catching up

Hi Papa! I know he checks to see my posts daily. I've been a slacker, sorry. Today was our 1st day back a MOPS, it's been a whirlwind trying to get everyone back on track, my leadership team as well as my family. Eli is having the hardest time, whenever we go on a trip I get relaxed about my kiddos behaviour and it feels like it takes a month before I can regain control once we get home. Lots of melt downs and dragging him out the door because he just can't make up his mind about whatever. Today I actually got out the egg timer, it is a trick my mom and grandma used and I must say it worked like a charm. I set the timer for 5 minutes and then when it rang it was time for nap, no arguments (a few tears because he didn't know how loud the bell would be) he got up and went to bed. I don't know what took me so long to use it, we'll see how long it has this effect but today it was a "good thing". Oh and in other news, we have a crawler here now, those of you on facebook know this already but for anyone else...Levi started crawling the day after we got back from CA, my parents missed it by one day! He is getting faster everyday and trying to pull himself up on everything. I must go and buy a baby gate for the stairs and childproof a few cabinets this weekend. I'm trying to teach the big boys to close the toilet lid and basement door, it's tricky to keep track of everything when I'm not the only one doing things in my own house....Levi is so happy to be mobile and I must say he is a bit stubborn when it comes to chasing after something he wants. Funny to watch him grab something out of Eli or Miles hand, they don't know quite how to respond. he! he! No wonder the little one gets away with more stuff, the big kids are afraid to hurt him. Again, we'll see how long that lasts.