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What’s a birthday celebration without a burnt cake, sloppy joes on the ceiling, and a toddler tantrum/early bedtime?

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For a special treat, I decided to make a Tres Leches cake for Tom’s cake—I’d never made one before but it didn’t seem too hard and it was a Pioneer Woman recipe so you know it’s fairly easy and should be delicious. I’m talking from scratch here, people. Like whipping egg whites and making my own whipped cream. I set the cake timer for the minimum stated time…and it was obviously too long and the edges were burnt. GRRR. I always set the timer for 10 minutes EARLIER than the minimum just in case but not today. I trimmed them off and hoped for the best.

One of Tom’s favorite meals is sloppy joes so that was an easy dinner as well—and they were delicious. After dinner I got out the cake and poor Tom lit his own candle. 🙂

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And then I excitedly tried the cake and MEH—it was nothing special. I think the cake was just too dry from being overcooked and I had only put the suggested two cups of liquid into the cake when I should have tried for more because of it being overcooked. Oh well. Tom liked it and the kids loved it but now I want to make it again and try for better!

So then we were clearing off the table and loading the dishwasher…when suddenly Tom trips and I see something flying through the air. WHAT THE…?! Turns out, it was sloppy joes. Yes, sloppy joe meat was all over the place. Tom’s flip flop caught on the edge of the gel floor mat and he tripped. The dishwasher door was fully open so he was violently trying not to fall into that so while trying to catch himself, he slammed his hand down on the kitchen island/stove…RIGHT on the spoon that was still in the sloppy joes on the stove…which sent sloppy joes catapulting across the kitchen and then, as Owen noticed minutes later…on the ceiling as well! Keep in mind we have like 10′ ceilings in the kitchen.

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Maggie cleaned up all the chunks off the floor and I wiped up after her while Tom got out the ladder and wiped down the ceiling. Then it was a matter of looking around and discovering all the tomato sauce speckles all over the place…on the cake, on the stove, on the refrigerator, on the wall… Hoo boy. I’m sure we’ll be discovering them for days to come.

Of course, I posted about it on Facebook…and I love our friends:

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So we got that cleaned up and then it was time for the kids to Skype with Uncle Rob (which had been temporarily postponed to clean up the mess). Well, Owen asked if they could put on their Halloween costumes to show Uncle Rob. GRRR. A simple request, right? Except they’d both been asking me ALL DAMN DAY to wear their costumes and I had already told them at least four times that I’d let them wear them before Halloween…just not today. So of course I was annoyed but agreed. Well, Katie had taken hers off like a kid does so it was completely inside out. She knows how to fix it, but she didn’t want to. I was still busy in the kitchen so was talking her through it—but it wasn’t good enough for her. She actually had it about 95% of the way fixed when she started stomping her feet at me. That’s never the answer, so she got a warning that she would be going to bed if she continued. She continued. So she got taken up to bed and she was a HOT MESS. (She really needed an early night—she hadn’t caught up from the late night when we had friends over for dinner plus being at the pool for three hours…)

So…HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOM! Burnt and dry cake, a kitchen mess, and a tantrumy toddler. What better way to celebrate, right? :heart:

It was great fun…until someone pooped in the pool. Twice.

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So earlier this summer I bought three afternoon tickets for Pirate’s Cove Water Park from a deal site—and we finally got around to using them today (which we had to since they close on Labor Day!).

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So we get there at 3, get the bag unpacked, get in the pool, and within 15 minutes, it was announced that everyone had to exit the main pool and it would reopen in one hour. (They didn’t say it was poop, but we were 99% sure that’s what it was.)

Ugh.

The whole point of this place (for me!) is that Katie and Owen can both go in the main pool so I don’t have to be in two places at once—the big waterslides with Owen or the kiddie pool with Katie (and neither has to be bored sitting out at the other). So first we went to the kiddie pool where Katie had fun and me and Owen sat on the edge of the pool. Then Owen wanted to do the big waterslides so we went over there for a bit and sat and watched him. (Katie was tall enough but she refused to try them…even though they weren’t much different than the one she loved in Kalkaska.) Then we went back to the kiddie pool and left Owen at the slides.

