Thoughts Bouncing Around In My Head

1. I may have resolved the sleeping issue with R. After countless nights of her waking me up and then me squeezing my fat butt into her teeny, tiny, twin-sized bed where I tossed and turned until morning, I gave her what she wanted. It never dawned on me, probably because of the sleep deprivation, that she was lonely and scared in her room. She said to me the other night that I have daddy and W. has T. Uh-Duh, light bulb moment. So yesterday I moved furniture and the kids are now sleeping in one room. I figure they are still young, it's only sleep, right? They slept like angels ALL.THROUGH.THE.NIGHT! I, still slept horribly. Go figure.

2. I have got to get the kid's hair cut! Only five more days until school, nothing like waiting until the last minute. I probably won't be able to find an open chair anywhere. Anybody have a Flowbee?

3. I went out to dinner last night with some neighborhood moms. We get together right before school lets out for summer and right before it begins again. There were eight of us; good food, wine, lots of banter, more wine, laughter, did I mention wine? We were kind of loud, I guess when there are five conversations going at once, the voices kind of travel, plus, you know THE WINE. One of the waiters "accidentally" flipped the lights on and off. I guess that was a signal for us to leave, yea, he waited until after we tipped him. When we left I noticed on the door that they closed at 9 pm. It was 10. We bad.

4. I'm taking the boys and one of T.'s friends to the Cole Bros. Circus tomorrow. T. won the tickets! One day when the kids were bored I had them color pictures for a local newspaper's coloring contest. T.'s picture was a runner up. I knew if anyone could win, it would be him. His coloring is amazing for his age. Even at two he could color in the lines. He's always held a crayon like a pencil, no fisted coloring for him. He's very precise and concentrates so hard....my little artist!

5. Mr. Schmitty and I are going to a wedding in two weeks. WE.GET.TO.SPEND.THE.NIGHT! NO.KIDS! My mom and sister are going to stay over. I'm so excited. Mr. Schmitty and I haven't stayed overnight without the kids since, um, never. My neighbor's son is the groom and a few couples in the neighborhood are invited. We are all getting rooms at the hotel where the reception is being held. It's going to be drunkfest '07. We are gonna party like it's 1999!

6. About the wedding, question for you all. This is going to sound dumb, but I've never been to a "black tie optional" wedding before. What kind of dress do I wear? How fancy? Mr. Schmitty and the neighborhood guys are refusing the black tie option. I don't want to be overdressed or underdressed. Any advice?

7. P.S. I'm not looking forward to actually trying dresses on this body of mine. I tend to get a bit depressed looking in the mirror and realizing that I've really gotten FAT! If I start fasting now, how much do you think I can lose in two weeks? Hmmmm......

Mr. Schmitty...A Closet Cross-Dresser?

Okay, he's really going to kill me for this one. But after his comment a few days ago, I owe him one!

Today I was a cleaning freak. My OCD kicked into overdrive. I cleaned and organized each and every closet and dresser in the Schmitty household. I got rid of old and/or stained clothing. I threw away two leaf bags full of McDonald's toys, papers, and junk. I did laundry, OH.DID.I.DO.LAUNDRY! I was a tornado!

I was in my bedroom going through the unmentionables drawer when R. strolled in.

"Whatcha doin' mama?"

"I'm getting rid of some old clothes."

"Why?"

"Because some don't fit anymore and some are old and need to go."

"Oh. Can I help?"

"Sure. See those clothes on the floor? Put them in that big bag for me."

"Okay!"

She gets to work loading the old, beat-up clothes into the bag. She picks up a black bra from the heap.

"Why are you throwing this out?"

"It's old and stretched out."

"But daddy likes black bras."

"Oh yea, he does, does he?"

"Yes, he likes to wear them!"

I raise and eyebrow. "Really? He does?"

"Uh-huh, he wears them to work!"

Does R. know something I don't? Has Mr. Schmitty secretly gone undercover at work? If so, I hope he gets a raise because I seriously can't picture this:

(Sorry honey, I just couldn't resist! Your daughter sure has an imagination!)

Looks Like We're Staying Put

Well I've officially called off the house hunting. I've spent the last two weeks frantically searching my town for a house that will accomodate eight people comfortably. The market right now is horrible. Every single house, in our price range, was awful. The house either needed tons of work or was in a bad location. And let me tell you, we weren't looking to be cheap either.

That however, is not the reason for stopping. I was all willing to relocate to another town. I even had started looking in nearby communities. The problem, surprise, surprise, is the in-laws. I understand that they have very big decisions to make. I get that. It's just that my MIL and SIL don't seem to want to actually COME to any decisions.

They don't have much time, I've told you all of the condition of the house. Winter is approaching, they need to move. We've given them a few options, they need to pick one. They can't seem to and forget trying to help them. They seem to think we all are against them in everything we suggest. It's frustrating.

I know that their lives are chaotic right now. But they also don't understand that we were willing to turn our lives upside down too to help them out. My kids were even willing to move away from their friends. Nobody seemed to understand that by at least giving us an answer on whether or not we were going to move in together.

So, I decided to stop driving myself and my kids batty and let them do what they have to. I just hope they can come to some sort of a decision before it gets cold.

His Mind Is Always In The Gutter

This morning I was looking at the kids and was noticing the different facial features they each had. I was saying to Mr. Schmitty that W. has his profile and T. definitely gets his eyebrows and ears from his grandpa. I continued to say that R. is such a mixture of people from both families.

A few conversations later, I asked Mr. Schmitty if he had noticed R.'s new bad habit. She is still hooked on her Binky, but I will only give it to her at night as she is getting into bed. She isn't allowed to have it during the day, no matter how much she whines. Now when she is tired, she has taken to licking the palm of her hand.

"I think she has an oral fixation."

"Well, she certainly didn't get that from you."

Bastard.

Wanted: Sheet Music

I told you all in the previous post that Miss R. is having an issue with her emotions. Well, to top that off she is also pitching a fit when it's time to go to sleep. She has always been great at bedtime, but for the past two weeks she's been a nightmare. It's the age, I know, I went through this with the other two.

She screams that she's not tired and doesn't want to go night-night. She'll go on for an hour or more, by which time she usually gets herself tired enough that I can finally calm her with a song. I think it's my singing that calms her, though she could just be pretending to sleep to make me stop.

I'm a horrible singer, I know. I will only sing in front of my kids. I don't sing in the shower. I only sing under my breathe to the radio when Mr. Schmitty or anyone else is around. You won't hear me in the crowd when Happy Birthday is sung. I could never work at a TGI Friday's because of this. I'd be the one you would laugh at during American Idol auditions. Get the drift? I suck.

Anyway, besides this fact, I also don't know many children's songs. Sad, I know. When W. was born I don't think I knew anything but Row, Row, Row Your Boat, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. As you can imagine singing those short songs got somewhat old. I'd have to sing them each fifty or so times just to get the baby quiet. I got so sick of them that I remember I would even begin singing the alphabet just to break up the monotony.

I decided I needed to learn at least one good song. I looked up the words to Hush Little Baby and memorized them. W. loved it! And a few years later it was still a hit when I tried it out on T.

Now, fast forward to present day. Hush Little Baby, great for an opener but it's not bringing down the house. My little Primadonna needs some variety. My old standbys about the boat, spider, and star won't cut it. I even tried the Winnie-The-Pooh theme song that I picked up over the years. Nope.

"Keep going Mama!"

Crap. My ears hurt from listening to my own voice. It's like nails on a chalkboard. A cat screeching in heat. A wolf baying at the moon. Okay, stop. My mind is trying to think of something, anything. I can tell by the look in her sleepy eyes that it may only take one more song.

"What do you want to hear?"

"W.'s song. At the baseball game."

Huh?! What in the world is she talking about? OH! Wait, when we went to the minor league baseball game with the cub scouts! That's it!

I proceeded to sing the Star Spangled Banner. Can you believe that I actually messed up a few times. I should be blindfolded and put in front of a firing squad.

I finished my rendition and peeked at her. So adorable they are when they are asleep....her eyes blinked open and she looked me straight in the face. I jumped, it was kind of freaky.

"You sang that wrong."

I need a vacation.

Laila Ali Better Lookout!

My daughter has a real problem lately. Well, actually, I guess you could call it my problem. She has always had an anger management issue. She's teeny, but she's hell on wheels and doesn't take crap from NOOOOOBODY! Part of me likes that, I want her to be a strong woman with no fear of standing up for herself. That's good, she won't be a doormat.

What I am not liking is that lately, she's been clocking anyone who looks at her wrong. She is only 3 going on 4 and I truly believe she is having difficulty expressing herself when she is angry. She speaks extremely well, however, her emotions are just getting the best of her. So she lashes out.

