Monday, March 30, 2009

bathroom pass

At my house I don't have the priviledge of privacy. We have had a little people in our house for too long. I always have a constant companion. When I do the laundry, someone's in my basket. When I do dishes, someone's in my dishwasher. When I use the bathroom, I usually have someone sitting on my lap. There are boundaries when you have a toddler.
The same basic rule applies as a mother. No boundaries. I am called to serve in any condition and under any circumstance. This especially applies to the bathroom. I don't need a bathroom pass. Most of the time there is never any forethought as someone enters the bathroom. They just rely on me to come through for them. Mom, I need soap, I need a towel, I need TP.
I always walk in the bathroom regardless of what type of activity is going on in there to give or retreive supplies.
Unfortunatley everyone that uses our bathroom, doesn't live here. And some of those people forget about the toddler factor, so it's always a shocker if they get interupted.

I was pulling up carpet in our basement on Saturday and was getting ready to clean the tile underneath. As I'm heading for the bathroom, I hear the door shut. I didn't think twice about going in there and grabbing cleaning supplies.
I start to open the door. It is pushed shut.
I open the door again. It is pushed shut. The only one that doesn't want me in potty with them is Shane. I just assume it is him. This time before I try again, I tell him I just want the cleaning towel above his head. Open the door, it shuts. what the heck? I tell him I just need the towel. Door shuts. I decided I was going to try one more time before I cussed him out. I try and the door shuts as I hear, "It's Dick!"
I didn't even know he was visiting. I can only imagine his horror, trying to keep me out of the bathroom. He was so startled by me trying to come in there he couldn't even tell me who he was.
All I could do was walk away laughing. I felt so bad, for at least a second. I could only imagine how awkward he must have felt. The kicker, the toilet keeps running it that bathroom. So instead of fixing it, we just turn the water on and off when needed. Of course, if I didn't know he was here, so I didn't have a chance to tell him. He had to come and find me and ask me how to flush the toilet. I had tears streaming down my face at this point. After I stopped laughing, I told him sorry and gave him flushing instructions.
This could have all been avoided I he would have just handed me the towel. I need to send Cooper over to spend more time with Grandpa.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

He's a natural


Caleb has been asking all winter to go skiing. He watched as his brothers geared up and went out. He would sit at the window and watch them ski or try to follow them in his winter gear. We are loosing all our snow so I thought I'd better get him out or I would here about it all summer. The big boys went on a hike while we set out for Caleb's first skiing experience. Of course to every beginner it looks easier than it is. I can still remember the tears of Ridge and Brock when they were learning. They wanted to tackle the biggest hills and couldn't even stay standing. I was ready this time. I put on my "fuzzy gloves" and was prepared for the drama. I was amazed that it only took 3 tries to get the skis clipped on. He fell a couple of times and learned really fast how to stand up. So I loaded Cooper into his sled and off we go. It was too easy, I should be a ski instructor. I was basking in my glory, pulling Coop in his mushing sled, skiing side by side with my new skiing buddy. I was set for the day. Just as the sun started to shine and the birds started singing, Caleb went for about 200 yards and then said he couldn't ski any more. He was to sore. I just started giggling. How can he already know that excuse? We had more time in getting dressed than in ski time. It think this is what is known as "baby steps." I took off his skis and off he went, with the agonizing pain seeming to go away with every bound. Maybe next time we will make it 400 yards.

6" of fresh snow


This is probably the hardest time to live in Soda. 2 days before this picture it was 40 degrees and grass was starting to show. Then of course it snows 6 inches and drops 30 degrees. We could have sat home and cried, like I was about too, instead we loaded up and went on one last winter safari. Shane took Ridge and Brock and walked the tracks from Monsanto to Kelly Park. They were all packing heat, you never know when the scary rabbits will attack. I think it's kind of funny the whole boy thing. If you tell them to go walk for 2 miles, it turns into the ulitmate male meltdown. If you give them a gun they loose all track of time and space and could walk for days on end. men!