The hour passes and everyone gets back in the main pool. Within, I’d say, 30 minutes, they announced the pool was closed again for 45 minutes! And this time I know it was poop because I saw a lifeguard get gloves on and reach down into the pool…and then as we were filing out, I saw little pieces of poop all over.

SERIOUSLY, PEOPLE? I know you want your little ones to have fun in the “big” pool but COME ON. Have some respect for EVERYONE ELSE. The world doesn’t revolve around YOU. 👿

So, to recap, we got there at about 3:05 and were in the pool until 3:15 and then we were in the pool from 4:15-4:45. So 45 minutes total—and they close at 6! So I told the kids to pack up, we weren’t staying, and I was asking for a refund. They were actually dealing with a few rainchecks as we walked out, so the guy didn’t even question me and handed me a voucher for three full-day passes! So instead of just an afternoon, we now had a whole day! If we wanted to try it again, that is…

The syrup incident.

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It had been a day. You know the days that you have every so often where the kids aren’t necessarily being awful, but they are being slightly annoying about lots of little things all day so that it all adds up, so that when something like this happens…you lose your shit?

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Yeah. That was my day today. 😐

The short story is that the kids were messing around on the table and the syrup was in their way (left out from breakfast, but it had been there all day—and Katie tried to tell me the spill was MY fault!) and somehow the syrup “slipped” out of his hands and crashed to the floor while spilling syrup as you see above (I’ve had Owen tell the story three times and still am not clear). To be fair, I did end up apologizing after all was said and done (my reaction really was a bit extreme).

So, we had a potato penis in the house…

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So I have loved this drawing of Katie’s potato people ever since she did it way back in February for Gramma Jean.

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And I had thought a few times about turning it into a necklace but never did it. Until this month. So I Photoshopped the extra potato person out, changed it to black, and ended up with this:

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And I looked at the drawing and saw that one ear wasn’t attached…so made sure to ask the artist about attaching the ear (she said yes, of course). But I didn’t look any farther than that. So when I got the necklace today I was excited. I took a picture of my new treasure.

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Katie was excited at the surprise. And then I really looked at it. REALLY LOOKED AT IT.

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What the hell? Why is that line there? She didn’t have a line on her potato person. I dug through my photo files to find it and ahhhh. A belly button. Which, when attached, had to have a line somewhere, right? So it laughingly got turned into a penis! 😯 😆 (Don’t tell me my mind is in the gutter—what did YOU think when you saw it? :p ) I wondered if the artist noticed or thought about it, or just assumed I was a wacky person and wanted to wear a potato penis on my neck. 🙂

So I asked Tom if he could snip it off and file it down (otherwise I’d have to go back to the Etsy artist with my tale of stupidity and hope she’d take pity on me) and he had it done within five minutes. (Gotta love a handy hubby with the right tools!)

So then I came up with this graphic to share. 🙂

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But overall the necklace is wonderful and I’d totally order from SilverHandwriting again! I’d just double- and triple-check all the parts of the drawing!

I don’t suggest letting your military ID expire. 

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I just tried to get on base and…no longer have an ID. It was confiscated at check-in because it was more than 30 days expired! Yes, we already had an appointment for a new card. Yes, I will put a reminder on my calendar for the next card. But in the meantime, this is the first time in 15 years I haven’t had a military ID!

Thankfully I was still able to get on base and check in to my appointment. 

DIAMOND FOUND!! 

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So we checked around the car at the expo center. Nothing.
We checked in the car. Nothing.
We checked the driveway and grass when we got home. Nothing.
We checked the entranceway, the living room, and kitchen. Nothing.
We checked the stairway. Nothing.

