The "Bad" Facebookers...

OK...I have been resisting the urge to rant about this for awhile as it may hurt some feelings or worse, make people angry!  But then I realized 1)  that is no fun!  and 2)  it is not good to keep your feelings bottled up right?

I resisted the Facebook phenomenon for quite a while.  It wasn't until after I had my daughter that I finally gave in and that was just so that family could see pics of her in an easy way.  It wasn't until I was very pregnant with Caden and very miserable that I spent a lot of the afternoons in bed with my computer while Brennan napped.  After awhile there is nothing to do other than check FB every few hours and comment on baby message boards.  Then I got a smart phone and the FB app was right there, attached to my hand.  Now FB has become a way to pass time at a red light or while in the waiting room at the Drs office.  I also use it to share my blog!

There are a lot of good things that come from FB.  Lost dogs get found, I print coupons from certain vendors, I get my blog out to the masses, cute pics of my kids get shared, I get to read those funny greeting card sayings, people get in touch with people that without the invention of FB they never would have seen again. 

There are a lot of bad things that come from FB.  People put up annoying posters with sayings trying to get likes and shares, people think that other people care about their political views (don't even get me started on this one), teenagers fight, cheaters cheat (and get caught), people get in touch with people that without the invention of FB they never would have seen again.

I have had the feeling lately that FB has evolved at an alarming rate into more bad than good.  Initially people complained that people were putting too many pics of their kids or saying bad words in their status updates.  Now I feel most people don't even have status updates.  They are too busy inviting people to play some game or sharing someone elses cause.  None of this is that big of a deal.

What really gets me is the awful pictures that people post and share and comment on and then most importantly:  force me, unsuspecting and innocent, to look at.  Here I am looking at a friends newborn baby, scrolling down to see where someone went to dinner, then BAM!  dead rotting puppy that got set on fire after being abused. 

I do not want to see the dead baby laying on the ground because some mother didn't do the right thing.  I don't want to see the guy in the hospital bed with the giant tumor hanging off of his face, or the guy missing a face, or the rare and awful looking genetic disorder that the little girl has, or the horrible thing some person did to that puppy.  I  understand that these things happen.  The world is a bad place.  That doesn't mean I want to look at it all the time.

No I am not a bad person.  No I am not content to sit back and enjoy my comfortable middle class lifestyle while the world goes to hell.  Yes I have a bleeding heart.  I say yes much more than no to most causes...This doesn't mean that I need to see these images.  I am of the personal belief that the VAST majority of these pics were taken and posted for the sheer shock and awe factor...to see how many likes they can get, shares they can get.  Not to actually do anything proactive about it.  And BTW, am I the only one that finds it odd that people 'like' the picture of the dead baby?  I know there are exceptions to this rule.  I know that not everyone posting these things are wrong or bad.  Some do it to raise money, some as an outlet for a bad situation they are in.  These are not the people I am referring to.

The sheer number of these shock and awe photos popping up lately leads me to believe that this is just for reaction value.  Seriously when is the last time you saw a picture of a dead baby or mutilated puppy and actually did anything proactive about it?  Did it make you not get an abortion or throw water on a burning puppy?  Did it make you donate to a good cause or become an activist?  I don't know maybe I am just a worse person than most or maybe I just need to get new FB friends;)

I'm Baaacckk! Family Update Edition...

Oh goodness it has been a long month...I always say I HATE May!  Birthdays, anniversaries, Mother's Day, Oh My!  There is so much crammed into the month that one cannot possibly enjoy any of it.  On top of it the weather gets warm so I naturally want to go and do more than I have all winter.  This renders me super busy and super exhausted...throw in a vacation to the beach, a baby cutting molars, and a handful of colds and that is a recipe for no blogging! 

Princess Brennan is her sweet busy self per the usual.  She just finished her first year of preschool and her very first dance recital is this weekend!  She has suddenly become even more girly, which I was not aware was humanly possible.  She changes outfits at extreme minimum 5 times a day, no exaggeration.  She disappears and gets quiet.  This would make most parents nervous, but I know she will emerge with another bracelet, different shoes, a new crown or headband, or with an entirely new wardrobe change!  This is super cute and makes my life easy, however by God I better pay attention to what she is wearing because if I don't notice that very important bracelet change Miss Diva emerges!  Oh the teenage years should be extra, super fun at the rate we are going...

Wish I had better things to say about Mr. Tots but here goes:  He has been so horrible this month!  I know I am one of the few moms that will actually say this about her child but to be fair, I always said I wouldn't be the parent who's child was perfect and never did wrong.  Bless his heart, he has had a rough go of it.  If you are interested in his back story check it out here.  If you are caught up then you know he can be difficult but that we love him anyway!  Well enter the evil molars.  He screamed and cried and didn't sleep for about a week.  His poor mouth was swollen, he looked like a chipmunk.  I kept thinking he had put something in his mouth.  The next week he slept but when awake he fussed.  Week 3 he got sick with a high fever, swollen tonsils, Dr ruled out strep so YAY!  another virus we have to ride out.  Mr Caden is the worst patient on the planet.  If he is sick, he is mean!  Oh and by the way, his molars still are not through!  Week 4 he seemed to be on the mend but suddenly today and yesterday has decided napping is not cool anymore...my chest gets tight even typing this.  For my sanity this cannot be happening...

Feel like I need to say something nice about him so here that goes:  When he is healthy and not teething he is the happiest baby on the planet, ready to explore everything.  He has a brilliant sense of humor and is wicked smart.  Unfortunately he hasn't been healthy lately so I have only gotten small glimpses of that baby:(  Everyone reading this, send us some good juju...we need healthy happy non-teething Caden to return so I don't end up on the news! 

Kev is Kev.  This is why I love him!  He is the constant in my otherwise crazy world.  I can always count on him to be the chill dude in the background no matter what is going on or how crazy I become.  He works a lot, but find me a lawyer that doesn't.  He actually hasn't been as busy at work lately which apparently means coming home earlier in the evening!  It has been nice.  I know the minute I get used to it, it will stop.  We are just enjoying Daddy being home and dinner at a normal hour as much as we can!  I have talked him into attempting a hairstyle...he has been buzzing his hair since his middle school bowl cut days ended (great pictures when combined with his super cool Harry Potter glasses!).  I have attempted multiple times to get him to try something new.  It has never gone well.  I hope this time it will, doubtful, but a girl can hope. 

As for me, other than trying to keep my sanity in check, my blood pressure low, and my anxiety at a manageable level, life is good.  Seriously, the majority of my extended family is on anti-anxiety meds so I am very aware of the pre-genetic disposition my brain is hardwired for.  Everyday I have not decided to finally enter therapy or end up on some mood calming medication is a WIN!  What?  You couldn't tell how crazy I am from my writing style?  I feel as though the extreme use of sarcasm alone is a dead give away.  The important thing is I am aware of the person I could become and that is half the battle I think.  Fingers crossed I don't go off the deep end one day! 

As for weight loss, I joined weight watchers a few weeks ago and naturally since I have finally decided to spend money on the program I have decided I don't want to do it anymore!  My weight loss had plateaued so I am biting the bullet and doing phase 1 of South Beach again...Short version:  No sugar, no carbs, no alcohol for 7 days.  It is supposed to 14 days but I really don't have that much more to lose.  This is just to get me over the hump and then I will likely go back to WW as a maintenance thing.  7 days from yesterday I will decide what I want to do. 

So there you have it...the nitty gritty on the family.  Hope this wasn't too boring for everyone.  I will do better next time:)  I have a couple ideas of random rant posts I want to do so everyone stay tuned! 

Caden's Monster Party!

My little monster had his first birthday last weekend.  I wanted to have this posted earlier, but it has just been crazy around here lately.  I got the idea for the theme because his behavior was questionable at best for the first six months so naturally one of his many nicknames is Monster.  Interested in the whole story click here.

I envisioned eyeballs everywhere and think I achieved that. Everyone thought I went to pinterest and went crazy but actually I am not a big pinterest fan.  I click on stuff and nothing happens and I get annoyed so pinterest is a no go for me usually.  I get an idea in my head and start googling...that takes me from place to place.  For the most part, I already knew what I wanted but didn't know how to make it happen so I googled tutorials.

