"Let's Yell!"

I just finished reading the newspaper (which I might add takes only five minutes nowadays) and am beginning the crossword puzzle, when Katie comes out of her room and walks over to the TV.  She wants to exercise with the Wii's Just Dance.  But Nicholas is playing one of her games on the Wii, and she is not happy about it.

"How come you're playing my game without my permission?" Katie yells, um, says.

"Since when did I need your permission?" Nicholas retorts while still focused on Petz Dogz 2.

"Since ALWAYS. You better not have messed up my game."

"I have my own game on this.  You know the one your friend who moved had," Nicholas snaps.

"You were NOT supposed to touch that."

Voices are getting louder and faces angrier at this point.  Andrew and I look at each other and shrug our shoulders.  I decide I better intervene.

"Katie, really... it's not that important, is it?  I mean, you never play this game," I say diplomatically.

"Yes, it's important...and I do play it, um, occasionally," she answers.

"Well I can, too.  We always share.  What's the big deal?" Nicholas adds.  He has put down his Wii remote and is looking at his big sister right in the face.

"I want to exercise and you've been on the Wii for a long time.  Now, get off."

I grab a book, "Shark Trouble," for Nicholas to read.  We only have three more days for him to complete his summer reading list of twenty-five books from the library.  Katie and Andrew are done with their books (but are still reading), but Nicholas has four more books to read before he reaches the finish line. 

I pick up the book and say in a loud voice (to be heard above the sibling rivalry):

"Come over here, Nicholas, so we can yell."

And guess what?  The children start laughing.  In fact, they immediately go from looks of hatred on their faces to sheer delight as they laugh at their silly momma.

That's the story of my life, or at least one of them.  When does school start again?

Who's Blowing Out the Candles?

One of the advantages of having children so close together is that they enjoy the same things. Take, for example, birthday gifts. When one of my kids gets a gift, it is usually something they all can enjoy. This great fact rang true over the weekend with Andrew's birthday presents. Here is a list of some of the items Andrew received for his birthday and who actually enjoyed them:

1. The first book in a new series "The 39 Clues"~ Katie grabbed onto that book in the blink of an eye and read it in one day. She is now begging for the second book.

2. A Lego Star Wars model~ Andrew's friend gave that to him when he came over Saturday to spend the day. While they were at the computer, Pete and Nicholas sat at the kitchen table and assembled the whole thing.

3. An Ice Age Wii game~ Nicholas must have thanked Nini and Papa ten times for Andrew's new game.

4. A Mario Brothers Nintendo game~ Katie snuck it into her room and played it while Andrew and Nicholas took turns on the new Wii game.

Of course, being the kind-hearted, giving person he is, Andrew gave permission for the others to test out the new gifts. He got many more cool gifts and had an awesome birthday (except when Nicholas kept blowing out the candle during the "Happy Birthday" song...).