And then I walked into our bedroom and there it was, plain as day in the middle of the floor. PHEW. Of course I was happy and Tom was elated. I didn’t call to let the owner know about it right away because I wanted him to stew about it for a bit (if he even was—who knows, he probably didn’t give it another thought).

A few hours later I did call and let them know and said I could come in then if it was convenient (if it was just a matter of me looking through some books and picking a similar band and having it sent out, we could get the ball moving ASAP). Of course they were having an event that day and parking (and service) would be a little crazy, so I just said I would wait and come in during the week. And in our brief conversation, when I asked what would happen if we couldn’t find a similar band or one that I liked, she said he could mold one from my ring. Um, NO THANKS. He’s not touching my ring again, thankyouverymuch. If he messed it up the first AND second times, what makes you think he won’t mess it up the third time?

So then I started thinking about all possible outcomes.

What are the chances he would give me a refund and then I could take it somewhere else? I feel like he needs to make this right, but at what point do I cut my losses and move on? But even if he did refund me and I took it somewhere else, I’m back to the original “resizing” cost of $1200 or so. Maybe a little different since it would be a totally new band, but I just know if he deals with it, all the cost is on him. If I have to deal with it, I have to wheel and deal with the future jeweler to take my old gold and give me a new setting for $0. Which I don’t see happening.

I had to have the stone reinserted a few years back (it came out after 13 or so years after I got it caught badly on the sliding door) and that jeweler had no issues…but they weren’t altering the setting.

I may take the pieces to another jeweler in the meantime and see what they say…though I will likely have the same issue I had originally—they don’t want to mess with a tension setting. And this is not just putting a diamond back in because it obviously isn’t the right size so I would assume the band still has to be adjusted. And that’s where the problem comes in.

I’m thinking that if he has to order the new setting, the diamond will be shipped out to the company and that company will do the specialized work…which I’d be perfectly okay with since that’s how I got the ring in the first place. But I need to make sure that’s what actually happens—and NOT that he orders the setting and does the diamond himself. If he thinks he’s going to do the work, I will see what my other options are. He mainly designs jewelry so I can see why he’d want to keep his hands in the process…even though he really should have learned his lesson.

I’m just afraid they won’t be able to find a similar setting (or that I will find one I like better) and then he will want to cast my ring and make it himself. I will have to be adamant that we find the right setting and get it sent off. I want to hear what he has to say before I make a final decision. I know he wants to handle it himself and make it right so he may put up a fight about a refund (so I just need to be prepared). I won’t hand over my ring until I’m confident.

All I know is I am NOT looking forward to dealing with this…and we obviously won’t have anything done by our 15th anniversary in 12 days.

Guess what happened? I am LIVID.

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Standing in line for Brickfair in Dulles, I look down to see this:

What. The. Hell? My stomach dropped and my heart was beating out of my chest.

Needless to say I called the jewelers immediately. Remember, he had assured me it would be secure. Well, the first words out of the owner’s mouth were “I guess I owe you a diamond.” Long story, he will “make it right,” though the solution depends on if I find the diamond or not. If I find the diamond he’ll buy a totally new setting. If I can’t find the diamond, he buys a diamond…and I’m assuming a new setting because he’ll likely just F it up again…?! But his tone implied he was just incredulous that this happened. I think he thinks he’s better than he is…or likely he’s good at some things but not this. 

So we’ll see.

Breathe. Breathe.

I have no idea where the diamond is. It may be in the car or at home but…we won’t know until after Brickfair when I can search. I’m pretty sure I had it this morning so am hoping it’s in the house somewhere. 

I am just sick. 

The best-laid plans…

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The plan was to hit the beach at Petoskey State Park for play, rock hunting, and a picnic…but the weather had other ideas. We saw whitecaps as we approached…and it was a measly 72° (so with the wind it was probably about 60-65°) and the sand was painful as it whipped around.

