Little Rascals

I realize my upcoming posts are not going to be very chronological, but what must be, must be.  We are now on day 3 of Summer Break, and I have to say....I am exhausted.  I think it's for a variety of reasons.  1.  With all the boys home they entertain each other and I find I can get a little bit more done around the house.  I'm tiring myself out.  2.  I'm not getting the good naps in that I depend upon--for probably pretty obvious reasons.  And 3.  I am amazed at the whirlwinds of energy the boys are and what all it takes to keep up with them.  I don't know, I must have just forgotten?  Or maybe it's summertime and they are just super excited and hyped up?  Maybe the novelty of summer break will die down in the next little while?  One can hope.

To give you an example, let me paint a picture of some of the good times we're having around here. 

~Upon entering my bathroom, Chase quickly and guiltily hides his hands behind his back.  Not a good sign.  Then I see Seth at my sink frantically scrubbing away at something.  As I cautiously walk towards what I know can't be good, I see a tub of Vaseline opened and a curious amount of it now missing.  Dare I continue?  Working really very hard to control any outbursts, I lean over Seth to see 6 of their prized G.I. Joes absolutely smothered in Vaseline.  There is Vaseline caked on Seth's hands and on my sink and counter top.  Now I know why Chase was hiding his hands because he, too, is covered, and by the very act of trying to conceal it, has now gotten it on my bedspread and all over his shorts.  Deep Breaths.  Lots of them.  Seth is very apologetic.  He didn't know what the stuff was or how messy and hard to clean up it would be.  I state that surely there was a little voice in the back of his mind that warned that this perhaps was not the greatest of ideas.  Well, yes, come to think of it, there was.  "Next time, listen to that voice.  Please (through gritted teeth)."  With some online research we were able to take care of most of the problem.  The thing that worked best on the G.I. Joes was melting off the Vaseline in the hot sun.  See grease stains:

~Leaking Otter Pop.  I thought they were eating them outside.  The fact that there were pools of purple, sticky, popsicle juice on my couch, in the kitchen, and in the hallway told me otherwise.

~I am very impressed with the amount of food suddenly disappearing from cupboards, fridge, and freezer. At least they're independent and taking care of business, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to resort to hiding some of it. Would they just stop eating for crying out loud?

~We were outside chilling.  I was absorbed in a book and noticed that it had suddenly gotten a little too quiet.  Abram and I began our search of Seth and Chase.  I finally found Seth, sitting on top of our shed in the side yard.  Chase was on his way up.  As soon as Seth saw me, he hurriedly stammered, "Uh, I don't know.  Should I be up here?  Maybe I shouldn't.  Uh, what do you think, Mom?"  I asked what that little voice told him.  (I have a feeling that this will be our new mantra this summer.)  "No."  "Good.  Then listen to that little voice."

~After getting the boys to bed, Sam and I were hanging out when Abram entered the scene.  He asked specifically for my assistance.  Can't Dad help?  (Classic response, right?)  Uhhh, no.  He really can't.  Abram has my interest now, so I follow him into his bedroom.  I can smell it before I see it.  Somehow a tube of toothpaste on his floor, leftover from a backpacking trip this weekend, sprayed toothpaste all over his room.  I bet you didn't know toothpaste could spray.  I didn't either.  There were huge glops of it on the carpet and then again all over his sleeping bag that had yet to be put away as well.  I'm not quite sure how he managed to get that much toothpaste dispersed over that amount of area, but he sure did.  I was glad to see that he does indeed value his life and that his survival instincts will kick in as needed, as he came to me with this particular problem and not his father.

~The boys had watched a little cartoon clip where they talked about swashbuckling as it pertains to pirates.  According to the characters, this entails a basic zip line where you throw your bandana over the rope and slide on down to the deck of the ship.  In the blink of an eye, Seth and Chase were on the brink of trying out their own swashbuckling skills.  I happened to glance out the window and decided it was a good time to make an appearance.  When the boys saw me, they quickly removed the bandanas and explained that they weren't  planning on really going down it but assured me they were just playing a fun pretend pirate game.  Riiiiiight.

~And last but not least, apparently Seth and Chase found some pretty cool supplies in the garage to make Father's Day gifts with.  This included some wooden cubes (that were planned for a very specific future project of mine that had nothing to do with Father's Day), nails, spray paint (some of which is now on our driveway), witch's fingers, and plastic knights.  Confused?  I'll just show you the picture:

Did I mention that this all took place in about a 24 hour period?  At least they're playing hard and having fun, I'll give them that.  But holy smokes!  Welcome to Summertime!