After a busy day, we came home and quickly made dinner. We all sat down and enjoyed boneless ribs, macaroni and cheese, and peas, followed by family devotions. I decided to make some cookies, while Scott was playing handyman and fixing a couple dining chairs. All seemed to be going smoothly. Tirzah helped make the cookie dough, then I washed dishes while it chilled.
At this point, Levi asked if he could do a job to earn one more sticker to fill his chart. "Yes, you can clean out the pack n play." I answered. So he begins that, dumping coats and jackets. "Done!" he announces, and adds the final sticker. Running to get the prize bag, he decides on a pack of bath fizzies. And, of course, if you have bath fizzies, you need to take a bath. "In a little while you may." I promise.
Meanwhile, the dough is ready to shape and roll in cinnamon sugar, so Tirzah and Levi decide to help me. Scott has gone upstairs to try installing a hunting game on the PC. He hollers for me, but I have my hands covered in cookie dough, so I tell him to wait. He calls, "Jacqueline, what is this new folder bar at the top of the screen?" "I don't know. It just appeared there, and I can't make it go away." I yell back. "Well, it must be a virus!" he cried. "So, what am I supposed to do about it?" I holler. Finally I get the cookies in the oven and go see what's up. Caelin is sitting beside Scott attempting to make helpful comments; Scott finally is convinced it's just an empty folder and deletes it. Whew! Crisis averted! The game, however, will not work properly on the PC, so they scrap the whole thing.
Scott declares he is going out to the workshop to do a few things. I tell Levi he may get in the tub; Caelin thinks he will go in, too. "You guys are too old to bathe together anymore." I say, much to their dissapointment. "Can we go in together if we wear our shorts?" Caelin asks. Fine. Whatever.
My mother calls to visit. Aila has taken advantage of the moment and pulled the Uno game off the hutch and strewn the cards all over the dining room floor. At this point, Tirzah declares she has to go potty. Rolling my eyes, I pull the shower curtain closed and tell her to go ahead. Of course, it's a number two, and a lengthy one. I go check the cookies, which I have been keeping up with. When I come back, Aila is soaked. "Why is Aila all wet?" I ask. "She was playing in the bath water." replied Caelin. Great. I take off her jumper and shirt then run back to get the cookies. From my kitchen, you can see straight into the bathroom, so I glance up to see Aila, tights at half mast, shoes still on, diaper removed, waddling out toward me, saying, "Potty!" Yikes!
I take her back in the bathroom; there has apparently been an epic hurricane, due to the amount of water all over the place. I throw down a towel, telling Tirzah to move it so Aila can go. I have to wipe Tirzah, the whole while hoping I don't drop my phone in the toilet, because I am still talking to Mom. As soon I put Aila on her potty seat, she gives me a look of confusion, like "What am I doing here?" Forget it, I decide, and put a fresh diaper on her.
Returning to the kitchen I attempt to roll more cookies; Tirzah and Aila are helping. Aila picks up the balls of dough and throws them onto the cookie sheet with gusto; nevermind that they din't get rolled in the sugar. I put them in the oven just as the smoke alarm goes off. I am yelling into the phone, "Hold on!" Climbing onto a chair, I press and hold the shut-off button. My ears are ringing and my mother is laughing. She is such a supportive person. "We'll talk later." she says. I roll still more cookies, removing Aila, and questioning my intelligence for making a double batch of snickerdoodles.
Scott came back in and pulls out the lap top; the hunting game should work on it, if he can only figure it out. Aila comes round the corner sans diaper again. I put it back on, again. Cookies out of the oven, again. Finally, last batch is out and am I glad.
Levi really wants to show Scott an old game on the upatairs computer, so to satisfy Levi, I go up to help him. While we wait, Tirzah is going to show me a Curious Geaorge game she can play. Sitting on my lap, she works the mouse pretty well. Scott comes up to see. Moments later, Caelin appears at the bottom of the stairs holding a diaper. "Mom, Aila took her diaper off and it has load in it." I am speechless. Luckily, Scott is equal to the occasion, going down and cleaning her up, threatening all manner of action to keep her diaper on. I decide a sleeper might be the best option, and put one on her.
It is now 9:00. Scott has the hunting game working and is working the bugs out amid unsolicitedadvice from the boys. "Let's get to bed, please!" I announce. I am rather tired out from the relaxing evening at home.