And man can she lash out! None of that girly slapping, pinching, or pulling hair stuff. No way! She balls up her little fist and BLAMO! She aims right for the face. And it hurts! Last week she got pissed because I put her on the potty when she first woke up. Apparently she's not going to be a morning person because I got a right hook to the nose.

Last night she was giving me a hard time going to bed. She's always been great at bedtime but for the past two weeks it's been a problem. I tried everything to get her to settle down. At one point I had told her to stop talking so loudly because the boys were sleeping.

"My boys are awake!" she shot back at me. And yes, she calls them "My Boys" like she owns them.

"No Missy, they are asleep", I replied.

"Show me!"

Now, I know I probably should not have given in, but I was whooped and this had been going on for quite some time. So, I scooped her up, threw her on my hip, opened the boys door and said, "See?"

She looked in their room, saw them under their covers, glared at me, and then it happened. She hauled off and punched me square in the jaw. TWICE! Thank God I don't have a glass jaw, because seriously, I think that could have been a K.O.!

I just looked at her astonished. I walked back into her room, contemplated throwing her out the window, then I placed her on her pillow. I pulled up her blanket, gave her Bimsy the Bunny, said goodnight, and walked out.

It was the best I could do without losing my cool. I think she got that because I never heard another peep.

Am I Coming Or Am I Going?

That my dear friends, remains the mystery. As you can see, I have been AWOL for almost 5 days. I've been walking in circles for those lost days. The Schmitty house is in a whirlwind. It's been crazy, to say the least, and my head is swimming. I'm probably making you all dizzy right now just reading this post. I'm not making sense, am I? See? I told you. So again, the question as of now is, "Am I coming or am I going?"

I have no freaking idea!

So, bloggy friends, go pee, grab a drink, and buckle down - this is probably going to be a long one.

Mr. Schmitty grew up in the house his mother still resides in. It is a fairly large, very old home. When my father-in-law passed we tried talking her into moving to something smaller. The house has needed an upgrade for years and though my sister-in-law and Mr. Schmitty's 97 year old Nana live there as well, they really don't need a house of that size.

My mother-in-law refused to move. She did not want to move from the home she raised her children in. She is very sentimental and stubborn, there would be no changing her mind, no matter how hard we all tried. We told her the house was in desperate need of being repaired and wasn't a good place for her to be. She didn't care, she wasn't budging.

Finally we got her to listen to us and at least let my other sister-in-law's father come by. He is an engineer and we wanted him to look at the foundation. Well, it's a good thing he did. The foundation was built with red brick. In one area, two layers of that red brick has disintegrated into dust. The house is crumbling. She now has no choice, she needs to get out. A contractor confirmed the problem and told us she really should move before the winter comes and sell the property.

My mother-in-law began visiting condos and homes in adult communities. She wants something with three bedrooms to accommodate them. There is not much out there.

I then thought to myself and approached Mr. Schmitty. I asked him how he feel about selling our home and hers and buying a larger home together. My thoughts were this; his mother is 73 years old and is beginning to show signs of getting older. I refuse to someday put her in a retirement home. She's been through too much and done too much for others for her family to do that. Not that I'm saying they would. I do think it's fair to say, however, that she would probably move in with us. My sister-in-law is handicapped, and though she is fairly independent, I do not believe she can live alone either. I concluded that instead of moving everyone again if his mother should fall ill, or God forbid pass away, why not do it now and let her enjoy the rest of her life a little? Nothing makes her happier than her grandchildren. She'd be able to spend so much time with them. I could help her with Nana. She wouldn't feel afraid when my sister-in-law goes out. My sister-in-law could go out more and not feel guilty. I could do the cleaning and the shopping, which for them is difficult. I would have some adult company when Mr. Schmitty is working evenings. I think the pros outweigh the cons.

Do I know that this is a huge undertaking? Yes. Do I know that we will lose some privacy? Yes. Do I know that I will not always get along with them? OH BOY YES! But it would be for the best.

Now, we need to find a house. We've been looking and everything in our price range seems to be not quite large enough. Or if it's the right size, it's not in the best shape. It's been frustrating, to say the least. I'm anxious and frazzled.

I would like to stay in town so W. can stay in the school system but it may not be a reality. We may have to start looking in another town.

