praying that Evan and the twins don't get it but I'm pretty sure that they will. Grace is now laying on the couch watching TV and looks just terrible. I hate it when the kids are sick, I always want to make everything feel better. Matt left for work in the middle of an up-chuck session. In this case, lucky him. I'm already so over cleaning up throw up. No matter how long I've been a Mom - cleaning up throw up still makes me want to throw up. I'm airing out Grace's bedroom, and the whole upstairs for that matter. The bug started with Matt and most of the other guys at work. If you call in sick on a turnaround you must really truly be on your death bed so the guy who had it first didn't call in sick...and now all of the guys had it and now all of their families have had it. Thank you Valero. Grace was playing with my niece Ellie today, and my parents and Grandmother were here recently so I'm really hoping none of them get it. I will feel awful if they do. But the way this thing is spreading I'm pretty sure that they won't all get away unscathed. I really, truly apologize in advance for the nastiness.
So progress on the twins room is again at a halt. I'm too busy taking care of a sick kiddo to put the finish coat on - plus I don't want anyone here watching the kids while I paint since I don't want them to be sick. I feel like this is the home improvement project that just won't end!! We started it back in September. That's right, September. But with me on bed rest, then the birth of the babies and the holidays and now Matt's turnaround it just hasn't gotten done. Here's to hoping it will be finished by May.

Catch Me, Catch Me, If You Can...

I hate that my blog has been all "doom and gloom" lately. It's just a rough patch right now for me I think. Everything caught up to me today. I spent the majority of the day in bed sick as a dog. If I wasn't in bed, I was in the bathroom nauseous as all hell. Luckily my Grandmother came to the rescue yet again and helped me with the kids. And I feel guilty for having her help me yet again but hopefully things in this house will be on the upswing soon. We can really only go up from here. So to all of my blog readers - I'll be back to my usual happy picture posting - silly story telling self in no time. And I have a back log of stories. Most including poop, toilet water and throw up - all the fun stuff! Have a great weekend!

You asked

I had someone email me recently just to ask, "What's up? What's new?" so I've decided to answer it here. I'm sure this isn't what they were bargaining for!

What's up? Well I haven't slept in a week because the twins have all of the sudden decided to revert back to old habits and not sleep at night. Madeline wants to be held all of the time which cannot happen for a laundry list of reasons. And when I say I haven't slept in a week, last night was the best night that I've had and that was two hours in a row with the rest of the night filled with ten minutes here and 5 minutes there just to get up out of bed at 6am to "start the day". I've been running back and forth between the twins and the attic at night after the big kids are in bed trying to get it finished by myself since, as we all know, Matt is still working his lovely 12 hour shifts at night - no relief there until the 31st. On top of working in the attic I've been trying to get carpet lined up for installation next week. The first company fell through - they were just too expensive so now I have to go to another carpet place tonight to pick something out and they're coming to measure tomorrow. If you're reading this post I'm sure you already know about the issues that I'm having with Grace so I'm trying to tackle that. I've been devoting every single solitary moment to trying some new/different things to help her. I did see a slight improvement in one regard already so maybe I'm on to something. I'll elaborate on that later. I'm trying to shop for the kids spring/summer clothes since Evan especially has zero clothes that fit him anymore. He's growing sooo much faster than Grace ever did/does. I'm trying to not neglect Ev, Maddie and Leah while working on issues with Grace so that takes up the 25th hour of the day. Not to mention doing all of the usual things like cleaning, meals and laundry. The twins are starting solid food so feeding them takes a good solid hour from start to finish. Then it's usually on to bathe 4 kids and get them ready for bed, stories for all and into bed. On a selfish note, I've not had Matt home for our anniversary in 3 years. He's been working on all of them, This year he was supposed to have off and I have to say I was looking forward to putting the kids to be at the usual 7pm and cooking ourselves a nice 'adult' dinner and spending some quality time with him. Our "dates" are few and far between so even a special dinner at home is a treat. But no - he just left for work at 3pm after sleeping all day. He DID send me beautiful roses though, so that was incredibly sweet! I'm still working on a schedule with the twins and it's been getting pretty messed up lately by people coming over to watch them while I work on the twins room so I'm trying to salvage what's left of it. My biggest goal is to get Evan and the twins to nap in the afternoon at the same time so I can get some things done and spend time with Grace just the two of us. I am trying to get out shopping for some last minute things I need for the girls new room so when it finally does get finished we have everything we need. I think I need a personal shopper. Sprinkled in amongst all of this are trips to the park, walks around the block, playing outside, and doing crafts....mixed with the less glamorous tasks of changing poopy diapers for three and cleaning up spit up. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things but that's it in a nutshell. That's what I'm up to.
Today I've accomplished a first. I said "No" to something. There is a family party on Saturday that I said No to. I never say no to anything. I am always too afraid to hurts someone's feelings or offend someone. I am very much a pleaser. But today I put on my big girls panties and said No. I am beyond stressed out right now and that would have just added to it. (I do still feel guilty though.) Baby steps.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Matt! I love you!

