Monkey see, Monkey do

Yesterday, as I was thinking about dinner, I watched the kids playing in the yard. Maddie was running and tripped, falling right into the mud. Her hands were suddenly in dark brown gooey gloves, and her face and hair had been splattered with the muck. She did NOT like that and set out to screaming about the injustice as the boys ignored her and ran off to the play-set. I brought her inside, peeled off and stain-treated her clothes, then set about to wiping the grime from her tear-stained cheeks. With her bottom on the side of the sink, we soaked her fingers and toes in the warm water as I used the lavender-scented soap to make her feel pretty again. . . . then daddy came in, her face was instantly brightened as she bragged about her muddy adventure. As Allen went to change clothes, I looked up to check on the three boys and was horrified by what I saw.

I screamed for Allen to come quick because I didn't want to be the one dealing with the atrocity I laid my eyes upon. . . and anyway, I was still playing with lavender bubbles and my little girl. When he got around to hearing my distressed calls, he came running, saw what I saw, and he had the NERVE to chuckle. I asked him (calmly) if he would please deal with the three bare butts facing me as the boys (um...) "watered" the tree at the back of the yard.

Allen finished changing while Maddie helped me unload the dishwasher. By the time he was ready to go out to check on the boys, Jon and Ben were gleefully sliding bare-butt down the slide, giggling, then scrambling up to do it again. Will had disappeared. As it turned out, Will taught his younger brothers how to take aim at the tree, but then he squatted to finish his business. When we asked him why, he said because Mama locked the door so we couldn't go in to do it. The biggest problem was discovered later when he told us he needed new undies because we don't keep Charmin next to the tree.

Other than that, the last week has been all about preparing for our families to visit this past weekend to celebrate Ben's, Maddie's, and Jon's third birthday. I made banana monkey cupcakes with chocolate icing and the kids liked them a lot. We had a fabulous time with our families, and the kids have napped well ever since. I wonder how many days until they are back to "normal?" Here are some of the pictures of the kids from the weekend: