Patience is a Virtue.......right?

I'm so very grateful that it is Friday...Gavin is spending the night at a friend's house and my 3 little ones are safe and sound in bed.  If all of my prayers are answered, they will stay asleep for the next 11 hours.  This has been one trying week for this mother.  I LOVE my children dearly (I will state that it is a love I never knew even existed until they became a part of my life) and I would do anything for them.  That being said, I think they know this and have been testing that truth.

After weeks upon weeks of Jacob (just turned 4) being so very successful with the nighttime potty training, he decides that this is the week that his linens need to be washed 2 mornings in a row.  Ugh...this is just one of the things I know that we will certainly get through; but honey, seriously.  I have to get your brothers ready for school and the last thing mommy wants is to launder your dirty sheets.  He's always so very apologetic about it in the mornings so I can't really be too mad at him...so I take it out on the sheets.  It always seems to happen in the same pair of pj's, so I have also come to the conclusion that said pj's are evil and I have banned them from the house.

Then there was the coffee.  This morning I poured myself a cup of coffee and situated my 2 sweet little 'angels', Jacob & Miley on the couch so that mommy could run upstairs and get dressed for a meeting I had in the afternoon.  I was in my room for maybe 5 minutes and then ran back down since I was parched and forgot my coffee on the kitchen counter.  Unfortunately, my babies must be addicted to the caffeine like mom.  Miley had gotten my coffee cup and spilled all over the kitchen floor and then took it to the living room and proceeded to pour it on our sofa.  Well, being the big brother he is, Jacob saw this as a prime opportunity to just make matters even more interesting (hey, if you're gonna get into trouble, you may as well go all the way).  He got out his markers and drew a 'smiley face' on his sisters cheek.  I think he also thought the polite thing to do would be to share his markers so he did and sister drew on the couch.  Boy, was I happy.
After the 'look' from mommy, Jake decided it would be best if he go to his room (he does this thing where when he knows he's done something wrong and after he understands that we're disappointed in the choices he made to get into trouble, he runs to his room, shuts [ok, slams] the door and pouts on his bed...then mom gives him 5 minutes to cool off, goes up to his room and discusses the expectations.  It's probably better than both of us getting upset, I guess).
Miley, being much to young to storm off, was placed in her 'time-out' corner for 3 minutes.  The funny thing was that after the timer went off and I went to get her out of her corner, she had fallen asleep.  My poor baby...getting into mischief is exhausting.

Miley...awake from her cat nap and a smiley face on the cheek.

I swear, Gavin and Ben (my 10-year-old and 6-year-old) must have known that mom was having a tougher than usual week and could sense that once they left for school today, it would just get more tiring.  My sweet, sweet boys.  Gavin cleaned the playroom this morning without being asked and Benjamin cleaned the kids' bathroom after school with me.  He even helped me wipe out the drawers and suggested that we get an organizational bin for their toothbrush/toothpaste drawer to help in the future.  Suggestion is noted, son and bin is on the shopping list...well done, boys.  It gives me hope that Jake and Miley are only going through their stage of defiance right now...

I know it wasn't the worst week ever...I do have some awesome kids.  Miley received her first Barbie this week (which I purchased...I never thought I'd buy a Barbie in my life.  I never even owned one as a child and with the help of my brother would pop the heads off of my sisters' barbies).  She loves hers though, and I even got her and her barbie matching dresses.

She left it on the floor for a bit too long that night though and the dogs managed to pop it's head off (ok, that made me laugh; so being the good mom I am, I took a picture of the dogs chewing the head before taking it from them and fixing the doll...dumb barbie).

The highlight was getting the kids ready for bed.  I love the hugs and kisses they request and pretty much demand from Paul and I...that never gets old.  As I was putting Jacob's pj's on (not the evil ones), he said to me "your the best, mommy".  That phrase made everything I struggled with over the week all worth it.  :)