Spring Day Outside - Wordless Wednesday

I guess it won't be Wordless Wednesday after all...Sorry about the sideways pictures! I'm tired and will fix them tomorrow!

Smile

Her smile still gets me every time!

Clear View Mirror

At one point today I was beginning to regret writing my last post. I was fearful of what people would think and how they would react. I've gotten so many responses, more than I ever dreamed that I would get. Some were helpful, some supportive, some judgemental and some were just plain rude and hurtful. To those that have responded with personal stories and offerings of ideas and help you have no idea how much I appreciate you taking time out of your day to try to help me. Thank you. I'm truly taking everything into consideration and going to try to figure out my next step. As a Mom I know that I truly am my children's biggest advocate and have to speak up or scream for what I feel is best for my kids.
A lot of people have commented about Grace feeling overshadowed by the twins and Evan; that she's looking for attention. I know that that is part of it. Matt and I are going to try even harder to give each of the kids one on one time more often. We already make it a point to give each child one on one time out of the house when Matt is off. Which equals out to roughly once a week when Matt is working his normal schedule. For the rest of the days we just do small things one on one, Evan loves to help with laundry -putting things into the washer and dryer. So he is my big helper for that. Grace like to help do dishes so she gets her chair and sponge and will stand and talk with me while I wash dishes and load the dishwasher. I know they are simple things but we get to do them one on one. For example today Evan and I went to Walmart and Home Depot. I know it may sounds stupid but we get a chance to talk. Actually I should say that Evan gets a chance to really talk about whatever he wants to. I let him walk around the stores by himself, which he normally doesn't get to do when I'm out with all of the kids. And he did amazingly great! I let him sit on the tractors in Home Depot again which he loves. In Walmart we went over and looked at the fish in the fish tanks where he got to tell me what colors they were and which ones were big and which ones were small. Grace and I went out later to get the rest of the groceries at Dutchway and pickup what I forgot in Home Depot. She was a huge helper, not touching things she shouldn't be, asking me for things and not screaming when she doesn't get her way and staying right with me in the stores. Not a tantrum to be had on that trip. And to be honest I think I held my breath the entire trip. But we did have a good time.
I want to stop and say that I don't want this post to sound like I'm defending myself, I think I'm really just trying to process and talk everything through the way I would if Matt were here for me to talk to.
While I was in Walmart I bought a kitchen timer to use for time-outs. It's just a small thing to try with Grace and Evan when they are sent to their rooms to sit on their beds for bad behavior or for not listening. We will see how it goes. My one issue with time outs upstairs is that I cannot be consistent. Grace's room is right next to ours and when Matt is on night shift I don't want to send Grace up there screaming and throwing a tantrum and wake Matt up. So it's one obstacle that I'm trying to figure out an alternative to.
I'm thrilled to be getting Maddie, Leah and Evan consistently on the same nap schedule so that Grace and I will have that time together just the two of us every single day.I use that time to do crafts with her, snuggle with her on the couch or just sit and play with her. In the summer we would usually sit on the porch and play with playdough or color, I can't wait for it to be nice enough outside to start doing that again.
I'm thinking that I am going to take some of the suggestions that you all have given me and implement some of them over the next month or two. I have also ordered two books and will see what insight they can give me. If nothing changes then I am going to take her back to the pediatrician's office and discuss things with her again. And just take it from there. In regards to my temper and yelling, I'm going to try to do Yoga at night and go for walks when Matt is at home for some stress relief. I don't think that I'm depressed as some have suggested, I think it's more of just being overwhelmed by everything on my plate right now. However, if things with ME don't get better over the next few weeks I will go and talk to someone about it. I am truly hoping that this is rock bottom for me. That months of sleep deprivation from the end of my pregnancy and then having two newborns who didn't sleep through the night adding to the stress of having 4 kids under age 4 finally and completely caught up to me. I'm not placing blame or making excuses, it just is what it is. Exercise has always been a stress reliever for me so there is now even more incentive to MAKE time for me which I haven't been doing. At all. I pray that things will only get better from here.
Hopefully this post made sense. I skipped around a lot but I'm emotionally and physically exhausted.