My eyes are crossing now. My head hurts. I need to take a Motrin or two...or maybe three. I'll keep you all updated. Please wish us luck that we can pull this off. And now, if I were you, I'd hold on to my chair because the Schmitty whirlwind is taking off like a tornado!

Toto, Toto!!

Earlier And Earlier Every Year

Do you know that I have received three Halloween costume catalogs in the mail since Thursday? That's one catalog a day for the past three days. Isn't it only the beginning of August? I haven't even started back-to-school shopping yet!

Mr. Schmitty threw the mail on the counter and the kids saw one of the catalogs. W. scooped it right up and they started to browse the pages. Smiling away they all began to pick out their favorites.

"I want to be this Power Ranger!" yells W. He's been a Power Ranger three times already, can we move on to something else? Pleeeeaaaase?

"Okay, nevermind, I want to be Boba Fett from Star Wars!"

T. chimes in that he wants to be Jango Fett because he has to do everything his brother does.

Well, that would be fine and dandy, except for the fact that each costume is $59.99. Yes, I said EACH! And that is before shipping and handling, which we all know will be at least, what? A thousand dollars?

I also wouldn't mind so much about the steep price if they would actually wear the whole costume. W.'s school has a strict policy on masks. You can't wear one for security reasons. I guess they are afraid of midget terrorists or something. They want to be able to see everyone's face. They also can't have weapons, which I get, I mean I don't want my kid losing an eye during his classroom party. That would so put a damper on trick or treating.

"No, I'm sorry guys, but pick out something else, something without a mask."

They have now decided on Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Until next week, I'm sure. And the week after that. We have two and a half months people, they will be changing their minds over and over again before Halloween is actually near.

That in itself is another one of my complaints. I can't buy the costumes now because by October they will complain that, "I doooon't waaaannnnnaaaaa be that!" If I wait until they are sure of their choices the stores will all be telling me the costume is on back order until November 1st. What is a mom to do? And no, do not suggest I make their costumes, that's not happening unless my kids want to dress up as a ghost. That's about all this seamstress can handle. Please see the picture above. My kid would be the one receiving a rock in his goodie bag.

I've got one more gripe. I finally got my daughter, right? Halloween should be princesses, kitty kats, or fairies. Guess what R. wants to be? Yup, a PINK Power Ranger.

Good Grief!

New Blog!

Hey everyone, I've started a new blog! It's called "It's Not Shopping....It's Retail Therapy". Every day I will be highlighting a new woman owned business that I have discovered on the web. A while back I ran a similar blog and website called the "Woman Owned Business Spotlight" and I made a lot of great contacts as well as found some really great boutiques and shops. I want to share this all with you!

On It's Not Shopping....It's Retail Therapy there will be Monthly Contests and some Discounts and Coupons for you to use. I hope you stop by and come back daily to see what treasures I've uncovered!

Thursday Thirteen # 2

Thirteen Things And People That Make Me Laugh

1. A silly, crude, movie, the kind with guy humor. Think Dodgeball, Benchwarmers, etc.



2. A good dirty joke or story (like I said, I have a guy's sense of humor).



3. Mr. Schmitty trying to lie. He can't to save his life, his nostrils flare and he gets a revealing smirk on his face.



4. Reminiscing with my brother about our childhood memories of our father's drunken escapades.



5. Ugly men dressing up like women. I don't care what you do, but the guy who walks my local mall, newsflash - you look like a hulking Fred Flinstone in a dress.



6. Everybody Loves Raymond - That sitcom is SO based on my in-laws.



7. R. when she does her "booty dance".



8. W. when he is belly laughing.



9. T. - enough said.



10. Whipped Cream in a can - sorry private joke.



11. A great blog entry, like this one written by Karly at Wiping Up Snot.



12. A great blog title, see #11.



13. Making Mr. Schmitty and the kids laugh so hard they practically pee themselves.

Go Home!

Dear Bitch Lady,

I am writing this letter to you on my blog for I am unable to send it anywhere else. I could not catch up with you the other day, for if I had I am sure that I could have
beaten the information out of you asked for your address.

I want to thank you for the unbelievably idiotic thing you did incident that took place. You brought out the raving lunatic best in me. And you did so in front of my children and husband. Yes, I am so wanting to pound in your nose grateful to you for allowing them to see their mother turn into a roaring animal. But you see, like a mother lion, the claws will come out if my young are in danger.

