---Coming out of the terrible twos---

I am all smiles.

I think the twins have turned a corner--from the hall of temper tantrums and miscommunication into the corridor of giggles and glee. Since November, there have been entire weeks when the only sound coming from Tobias was screaming--the WHOLE time! Today, we laughed, we played ball, we took a bath (okay, they took a bath, I got splashed), we read stories, and we talked. I asked Tobias to get a cup of water for David for breakfast, and he did! With pleasure. I smiled all day long!

Yesterday, the older kids decided to play hide-and-seek. Tobias, not one to be left out, stood in front of Chris with his eyes shut, counted to 20, and then opened his eyes. I watched to see how much of the game he understood. Turns out, not much! He took off like a shot around the table into the hall and back to the couch, in a well-worn circle that provides much entertainment in our house, giggling and squealing the whole time. Then he circled again, and again, and a fourth time, before he came to rest in front of his daddy, grinning a toothy, open-mouthed grin, asking with a sparkle in his eye to be chased.

I think the other kids may still be hiding. =D

But we had a blast playing the "Close-your-eyes-and-count-to-20-then-run-like-mad-in-circles" game with our newly-not-so-terrible-2's twins. =D

That sentence had a lot of hyphens.

Tyler has learned to kiss properly, finally. I must admit, I was none-too-thrilled (<--more hyphens!) to continue receiving slobbery open-mouthed kisses. Now he sucks in his cheeks and puckers his lips like a fish. I'll take it over tongue any day!

Last night, Tobias, lying in bed for his stories, said, "Daddy, mmmm?" and puckered his lips. I called Chris in, and Tobias repeated himself and then kissed his daddy. What a cute way to request affection!

And you should hear them bust Swiper on Dora the Explorer. Every time that sneaky fox shows himself on screen, Tyler yells, "Dider!" (which also, by the way, means "diaper," but usually not yelled at the top of his lungs at the t.v.) He also correctly identified the yellow steering wheel for Tito to continue his voyage after Swiper swiped it, despite Tyler's best preventative efforts. I was one proud mama.

Full of fish-kisses, bath-splashes, hide-and-seek-chase, and something-that-makes-me-want-to-use-hyphens-all-the-time, I am all smiles.

My life is a comic strip

This week has been the least normal week I have ever experienced, but considering that I've been a mother for 6 years, I suppose it's long overdue.

I don't have time to adequately describe the events of this week, so I'll give you the condensed version here, and go back and fill in the gaps with descriptive words and lots of ellipses when the kids are asleep... which means, for the most part, safe.

First, Chris, my nurse-husband, went to Knoxville on Tuesday. That's when David decided to slam the toilet seat down on--ahem--himself and leave a nice purple mark--"there."

Second, Tobias locked himself in the girls' bedroom, and I had to get on the roof in hopes of rescuing him. But I couldn't get in. He got out before I got off the roof!

Third, David fell two feet off the couch onto the hardwood floor and lacerated his head. We waited 5 hours in the emergency room for three stitches.

Today, David pushed his butt against the window in an effort to move the bunk beds, and broke the windowpane clear out. Thank Jesus he didn't follow, because the drop is 10 feet or more!

Doesn't it sound like a comic strip? Like one more event for the next panel? Like hyperbole? My life is a comic strip, and I am hyperbole. But with the peace of Jesus, we will make it through happy, and we will make it through sane.

Bedtime terror

Saja and Kora discovered that their new angel dolls say bedtime prayers when they push their bellies. One says the Lord's Prayer, and one says something that's NOT in the Bible, nor is it the common, but terrifying, bedtime prayer we learned as children about dying in our sleep. However, they both sound sweet and gentle, and the girls had fun pressing the buttons over and over tonight.

David, however, did not want to be left out, so he looked around the room and eyed another doll that makes noise. So amidst the sweet, gentle prayers of the plush dolls comes a terrifying roar of a dinosaur! (How apt.)

It was like watching Godzilla--Bedtime.