PS. I didn't yell today. Not once. (Yea me!)

Truth

It's been a long time in the making. Matt and I have tried everything. I've read books, magazines, and even asked the pediatrician repeatedly when we're there. Grace is out of control. There - I said it. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right? No matter what course of action we take it seems to make no difference. She has always been a "strong willed" and "difficult" child but it's gotten so beyond that. I feel awful for the Evan and the babies because the entire "feel" of the house is controlled by her tantrums and angry rages. They aren't just usual 2-3 year old tantrums. They are rages as I call them. The doctors keep saying, "Oh it's just her age." And to "Be patient and work through it." I've tried. And cried. And tried some more. It's literally to the point where I'm scared to take her in public anymore because you never know what will set her off. The smallest things will send her spinning completely out of control. We don't go places and do fun things because of it.
I have such guilt. Such overwhelming and unending guilt. I ruined her. I didn't parent her correctly. Evan is starting to behave like her because he looks up to her. This house is such a tense and uneasy place all the time. I feel just sick to think about raising the twins in an environment like this. I've order even more books looking for answers or other things to try. I've even gone as far as to cut out certain foods and food colorings to see if that's a trigger for her since one study suggested it. Do you know how hard it is to feed your three year old food without certain food colorings?! But I did it, and for weeks and nothing changed.
Lately I've been yelling more. And secretly crying more. I know that it's wrong. I know I shouldn't do it. I KNOW it is just making things worse. Making things worse with Grace and just worsening my guilt to the point of getting physically ill. I'm beyond the end of my rope. I'm ashamed to even write this post. Saying it out loud and to the entire world just makes me feel like more of a failure. I'm just to the point of desperation. I'm just failing her and I don't know how to make things better for her. I want to see her happy and I rarely ever do. She is always throwing tantrums and yelling and crying and complaining. She just never seems happy. I want someone to come to the rescue and tell me what to do. How to make things better. But in the end I will forever feel like it's my fault. Like I caused her to be this way.

Cut out?

Am I really cut out for this parenting thing? Seriously. I am a horrible Mother today, or at least I feel that way. I totally lost it with Grace. Yelling. Loudly. Then proceeding to snatch her up, stomp up the stairs with her under my arm and put her in the room slamming her door shut behind me. I yell sometimes, all parents do. And if you say that you don't, I would swear you were lying. I yell, but not like this. I could blame it on any number of things, lack of sleep, no breaks since Matt has been gone for what feels like forever, anything really but I won't. It's my fault and I feel horrible. I have a knot in my stomach. I can't even explain right now about Grace because I'm still so incredibly upset about it. I'm only blogging about it because I need an outlet. And being here with a three year old, a not quite 2 year old and two 4 month olds who just had shots is just not doing anything for me. I'm even hesitant about posting this because I don't want people thinking I'm an awful parent but I'm not one for sugar-coating. This is what's happening in my world, the good and the bad. Today has just been bad. Really bad.

4 month Stats

The girls had their 4 month appointment today and are doing well! The doctor said that Madeline's head should be fine as long as we keep her off of her back as much as possible, I've been doing that anyway.

Madeline weighs 14lbs 10oz and is 24 3/8 inches long. She's in the 75% for weight and the 55% for height.

Leah weighs 14lbs and is 24 1/4 inches long. She's in the 55% for weight and the 50% for height.

We were given the go ahead for foods, but we have started on that already.

I don't have any more time to post since Grace is being awful today. Her behavior is dreadful. She has spent most of her day in her room sitting on her bed and has all of her necklaces, beads and her beloved red sparkle shoes taken away and it's only 1:30pm. I need a break. But there's not rest for the Mommy.

Passed Out

Maddie fell asleep sitting in the Bumbo while the kids were doing craft time! Both Maddie and Leah love to sit on the table in the middle of everything and just laugh and smile at what's going on around them! They both love to watch Grace and Evan...I hope that they're not learning too much from their big brother and sister.