Were you in that much of a hurry to get to Costco? I believe it was only noon, that, I'm sure, still gave you enough time to buy your tampons. I'm sure that's the reason behind your moronic foolish behavior.

Maybe that wasn't your reasoning. Perhaps you saw a family of five in the road and were playing that game. You know, the one where you accumulate points for running something over. What were we worth? Two points for each adult, 3 for the boys, and that cute little girl, she had to be at least 5.

When I saw you speeding through the parking lot, I began to hurry everyone up across the road. But before I could even finish my sentence, you were practically on us. You were looking straight at us you crazy freaking loon. You weren't even slowing down.

If my children were not with me, I would have stood my ground, daring you to hit me. Instead, once I knew my children were safe, I turned and lost it. I screamed at you, just hoping you might stop. Bring it on sister! The part of me that hopes all people are good, wanted you to apologize and even give me a lame excuse for why you almost killed us. But I should know better. Instead, you drove away and flipped me off. I then noticed your license plate. It figures. You are here for the summer.

I am getting really sick and tired of you out of state people that come here for the summers. Everywhere I turn I see your license plates. None of you have any courtesy or manners. You invade this beautiful area like picnic ants. I wish you would all just go back from whence you came.

So you poor excuse for a human being lady, I would consider yourself happy to be breathing lucky, back in the day, I would have tore you limb from limb followed you. God help you when I got a hold of you. But I'm a mom now. My cubs were safe.

Enjoy your day, because if I see you again, well, just enjoy your day.

Mrs. Schmitty

Whew! *wipes sweat from brow* Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Bullets

• I got nothin' for you all, that's why I'm resorting to bullets today. I figure I'll just throw out some random thoughts and fill you in on what's up at the Schmitty house. But be forewarned, it's not very exciting.

• Well, Miss R. has taken one step forward and a few steps back in the potty training arena. And if she doesn't stop trying to clog up the toilet with wipes and paper I'm going to scream!

• I have to go to a general surgeon. I have a sebaceous cyst on my left breast, near the cleavage. I've had this cyst for years and never had a problem. The other day it ruptured and got infected. It's DISGUSTING!!

• W.'s mouth and lack of thinking before speaking has gotten him into trouble again. I got a phone call from a neighbor at 6:50 am this morning because of something he said to his son yesterday. I am not happy.

• I am half way through Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince. I have seen movies 1 and 2 and read book 3 and half of book 4, seen movies 3, 4, and 5. I thought to myself that I really should read 6 and 7 before they make the movies. I should have read all of the books, it's awesome!

• Our good neighbor has given, yes, I say GIVEN us their old big screen TV! It's beautiful! Have I told you lately that I love my neighbors?

• Speaking of movies and of TV, if any of you are interested, I have a TON of DVD and VHS tapes up for auction on Ebay. Everything is pretty much in mint condition and has been viewed only once.

• Mr. Schmitty has a nice little stretch of time off this weekend; Thursday thru Monday!! I'm hoping to get to do an amusement/waterpark one day. Pray for nice weather!

• I think I might have to go on a fasting diet. I have a wedding to go to next month and I'm terrified of finding a dress to wear. Mr. Schmitty and I are actually staying the night at the hotel the reception is at. We haven't been overnight, alone, together, since before W. was born. Woo-Hoo!

• The boys are in the sprinkler right now, R. is prancing around naked. And you know what? I don't care.

Okay, that's it. I have a million other thoughts running rampant in my brain, but I think I've bored you all enough.

Hey you! I hear you snoring over there! Wake up!

Pulling The Plug

My daughter, R., is the baby of the family. She has two older brothers. This being said, as you can imagine, she believes she is the Princess. And sometimes she is, 'cause really most of the time she's so darn cute you just want to eat her up. But she's also a force to be reckoned with when things don't go her way. This is especially true when the Queen of the house, that would be me, thinks she needs her tiara adjusted. That's when Little Miss Princess will buckle down for the fight.

Now, R. is a stubborn child who must do things on her terms. She'll be 4 in October and she has JUST finally potty trained. She had been refusing to use the potty until about two weeks ago when she did a complete 360. I don't know why the change of heart, it was, I believe, because she wanted to and for no other reason. Quite honestly, I really don't care why she did it, I'm just happy that I don't have to spend money on diapers anymore!

The next hurdle we need to jump is getting rid of the binky. Yes, she still has a binky. I can't pry it away. She only is allowed to use it when sleeping. She needs that comfort. Does anyone have suggestions?