So we were trying to decide what to do instead while sitting in the car. 🙂

We ended up heading inland to Burt Lake State Park (30 minutes away), assuming it wouldn’t be as windy. Ha! It was almost as bad! So we ate a fast picnic lunch (wrapped in towels because no one thought to bring jackets or sweatshirts for a day at the beach!), then got right back in the cars and headed home. We were all bummed.

  

  

I can’t remember the last time I had to wait in a line!

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I guess that’s what happens when a small town theater gets a big movie on the opening day (Secret Life of Pets) and the weather is questionable (it was supposed to storm and it was getting dark and windy). As a sidenote, Owen completely freaked out about the weather and wanted to go home. We are not sure how or why he has become so freaked out about weather.

Unfortunately, we didn’t actually get to see the movie—there were so many people that by the time we made it in to look for seats there were none available (definitely not six together and pretty much only single seats here and there—people were even sitting in the aisles and on the steps). So we got our money back and decided to go another day.

A bit of a crafty fail. 

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I had done ornament wreaths before with no issues…but today was a fail.

The ball size didn’t seem to work well with the wreath size and it kept growing in thickness and it just looked weird. And then with just a few balls to go, I broke an already-glued ball, obviously realizing at that moment I wasn’t using shatterproof ornaments.

I had a good run prior to this one, but I think my wreath-making days are over. This is likely going in the trash and I’m out about $20.

I can’t imagine any normal person looking at that after doing it and saying “Yeah, looks great!”

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I had heard good things from friends about a local jeweler so checked them out to resize my wedding ring after losing 135#.

It is a tension mount ring which meant it wasn’t a typical (simple) resize job, but after talking with the owner twice I was confident in his proposed solution of (basically) adding gold layers to the inside of the band to make it smaller while leaving the ring looking exactly as it started. This was critical as I didn’t want gold balls or bars soldered on. He told me he specializes in this type of fix and he’s the only one that does it in his shop. Great.

Strike one? They told me it would be done in 10 days, so when I hadn’t heard from them in 14, I called and they told me it was due “that day.” So apparently when they told me 10 days, they actually meant 10 BUSINESS days which is unprofessional at best. You should tell me the total number of days; the number of days you’re closed isn’t my concern and I shouldn’t have to do math.

Strike two? I called on Day 21 (yes, calendar day 21) to check on it and was told oh, it was done Saturday but at the end of the day [and they’re closed Sunday and Monday] so no one called yet. So, it was past due and no one bothered to call? Unprofessional.

Strike three? When I went in to pick it up, it was NOT what I was promised AT ALL—plus it was still too big!! They just stuck a tiny bar of gold on the wide band and it looked ridiculous!

And this is considered professional work from an award-winning designer?! And in talking with the jeweler on-duty, I found out that apparently the owner didn’t even work on it (so much for him being the only one to do that type of work in his shop)…?! The on-duty guy actually seemed offended when I suggested that the owner said he was the only one able to do the work.

So, needless to say they’re redoing it…but I’m not holding my breath. I’m envisioning very bad things and am trying to stay calm.

Edited Wednesday to add:

And then the more I thought about it that day and overnight, the more upset I got—I did NOT want anyone working on my ring until we were all on the same page. So I called and thankfully the lady that answered was the one who was there when I originally talked to the owner and turned over the ring so she at least knew who I was. She said the owner was out of town the rest of this week but she will email him and see what she can get figured out. I had her pull the ring so nothing will be done until I talk to him. I’m feeling SLIGHTLY better now, but my fingers are still crossed.

My first attempt at Dakota Bread.

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This didn’t raise as much as I thought it would the second time… It smelled heavenly while baking but was entirely too dense so I’m bummed. The next time I’ll leave it sit to raise longer than the recipe called for (I was on a timeline tonight so kind of rushed the baking).

Oh, and Owen liked it but Katie didn’t.

(Dakota Bread from Cooks Country)

This makes me sad.

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Tom is in Jacksonville for work so he swung by our old house. It looked empty and abandoned. 🙁 He said they took the shed (which we knew from our neighbor) but saw that they took the stainless steel appliances, too…and the back yard has about 4′ of grass and weeds. 