Paint on the pain

I'm so sore today! I painted for hours yesterday and finally feel like the twins room is coming together! I am almost done the primer coats, the only places that I'm missing are the stairwell and parts I cannot reach. My Dad came over and fixed the broken stairs and now we're on to trying to make doors to cover the access holes. I have to take the twins to their doctor appointment tomorrow morning and then come home and wait for the carpet people. They're measuring tomorrow and then hopefully will install within a week. I still have a lot to do on it and am hoping I can ask just a little more of my Mom, Dad and Grandmother to help me. I hate asking for help. Really. I hate it. But right now I just need it. I especially hate taking help from my Grandmother. She has enough of her plate with one of my Aunts and one of my Uncles business. It just seems like every time I tell her, "No thank you" because I don't want her to spread herself even more thin she almost gets offended. She's told me many times that she doesn't like to be idle, that's what makes her feel old. A few weeks ago I told her that I didn't need help and she called three more times "just to make sure!" I love her so much! I hope I have as much energy as she does when I'm her age.
We're on to night 6 of Matt's turn-around. It's wearing on him, a lot right now. They're running around like mad all night long trying to fix things and make all of the repairs and upgrades before the start up date of Monday, March 23rd. I hope everything goes according to schedule. Usually they let one guy each night go home a few hours early part way into the turnaround so I'm hoping that Matt gets to do that soon. He needs it.
Next Saturday is a family party for all March birthday's which include, Grams, Gramps, Bruce, Laura, Sally and Matt. I am going to call my Aunt who is hosting the party and ask if I can roll Evan's birthday into that as well. I'm also going to see what I can bring.

Accomplished

After too many days to count of feeling nothing but 'not-enough-time-in-the-day' incompetence, I've finally succeeded in feeling accomplished and today isn't even over yet! I've done many loads of laundry so my mountain of dirty clothes, sheets, blankets and burp cloths is now starting to resemble a hill! Yea! I've succeeded in painting half of the twins new room in primer! Double Yea! That half of the room sucked up an entire can of primer! I'm going to get back at it tomorrow right after I pick out the carpet since that didn't happen today, small set back. I'm starting to feel like I will once again have a bedroom all to myself (and Matt when he's finally back sleeping with me in April...boo) I've sent not one but two emails to a friend that I've been neglecting and got to hear about wedding details in the making! Yea for her! Now if I can just get through dinner, bath and bedtime in one piece I'll be in business! As for right now, I'm off to start setting up for bedtime!

No news

I don't have much to report...Matt was supposed to finish up the last of the twins room this week after he got home from night shift but has been too tired since he's been up running around all night at work. Usually he can sleep for a few hours at night but no such luck lately. We're hoping that tonight he can catch a little nap so he can come home, work for an hour to finish it and then I will paint tomorrow afternoon. I've been calling flooring places looking for carpet and we now just have to go pick something out. I want to try to pick something neutral so that when we sell the house it will appeal to more people. After the twins room is finished we're going to paint the living room.
I cannot believe that this is only night #3 of Matt's 21 day stretch. I'm already feeling stressed and in need of adult time! Ug. His boss did say that they might end the t/a a day earlier than expected...I guess I should be happy about that. Tonight my parents are coming over to hang out so at least I won't be here alone all night. The babies had a really bad night last night. Leah had bad gas and was crying a lot so that woke Maddie up and then I had two cranky babies awake most of this morning. I'm ready for a good night for both of the girls. I'm hoping that things will get markedly better once they're in their own room. I'm taking them to the pediatrician on Monday and am a little nervous about it. I'm slightly concerned about the shape of Madeline's head still. It's very flat in the back and has been that way since birth. The doctor said it was from her position in my stomach and to watch it. I'm hoping the doctor says that it's fine and that she won't have to wear a cranial band, as they call it. It's really a helmet to help with the shape of her skull. I've been doing everything possible to not have her lay on the back of her head. She sits up in the Bumbo a lot during the day, I will lay her on her side for naps and bedtime since she can roll over both ways it's not such a SIDS risk to not have her on her back for sleeping even though she ends up that way a lot of the time. I guess we will see on Monday.

I'm sorry for all of the boring posts lately. I'm just not in the usual frame of mind...

Night 1

Matt starts his turnaround tonight so he's sleeping most of the day today. I'm really trying to not be depressed but it's hard. The twins room is almost ready to be painted. He 'says' that he'll be home in the morning after sleeping most of tonight at work hopefully and finish it so that I can paint it. Then it's on to carpet installation and we're done. I cannot wait for the babies to be out of our room!!
Speaking of Maddie and Leah, they're getting to be such big girls already! Leah started to laugh little giggles late last week, even showing off her skills to Grammie and PopPop on Sunday. Then yesterday she started to actually belly laugh. It was the most adorable thing! Matt and I were laughing so hard at her! Even Grace and Evan thought it was funny! Madeline couldn't be outdone so she decided to roll over from her back to her front while we were getting ready for bed! I can't believe that the girls will be 4 months old this weekend!
Grace and Evan are b-o-r-e-d! They were thrilled to be outside this past weekend in the warm weather, I'm so sad that it's cold again. It's still a little too chilly for Maddie and Leah to be outside for any length of time so we're housebound again. This afternoon I might back everyone up and make a trip to Home Depot to get the rest of the things I need to start painting. Our shopping trips are always interesting. We cannot go anywhere without comments and stares, especially if we are using the stroller. I have to post a picture of us using the stroller so you all understand what I'm talking about.

