We need a rainbow!

So, our fun and exciting Saturday turned out to be TOTALLY rainy and yucky all day. The temperature plummeted and it rained and thundered and hailed all afternoon. Talk about miserable. We each had things we would have enjoyed and had planned to do today...but instead we all found ourselves back home again...in total disbelief at how rotten the weather was. The day wasn't a total wash though. Just before all of nasty weather set in we met our landscaper out at the nursery and made our final plant selections for our landscaping project. It is going to look so COOL!!! Then we got my cell phone exchanged out, as the screen was apparently defective. Very difficult to use those things when you can't navigate the system because you have no idea where in the system you are! Definitely nice...and necessary, to be able to see that screen. Not long after the accomplishment of these errands though is where things went south for us. But then again, despite the rain, our time at home was not a total loss. Chris spent a grueling 3 hours at the computer sorting out our taxes and I spent a grueling 3 hours trying to make heads and tails out of all my scrapbook junk and even attempted to catch up on a couple of pages. I am still pathetically behind...like 2 to 2 1/2 years...but hey...I'm further along today than I was yesterday!

A good bit of this afternoon was spent arguing with Max. He and I seem to stay in constant conflict right now. He simply cannot just listen and obey without having to "discuss" and argue everything to death. I asked both boys to get their room clean as they had had a friend over to play and things were a bit messy. After a few minutes, Ben informs me that Max is not helping. This is pretty typical for Max. He is, by nature a very lazy child. Bright as can be....but lazy. He has no problem hanging out and playing while others clean and do any work that needs be done. So, in response to this ongoing problem, I sent Ben downstairs and told Max that now, he was going to have to clean up by himself. This did not make him happy at all and we had a few heated moments which VERY nearly ended in a spanking. Instead, he ended up whining and complaining that he didn't know where anything went...especially Ben's toys (which I have no doubt Max got out himself). This is absolutely ludicrous considering that ALL of their toys go into their closet into neat little clear containers. Anyone who has played at my house will vouch for the fact that I like things neat and organized and every toy has a home in a neat little box. Well...Max and his amnesia self just couldn't seem to get a handle on this. It wasn't at all that he didn't know where things went. He just didn't want to have to put them away by himself. So finally....completely at my wits end...and I'll tell you...I seem to stay there a lot lately; I went in and gathered up the remaining toys that had not been put away and just removed them from child ownership. Just like that...gone. Hey...I figure if you honestly have no clue where your own toys belong...you probably don't need to have toys! This caused massive outcry and drama of course and suddenly Max was sure that he knew where each and every toy belonged and could definitely put them away himself if I would only return them and give him a chance. And of course there was that whole "You'll never have to tell me twice again." promise thrown in for good measure. I did not return the toys. As mean as it seems....I just feel like I have to do something to make a difference in him. I am at a point where I really do not like this child of mine. He is mouthy and rude and precocious and argumentative and just down right annoying. Don't I sound like the worst mom ever? I feel like it. I mean, what kind of mom doesn't like her own kid? But I don't. I try to...but honestly....we can't seem to be in the same room without arguing. Almost every single thing the child does sets me on edge these days. It doesn't help that these are the days of the potty mouth. Every conversation seems to revolve around the potty and bodily functions. Every comment seems to hang on a fart or a belch or some other insinuaiton to some other fart or belch. And both boys think it is HYSTERICAL. I am SOOO tired of it. How long IS this phase anyway? Long story short...I am entertaining the idea of allowing Max to earn back some of the toys he lost...starting with the ones that belong to his brother (who incidentally was NOT at all too happy at losing his toys because of his brother's laziness). I did read them a story tonight...something I have not done in several weeks. We started A Wrinkle In Time. Great book. I hope they enjoy it as much as I did!

While I was arguing with Max, Ben laid low...smart child that he is. He is like that. He does not enjoy conflict and prefers to stay out of it as much as possible. But he comes around a lot for a hug and a cuddle...so sweet like that, our Ben. Ben has a very generous and loving heart. He is generally a sweet, sweet child to be around. He has a passion for making things....he isn't picky about what itis....but he is always making something out of other things. It is a rather messy passion...he, like Max, is not too good at cleaning up after himself...especially when he is "in the moment" so to speak. He is always drawing, always painting. He paints with paints, or with water, or with dirt. Whatever he can find. He draws with crayons, or pencils, or markers, or rocks....it makes no difference to him. He is a scissor freak...which makes me nuts as he leaves a trail of scraps wherever he goes. And he has probably launched several hundred paper airplanes this year alone! He is our artistically driven one to be sure.

And then there is Clara. She just seems to love doing what everyone else is doing...though I do notice that she really seems to enjoy making crafts and pictures and things. She also LOVES to sing. She sings several songs now. She sings Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star....only it comes out Tankle Tankle Little Stawr. She's got quite a southern accent going! And she sings Little bunny Foo Foo. She sings If You're Happy and You Know It. She sings The Bissy, Bissy Pider only puts her own spin on it and it goes something like this...."The bissy, bissy pider went to get the mommy" and she makes her spider hands and does her very best tickle attempt on me. It is TOO cute and she came up with it all by herself. She is a sweet girl who adores her daddy. And I do mean she ADORES him. He is her hero without whom she would just be lost. It just so happens that her daddy is pretty fond of her as well. And she IS pretty cute....most of the time. Allbeit, with all the rain today I did not find her to be very cute at all. I don't think her brothers did either. At one point this afternoon she was screaming and attempting to bodily drag them into the closet so she could sit there and shine her flashlight at them. Max kept saying "I don't want to play!" and Clara would club him with her little fist and scream out at him "Yes you do!" and there was a lot of dragging and screaming and crying and clubbing. I finally had to step in there and save poor Max from being dragged off to the dark closet anymore. The rain truly did seem to get on all of our nerves today.

And on that note. I know that I should be truly thankful for the rain....especially since I now reside in the desert and rain is a big deal around here. People tell me that we will go months without rain...so long that we won't be able to recall when it actually last rained. That is what they say. I know that rain is important and life giving and all that. I'm just not a big fan of rain I guess. I much prefer the rainbow...God's wonderful reminder that He is in control and in charge and loves and cherishes us. The sign of all the good things yet to come...but to get the rainbow, you first need the rain. I guess in a lot of ways that is just how life is and how God is with us. He can't grow us without trials (rain), we can't learn to trust Him unless we are put into situations that require complete faith (rainy times), into all of our lives a bit of rain must fall I guess. But the reward is sweet...because after the rain...comes the rainbow. We are ready to see that rainbow over the desert tomorrow. I am praying tonight for rainbows tomorrow! Life is good in the desert. Rain and all....life is good and we are blessed!