Not so adventures of the St. Clair clan...

 I decided today was the day I was taking back my house!  Hold your applause.   I'll tell you right now what that was: a pipe dream.  Show me the woman who got her house cleaned while her children were in it, and I'll show you a liar.  Unless she first duct taped them to their chairs.  Then maybe.   Our girls have been on a bit of a tear.  They dumped every toy receptacle and half the game closet in their room over the course of this weekend.  I'm not sure why.  I'm not sure there was a "why."  They accomplished half of their mayhem during bedtime and the other half while I ignored them and took a minute outside, so that's on me.   The game and craft closet has been spilling into the hall for close to a week now anyway.  It needed some attention.  The trail from the closet to the girl's room made it unavoidable.  The darlings also managed to spill craft supplies from the closet to the garage door....

 "Good morning, Carter!  I've been missing you this morning!"  I told my late riser as I scooped her up for a good morning hug.  I turned to her sister, who had been up with the sun, "Were you missing her too, Emerson?" "Not much."  Well, you can't fault her honesty.   Honesty is like a three-year-old's super power.   "Mama, I have a big belly?" Carter asked me tonight.   "You do have a big belly." "You have a big belly too." Thanks, kid.  The difference is, a) I didn't ask, and b) toddler big bellies are cute. "You need to eat your dinner," I countered.   She looked at her plate then looked at me.  "It's not my favorite."   I mean, at least she's polite.  The boys are also learning the good and the ugly of truth telling toddlers.  They can't get away with anything.  It's like I have my own personal set of spies.  I'm milking this season for all it's worth.   Hmmmmm...

I had to take a leave of absence from my computer because it was making me mad.  I think we have reached an understanding.  At least temporarily.  So here we are.   We have had a lot of "life" happen in the last month or so, but it's hard to nail it all down in a blog post.  Mostly, I think it's growing pains.  Our boys are growing out of the little boy stage and are pushing to find that next set of boundaries.  The girls are no longer babies.  They are owning the toddler stage entirely now.  It's weird.  I'm still deciding if I like it or not.   Because I still think of them as babies, I am beginning to realize we might be giving the girls too much freedom to be sassy.  In all too obvious ways, it's starting to bite back.   Recently, they have been keeping each other awake at bedtime telling each other off.   "Carter, you rude!" "No!  I not rude, you so rude!" No, I not!  You so rude!" A...