Sorry for the boring post. I'm just in a hum-drum kind of mood. The cloudy weather isn't helping my mood at all.

Could have

I could have written this post myself. Many times.

http://areservationforsix.blogspot.com/2009/02/to-whom-it-may-concern.html

Sometimes I would just like to get through a store, mall or walk around the block without the stares and comments. Just once.

Who are you

I set up a profile view counter three days ago on the bottom of my blog page. And as of right now I've had almost 300 views. I'm literally shocked. I know that in the "blogging world" that's nothing but to me, 300 is huge over not even a three day period. I know there are a lot of people who "view" my blog multiple times in one day to link to other blogs but still. I can't believe that there are that many people who care enough about my happenings to visit my little page, read my daily happenings, listen to me complain and vent and brag about my wonderful kids. It has led me to really wonder who is reading my blog. I won't ever change what I write or how I write it based on who is reading because my life is what it is. So if you're a reader take a minute and give me a quick hello...I'm so curious!

A Picture Post

Monday

These are Grace's "sparkly shoes" as she calls them...Evan finally got his hands on the coveted item and is THRILLED that he 'thinks' he's going to get to wear them. Ummm...no. And if you notice his outfit, I let the kids pick out their own clothes today since we weren't going anywhere. This is what he chose.

And this is what Grace decided would be her outfit of choice for the day. Very colorful! She was sooo proud of herself! (Notice the coveted red shoes!) And her new crystal bead necklace that she made on Saturday, the one that luckily didn't get thrown into the potty.

And the kids riding their bikes on the sidewalk on the nice 55 degree day last week...only a few days before the lovely snowstorm we had today. I'm very ready for Spring!

Oh Please

"Mommy, oh Mommy, Please please please can I?!!!!???" Grace has turned over a new leaf. She has started to beg for things. That's right, down right BEG for things. It could be anything from wanting to watch a show on TV to doing a craft or even asking for a cup of juice. Everything is "Pretty please?! Can I ppppplease?", where did she learn this from? Probably the same place she learned the great whining skill she possesses. She was born with it. I guess it could be worse - she could be demanding things and throwing tantrums like she was doing. I guess we've graduated and matured from that. Or maybe she just passed that skill on to her brother because he's getting pretty darn good at it.

In other news, tonight is night 3 of a 4 night rack of night shift for Matt. Night 3 always sucks. Night 1 I'm usually fresh off of a little bit of kid detox and have all of the patience in the world. Night 2 is usually ok, a little more difficult but I still have some composure. By night 3 I'm so over being the sole caretaker of this gaggle of kids and I KNOW that I have one more night and part of the next day before I get help that my sanity is just lost somewhere. Probably the toilet. Which by the way is where Evan decided to throw one of Grace's necklaces tonight. And it had pee in it. Now for those of you who don't know, Grace makes necklaces like it's her j-o-b. She has a caboodle that she calls her "jewelry box" filled with all kinds of beads that she protects with her life. She will string beads with the utmost concentration for hours. I'm not kidding. HOURS. And yesterday we went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and got her two new types of beads which she clutched all the way home then ran in the house, peed, then proceeded to make herself a new necklace which she has worn ever since. This necklace was added to the 4 other necklaces she was wearing prompting me to call her Mr. T for the rest of the day. Luckily for her Ev didn't throw her new necklace with 'crystals' into the pooper. However watching the expression on her face as I explained why her necklace had to go into the trash pretty much broke my heart. However watching the expression on Evan's face as her threw her necklace into the toilet kind of made me giggle. I know, I know - I'm awful. But let me explain...Grace was being pretty rotten to him alllll day. She wouldn't let him even approach her new beads or even look in her general direction all afternoon. So I think it was a deliberate act of revenge on his part. He had such a look of pure satisfaction as he watched the necklace sink to the bottom of the toilet. I really did have to choke back a little giggle before I reprimanded him and put him in time out. Again, Mother of the Year award for me.