I didn’t love the house but it was ours and we put a lot of money and hard work into it. And to see it just left like this makes me sad. It shouldn’t bother me as much as it does but there you go.

Owen’s last Marlins game!

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It was crazy hot and sunny for the last game today. Thankfully friends had brought a huge canopy so we all got to sit (or lay!) in the shade!

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Owen did super amazing awesome today…unfortunately, I had unexpected phone storage issues (even after I deleted a ton of stuff) so I ended up missing recording a few hits and runs—and a few videos got cut short. GRRR!

And he asked to be catcher today!! He did have some balance issues (see next photo—he kept his feet together instead of using a wide stance so he kept falling over) but he worked through them and did a great job! And looked damn cute!

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The coaches actually called the game a half hour early because it was so hot. They had a quick award ceremony afterward.

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I had to transcribe what the coach said because it was super awesome and is very hard to hear on the video—the Closed Captions should be turned on so you can read along but here it is just in case:

Due to my phone issues, I missed the first thing he said: I like to call him The Big O!

Come on up! I’ve really seen Owen’s catching progress. Behind the plate as well as catching the ball in the field. Alright, you are certainly catching it like the guys at the next level and very impressive. You’ve had some great hits as well. Alright. I love seeing your enthusiasm out here. Good job, buddy.

Team picture by another mom (since my phone was still acting up):

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Then the pizza party!!!

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And showing off his award! He had to run and get this T-ball award from last year, too—he was so excited to have two! He said he will put them both on a shelf together! 🙂

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We have a good character again!

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Owen received a Good Character award at school today! Unfortunately, we weren’t there…and I only learned about it when I got a photo text from a friend!

SERIOUSLY?! AGAIN?! What is it with teachers forgetting to tell us?!

The stars are apparently aligned against us with these awards as Tom happened to have been home and we could have both gone!! And if this sounds familiar, it’s because this exact thing happened last year, too!!

His teacher has since apologized, and (of course, the story of my life) said it was the first time she’s forgot all year. (Ironically the same thing his K teacher said the when she forgot at the end of the year last year.)

I know mistakes happen and in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal so I’ll be okay and get over it. It had just been a crazy morning already and I didn’t need another snafu.

I’m just thankful a friend was there and got the picture! (Thanks to Krina!)

Good Character Award for Cooperation and Teamwork

Owen had a double play!

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Unfortunately, daddy wasn’t there to see it as the garage door broke as we were pulling out of the driveway…so he had to stay and wait for the landlord.

Two of his at-bats (he struck out on his last attempt) and bringing a run in:

And I missed Owen’s best play because it was when he was playing third base and I never record in the outfield… But he caught a pop fly and then tagged a runner out on third! DOUBLE PLAY! The crowd went wild! He was SO excited and so happy!!

Katie was having fun on her scooter—she had never really used it before today and was very tents on it but got progressively better. She’s great about wearing her helmet and puts it on every time!

A Kiss & Ride Special Flower

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Yes, this woman parks RIGHT HERE every day in the Kiss & Ride without pulling forward and it makes me insane. Apparently her special little flower couldn’t find her if she pulled forward three car lengths?! A friend said she apparently does this ALL the time and everyone is annoyed with her. People like this is why I say I hate people. 

  

Mama/Katie hike

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Yeah, it didn’t go quite as well as the earlier daddy/daughter hike. Big surprise.

Oh, it started off well enough. She was excited to be walking with me. Happy as could be. 

Except the whining about being tired started a mere 15 minutes in. 🙁 And she was walking so slow and being so pokey it became not fun for either of us. Because of course there was also the whining every five minutes or so about how tired her legs were or asking when we were going to be home. I asked her if she did this with daddy. No, she said. So then why are you whining with me, I asked. No response. 

So this might have been the first and last walk we take alone together. 

I need to start paying attention to back holes.

