We had our family pics taken today in Prosper, and afterwards we took the boys to dinner at Posado's, which we haven't been to since I was pregnant with the twins.  When we were leaving, Dominic and I were the last two to get out of the booth. He quietly asked me, "Mommy, is 'piss' a bad word?" I started to answer, "That's not a nice word, and I don't want to hear little boys saying it" when he then continued in with every suffix available for the word, "What about pissING, or pissed like someone is pissed off?" I assured him that all of those were not nice words and not to be used. He was satisfied with that and let me know, "Well, Daddy says a lot of bad words. You don't. But Daddy does." 

This is Jose 🚶🏾and here's your  🚌 (bump bump)... 😂

All day I looked forward to getting home, changing into something comfy (translation: remove my bra), making dinner in a semi-relaxing atmosphere (note: utter calamity by most people's standards, but you get use to the noise in a big family), and then getting the boys showered and ready for bed without rushing to any sports practices. Just imagining it was heaven. But I walked in the door at 5:45pm & found myself surrounded by 3 boys with Cherry Berry stickers all over themselves. And while my face lit up with an excited smile to match theirs, big fat F bombs flew through my mind. I know what those stickers mean from a mile away with no explanation, but, as always, the boys immediately bombarded me with the reasons they're wearing them, "Guess, Mommy, guess! You can't guess can you? Can you guess, Mommy?" And then, as though they were given a script as soon as they walked into their classroom that morning to memorize throughout the day, they exclaimed in proactively exaggerated, pleading tones to squash any "no" that might be forming on my lips that we HAD to go to Cherry Berry like ALL the other kids and it's ONLY for tonight, & it's for OUR SCHOOL so we HAVE TO GO, Mommy! Can we go, Mommy??????" And so my vision of a quiet evening with no place to go was snuffed out when I said "Yes, we can go", not wanting to be responsible for ruining their little lives on such an important date! While I braced myself for the worst - very few places make me cringe like taking 4 little kids to a self serve frozen yogurt bar by myself (it's up there with a nail technician wielding a nail file drill in my direction), and I have actually promised myself "never again" - they surprised me with very good behavior and only minimal mess, which I consider to be payment for the mountains of toppings they managed to get on their yogurt while I was assisting someone else and didn't even notice until I saw the total due on the register. Luckily I caught Dominic millimeters before he got the GIANT chocolate covered strawberry that I'm pretty sure bumps up the cost of your yogurt by $5 all on its own. Anyway, there was a crowd and the boys found friends, and I was actually able to hold not one but THREE conversations with various parents (WINNING!). In the end, I have to say that, despite the fact that I'm now completely spent, it was a fun outing. The boys have come a long way since the last time I took them there on my own. Whew!

This was a morning of good moods, cooperation, harmony, and synchrony... those mornings are sometimes a distant dream. Bless the teachers' hearts, though, because they were also quite animated when I dropped them off at school. #sorryteachers 

I heard a noise and looked out the window to see that Max had found and drug out the drain hoses that we have to put on the gutters when it rains hard so that it doesn't puddle around the house. Normally my first instinct is to run out and holler at him, but honestly I just haven't had a lot of energy for anything other than absolute essentials lately. Instead, I sat and watched him for a while (sorry, babe) and thought that Max must be feeling the way I do when I wake up with a ton of energy and my spirit is full and inspired and anything feels possible. A day when I'm willing to take risks and they don't feel so overwhelming, a day when working on my long and ever growing to do list doesn't feel so tedious but rather I'm basking in my productivity. A day where at the end of it I'm all warm inside thinking about the memories we made that day. This life is meant to be lived, someone reminded me yesterday. And it can't all be hard work. Sometimes you have to let the wind blow through your floppy ears -err- your hair, roll around and get dirty, and play like it's your last day, nevermind that itchy butt. You acknowledge it and move on and don't let it ruin your good time. Thanks, Max. I like you more and more each day... even when I don't.   #maketimeforfuntoo #notetoself

Ever since I switched antibiotics for my tooth, my farts and poop smell AWFUL. With one bathroom out of commission and upstairs being too far away, and with Dominic taking wayyyyy too long to brush and floss his teeth in the bathroom I need (he'd been in there for 15 minutes daydreaming), I went in that bathroom to poop 😜 figuring that would hurry him up. Well, when I finished and got up to flush, he started gagging and almost threw up in the sink. And now I can't stop laughing.

