Kissing Dogs

That's right. I came home from work today fully expecting a huge mess in our kitchen. Since it was 8 degrees when we left this morning, I decided to put Toodles in the kitchen. For the 10 hours that we would be at work.
I came home today and "voila!" no mess! I couldn't believe my luck!
I could've kissed him!

Then as I was going to bed.. a dinosaur attacked me! Not really, but it sounds good.
Apparently Toodles has resorted to theft of property for his new chew toy, J's dinosaur.

As an added bonus, tonight was very trying. The school, or daycare, (I haven't figured out whom to be angry at)sent home suckers and Valentines Day candy. So, Matthew and I said OK, since it was Friday night and all.
Little did we know that by monitoring their sugar intake up until this point, we were really preventing chaos.
So, we had chaos. No one listened, there was a lot of bouncing, running, and screaming (just the kids, but I did have some primal screaming going on in my mind).
We ended up with an early bedtime for T, and a later bedtime for J. I am just glad we had gotten through most of the baths. :-)
Oh, but they are still so loveable. Even with the sugar induced bad behavior. Of course, we know T has a lot of insecurities, but it did feel good when I went to calm her down and explain the reasoning for her early bedtime she did use the words "Mommy " and "Daddy". A beacon of light in the middle of frustration.
Whenever we have to correct her, or discipline her, she always says "but I want you to love me" through her tears. It really is heart wrenching. And so we have this entire routine we go through now where we reaffirm our love for one another. So, tonight when Matthew had to put her in time out (I was managing J's bath) she tells me "I want Daddy to love me". So, we all went through the affirmations again. We both love her the same, she is a good girl, not a bad girl, and her punishment is a product of her behavior (in 4 year old words).

So, family movie night was canceled and everyone went to bed with the promise of being better listeners tomorrow... when the sugar is out of their system.