I told her yesterday that when she turns 4 she has to wash up all of her binkies and get them ready to give back to the hospital. I told her that the hospital was running out of binkies for the new babies and when a little girl turns 4 they have to give them back.

She looked at me as if to say, "Yea, sure, just try it."

When she was talking to her grandmother I told her to tell her the story about the babies needing binkies. She talked over me like I wasn't even there. I asked her what she neeed to give back to the hospital. She said, in her confident little voice, "Not My Binkies!" And she went back to coloring her picture.

I'm doomed.

Mattel Recall

There is a massive recall of some Mattel toys. The recall includes popular Dora, Diego, Elmo, and Big Bird toys. The toys were made in China and they have found that they contain excessive amounts of lead. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has advised to take away these toys from your children immediately, as it can cause adverse health effects if the lead is ingested.

You can visit the Mattel website to see the products included in the recall. The list has pictures of the particular toys here: http://service.mattel.com/us/recall/. You may have trouble accessing the website as there is a ton of traffic that the server can't handle. If you have a problem, you can also visit the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's recall list here: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07257.html. This list includes the product numbers, however, there are no pictures.

My suggestion is to keep trying Mattel's list. It was a lot easier to compare toys after seeing the pictures.

After checking the picture list I was relieved that I didn't own any of these. I was very surprised as we have a ton of Dora and Diego items.

Please feel free to pass along this post to your readers!

And The Parents Of The Year Award Goes To....

I guess the Schmitty kids are getting bored with summer vacation already. It's been extremely humid and they don't want to play outside. They do, however, want to run through the rooms screaming like banshees, play WWF as they use my furniture to jump off of and dive onto each other, and they especially want to fight like cats and dogs!

We had one such a day like that last week. I tried, I really TRIED, to keep them occupied. Everything turned into a fiasco. Let's play a game, W. turned into a sore loser. Let's color, T. and R. fought over the same crayon, the green one that we have about ten of. Let's cool off in the kiddie pools, nope it's, "toooo hooooot" (notice the whine). Go read a book, "I donnnnn't waaaaaant toooooo", you see the pattern.

At this point, I am thinking to myself, "You idiot, you just HAD to use the video games as punishment yesterday, didn't you?"

By the time Mr. Schmitty came home from work I wanted to run, screaming from the house, never to return.

He sat the three of them down in the living room for a "family meeting". Picture me making those quotes with my fingers as this really wasn't a meeting, per say, but more of a shut up and listen or I'm gonna beat yer butt type of gathering. I didn't say a word, I'm usually the disciplinarian, so this was a nice change.

After he lectured them into a sleepy state, he told them to go in the playroom and actually use it to play. We stayed upstairs and talked for a few minutes. Then we heard them calling us.

"Mommy, daddy, come here! We are puppies. BUY US!"

I looked at Mr. Schmitty and saw the devilish grin that was spreading across his face. The same one I knew he was seeing on mine. Then I said to him, "They are in Ruby's crate, you know that don't you?"

"Ummm hmmmm...." he says and I know he's thinking what I'm thinking.

We jump up and race to the junk drawer. It's there, oh this is gonna be good!

We walk down the stairs and there they are, all three of them in the dog's crate, barking away.

I'm twirling the padlock on my pointer finger and begin telling the cute little puppies good night. I hand the lock to Mr. Schmitty and he puts in the combination.

Now, my children all have a great sense of humor. They know their father and I like to tease them. They love to tease us back. Mr. Schmitty and I are laughing as this is going on. All evidence is pointing to the reality that this is a JOKE!

I guess I misjudged just how tired my boys were because before we could even get half way across the room, W. and T. burst into tears! R. tough as nails, of course, is laughing hysterically.

OMG! I am the worst mother in the land! I quickly ran over and opened the door. I grabbed up the boys in my arms. I hugged them and started wildly planting kisses all over their heads and faces.

"I'm SO SORRY!! We were only kidding! Do you seriously believe we would lock you up in a cage? You guys know us, we would never do that! We were laughing, you have to know we were teasing!"

I looked at Mr. Schmitty, "I'm going to hell!"

"Or jail!" he replies.

"Yea, maybe for murder!" I say under my breath as I glare at him.

When they were all better and were finally sleeping peacefully in bed, Mr. Schmitty and I went to the other side of the house and laughed until we cried.