#NoMomOfTheYearAwardForMe #Sorry 

Dominic: "Remember that dog we saw that one time that only had 3 legs? I still think about him a lot.   I'm glad I'm a person and not a dog with 3 legs that no one takes care of."  
I'm contemplating how sweet and sad this is and how we saw that dog like 2 years ago and he still remembers it?? But, as usual, I'm not able to marinate in one moment for very long...
Adrian: "I'M not glad I'M a person. Dominic punches me and Javi won't give me the password to his club." Santi: "I have the password. I'm in the club."

​#thanksSanti #middlechildproblems #MarciaMarciaMarcia #ButThat3LeggedDogTho

Santi just slid from the top of the couch onto my knee. He goes, "sorry mommy sorry. I accidentally hurt my beeyest peeyend". I asked him who's his best friend that he hurt? He goes, "I hurt my under tables". 😂😂

Dominic: "Mommy, do you know what a changling is?"
Me: "Not sure. Tell me."
Dominic: "It's called that because it changes."
​Adrian: "And it's a ling."

 Earlier, I was in my happy place enjoying the rain when Adrian broke the silence with, "Oh man, it's flocking wet outside!" I asked, "Excuse me?" And he said, "I said it's flocking wet out!" "What does 'flocking wet' mean?" I asked, really curious where this was going. "Umm, I mean, I guess it means it's really kind of wet outside."  

And so now, a couple hours later, it's really coming down. So I'm just gonna sit here and flocking enjoy it.

Me when I apparently didn't hear Javi ask me something and in his annoyance or... (ahem) bravery, he asked me "Do you have ear loss or something?"

​#ohreally

Just a day after showing the boys how brushing your teeth with baking soda can help whiten your teeth, I don't know why I should be surprised this morning to see the cat food sprinkled with... baking soda. 🤔😤 Thanks, Dominic.
​

Adrian, who came home from a birthday party tonight with a baggie full of candy, had already figured how many pieces each brother could have once they were divided up equally. I told him how proud I was of him for being so thoughtful and sharing all on his own. He answered, "Well, it's not getters-keepers, its getters-sharers. And some people say finders-keepers, and I don't like that either." Sometimes I'm caught off guard when the boys relay something to me that shows they've either been listening after all or they just have some things in life already figured out on their own. Either way, they make me all warm and gooey inside. ❤❤❤❤

It's not enough that he has chewed holes in the leather of both couches, chair and ottoman. It's not enough that he lays on the blankets and stinks them up the second I take them out of the dryer and fold them up on the couch. It's not enough that he will leave his perfectly good spot to take over yours as soon as you sit down with all his elbows and knees, stinky, scratchy feet, and wet nose. But now he slides himself down in between the cushions, pushing them all to the floor and then looks at you like, "What?". 
It's hard enough to keep them on with the 4 boys. Now I'm fighting with the dog? In the words of Adrian, "Seriously??" #goodthinghescute

I've learned never to trust Santi when he says "Daddy already brushed my teeth", but, tonight, he was extra emphatic about it, so I went to check with Jose before I loaded up Santi's toothbrush. It was no surprise when I learned that, in fact, Santi's teeth had NOT been brushed, so when I went back and scolded Santi for lying to me. As I was getting the toothpaste open, he said, "I didn't mean to lie to you. I just meant to say 'I love you, Mommy.' I love you so much, Mommy. That's what I was trying to say." 
A man's game starts at a young age, ladies. I'm here to warn you.