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I really need to start paying closer attention to the BACKS of dresses a) in real life and b) when I add things to my tote. I guess I never think about BACK HOLES. 😯

I bought a gorgeous ball gown from Marshall’s for $69—it was a similar style to one I have but a different color. We were in a hurry and it was a size 14 so I didn’t try it on. So we got home and I went to zip up the back and wondered why it got stuck at my butt. Yeah, it wasn’t stuck—that was ALL of the zipper. The entire back of the dress was open. Ha. No wonder it looked wonky hanging on the hanger. It looked something like this:

From the front? Perfect.
From the back? EEK!

And then today I tried on a gorgeous dress from Le Tote. Except I couldn’t figure out at first how to get it on. That should be my first clue that something is weird with the back. I got it on and the front is amazing. The back? Yeah…open. Yuck. (It was WAY more revealing on me than the photo shows.)

Back holes. I’ve known they exist but I never thought they’d attack me like they did. 🙂

Owen and the password 

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So Owen came upstairs and woke me up about 6:45 to tell me that he couldn’t get on the iPad because it asked for a password. What? Password? We have no password on it. So I’m trying to wake up and be alert and comprehend what he’s telling me and I just have no idea so I tell him I’ll figure it out later.

So, this is what I went downstairs to find:

I asked what happened, and of course he wasn’t very helpful. He said it asked for a password and so he typed in mine. He doesn’t know mine, so I asked exactly what he typed. He said “The little A —” and I stopped him. “What little A?” He pointed to the @ sign and then continued “a JenHudson.” I laughed. That’s not my password anywhere (or username for that matter) but it cracked me up that that’s what he used. I had NO idea why it would ask for a password since we’ve never had one. We do have one set to restrict purchases, so I tried that on the off chance it got turned off and he reset it. Nope. I tried my iTunes password. Nope. AppleID password. Nope. And every time you try a wrong password, you get this:

Except the time increments increase so soon I was up to five minutes. After 10 wrong guesses the iPad erases itself. Hoo boy. I was 99% sure I would be wiping the iPad and reinstalling everything.

So I asked Owen again EXACTLY what happened (while simultaneously asking my online friends for help). He told me he picked up the iPad and it had a black screen then it had the Apple and then it asked for a password so he typed it in. AHA! I asked what he typed in. He quickly answered “qqqq” — so I tried it and BINGO! That was it.

So, what happened? Either the iPad updated itself with a new iOS that night while plugged in or it prompted him to update in the morning and he just said yes. And since we had no password set, when it rebooted it prompted him to enter one (we would normally skip that step) and he picked qqqq. 🙂

Two photos that sum up my day. 

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Katie was a little shit most of the day. And THEN I discovered this:

What is that you ask? SHE SCRATCHED THE HELL OUT OF THE IPAD WITH A ROCK. (Breathe. Breathe.) WHAT THE HELL?! Needless to say she lost all iPad privileges for at least a week. Luckily it’s just the screen protector that is scratched—the actual iPad glass is fine. But still. 

So, after the day I had, this was my dinner:

 

I’m a monster, I know.

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I wanted to throttle both kids by 6:45am. 

Owen went downstairs to play on the iPad—which he knows he’s not supposed to do. And then got mad at me when he got in trouble for it. (I’m a monster, I know.)

Katie had wandered around this morning and gone downstairs to find Owen and consequently couldn’t make it to the potty in time (when it was actually time) so peed all over the stool and the rug and her PJs…and screamed when I took her PJs off because she still wanted to wear them. (I’m a monster, I know.)

Owen had tried to clean up the pee—with toilet paper, so it was a sopping mess (but at least he tried!)—but after I dumped the TP I tried to clean the stool off in the tub but Owen had left the shower knob on so I got a head and shoulders full of water instead (which normally wouldn’t have been too awful but my hair is currently straightened so that messes that up).

Needless to say I lost my shit just a little bit. Dealing with that crap is never fun, but even less so before 7am.