The Good, the Bad, and the... Cute

Some days, foolishly, I know, I think I can get away with a shower when all three boys are awake.  What mom of young children actually thinks she has a right to such a hygienic luxury?  Apparently, one like me.  On these days, I am usually quite soaked and unavailable to arbitrate whenever the inevitable argument shows up, wailing for Mommy and knocking in distress on the bathroom door.  Today was one of those days.  I hear the wails as I shut off the water, and wonder what transgression has taken place while I was otherwise occupied.  Peter is at the door and, surprisingly, is not wailing or accusing his brother of any particular crime.  However, he does urgently inform me that "Aaron has a problem, Mommy!  Come and see!!"  I can hear Aaron crying in the living room, but not a cry of pain.  More... distress, I suppose.
"What kind of problem does Aaron have, Peter?"  I inquire.
"He dropped the plant!" Peter replies.
Ahhh.  I see.  I go to the living room to assess the damage.  From what I can gather, Aaron was playing by the bookshelf and must have pulled the trailing ivy down off the top shelf, fortunately not dropping the ceramic pot on his head in the process.  Thankful for this, I calmly give Aaron a hug, and ask him what he should say to his Mommy.
"I'm sorry Mommy!" he tearfully sniffs into my shoulder. 
It is 7:30 a.m. and my first disaster of the day will involve clean-up of wet soil, spread artfully across both couches and the beige carpet. (Why oh why did we ever buy a beige carpet in the first place??) And I can't help but notice that the pot of soil managed to land upside down in an open bin full of toys and stuffed animals.  Won't this be fun? Instead of tackling the mess right off the bat, I set the boys up in the kitchen with some breakfast.  Once they are contentedly eating, I set about cleaning up in the living room.  From the kitchen, I hear Aaron calling me.
"Mommy?  Mommy!  I not do that again, Mommy!"

Awwww.  From around the corner, I can't help but smile.  Despite the bumps in the road, I love my kids!  I think it's a good thing to be able to find the humour in certain circumstances, as long as you can hide the fact that you think it's funny from your kids.  Take a picture with a straight face, then proceed with discipline.
Here are a few ways to know that your children have been doing what they should not when you are not around:

Crime:  Half-eaten chalk left lying on the ground.  

Suspect:  Nathaniel.  

Evidence:  Orange smears on face.  

Case closed. 

Crime:  The mirror in the bathroom has been "cleaned"  
Suspect:  Peter.
Evidence:  Water bottle left on floor.
Not enough evidence to convict.  Case thrown out.

Crime:  Camping equipment out of the box, flashlight left on in the basement.
Suspect:  Peter or Aaron.
Evidence:  Circumstantial at best, as both were playing in the basement but not observed.
Case thrown out. 

Crime:  Somebody other than Mom or Dad opened the downstairs freezer
Suspect:  Aaron
Evidence:  Grader machine discovered frozen inside after both boys were playing in the basement. 
This one made me laugh out loud.  Case thrown out. 

Crime:  Dead batteries removed from can on Daddy's DO NOT TOUCH workbench
Suspect:  Aaron, Peter as an accessory after the fact
Evidence:  Dead batteries strewn over the basement carpet, and loaded into trucks
Case thrown out.  They're just dead batteries I suppose.

And then there's the things that you discover when you walk in the room.  Nathaniel has been the one giving me the highest number of heart attacks recently, as he is, apparently, good at climbing.  I have found him on the toilet, in Aaron's bed, on the patio table, on the deck benches, on the couch, on various coffee tables,, and one of his personal bests so far from this morning:  standing backwards on the kids' rocking chair, rocking with no hands.  As you can imagine, I do not stop to take pictures of most of these situations.  I think he's practicing now, developing the skills to climb out of his crib - which the other boys never figured out how to do.  This kid keeps me hopping!

 

And then on other days, you find them doing things so sweet they melt your heart.  We put Aaron and Peter to bed one night in the same bed, just for kicks.  We didn't hear a PEEP from them, and when we checked on them they were both sound asleep, still under the covers.

And Nate, so cheerfully watching his Mommy from inside. 

My one and three year olds, loving each other lots 

and fast developing into good friends. 

 Handsome three year old. 

 Sweet 2 year old

 I love my kids!!  While it's busy, and sometimes I feel like it's way too much, there's something pretty special about having a one-year-old, two-year-old, and a three-year-old.  It's a pretty huge blessing, and those sweet moments make it all worthwhile, together with the laughs when ridiculous things happen!