He loves anything that is musical and any ball.  His daddy plays the drums and so does Mr. Tots.  So we ended Saturday in the basement drumming until his heart's content.  He woke up on Friday, his actual birthday, to a ball pit and a new music table.  He loved both of them!  I ordered a kiddi pool from Amazon with giant eyeballs on it!  Super affordable and easy to do and was the centerpiece at the party for the babies to play in. 

I got the idea for the balloons here...I didn't make it nearly as big and only did it in green and blue.  I then taped eyeballs to each balloon...came out looking very cute and monstery!  As a side note, double sided tape is flipping awesome!  I had never played with it  before and it quickly became my new best friend during this party endeavor. 

I learned to make the puff balls here.  Its a long story of how I came up with this idea but basically I did tulle pom poms for Brennan's Princess Party last month and wanted something similar.  I did them with blue tissue paper and taped eyeballs on them, some with wire, some just all over.

The pinwheel tutorial was from this website...these actually took a lot longer than I thought which is why I only made two of them.  I used poster board instead of printer paper to make them bigger which is why I think it took so long.  I then simply glued an eyeball in the middle. 

I made the front door wreath super easily...took square pieces of tissue paper, twisted in the middle to a point and taped to a styrofoam wreath.  I then of course taped eyeballs all over it.  This was super easy and fast. 



Apparently I forgot to take a picture of the wreath and party favors so these are after the fact pictures.  For the favors, I took blue and green buckets and taped eyeballs on them, filled them with blue and green grass and various toys.  I originally was going to make stuffed monsters and have them as favors, but a dear friend died the week before so I ran out of time.


There were squishy balls all over the place and around the food.  A monster cake surrounded by eyeballs and a smash cake were for dessert of course.  I straight up stole the idea for the juice boxes here and taped eyeballs to the cups, super fast and easy. 

The weather was perfect.  Everyone was in great moods.  The big kids went out and played on the trampoline and in the yard.  The little kids played inside in the ball pit and with other toys.  The adults were playing cornhole and hanging out on the deck in the sunshine.  The smash cake was a huge success.  Thank you to everyone for making my little monster's first birthday such a wonderful success! 

                                                  Now enjoy the onslaught of photos below!

Humanity Lives!

YOU KNOW!!!!....I was supposed to be sitting here tonight blogging about my sweet baby boy's first birthday party.  Instead I sit here watching CNN, hands over my mouth and sometimes my eyes.  What is wrong with people?  Why are some people so sad, depressed, angry, insert whatever negative emotion comes to mind, that they need to hurt others so badly?

I was at the park with my hubby and my kids when I heard about the Boston Marathon bombing.  I looked at my husband and said, "We need to turn on CNN when we get home."  I don't watch the news very often.  I occasionally do and I read some things online, but overall I just don't want to know.  There are just too many bad things happening in the world to want to watch the news, and I prefer to focus on the positive.

I decided on our walk back to the house not to give whatever terrible people that are responsible for this the satisfaction of ruining our precious family time, so I waited until after the kids were in bed and hubby went back to work to turn on CNN and forever burn into my memory this horribleness.

It wasn't that long ago that I sat glued to my TV sobbing after the Newtown School Shootings.  When I first found out about that, my kids were laughing and jumping on my bed, full of innocence and happiness.  It was all I could do to keep it together until they went to bed that night.  I sobbed and sobbed for days.  One of my first thoughts tonight was:  Isn't it too soon for another tragedy?  Isn't it too soon to hear that a 3 year old was one of the victims and and 8 year old is one of the dead? 

My initial reaction was fear:  fear for my kids, my family, fear for what the world is becoming, for what my kids and grand kids are inheriting.  Are we becoming a worse place to live, or are we just so connected now that it seems that way?

My second reaction was anger:  anger for the families destroyed by this, anger for the people's lives that will forever be changed both physically and emotionally, anger for taking one of America's dearest traditions and tarnishing it with death, fear, and hate.  These were people who trained for this, people who had been doing this for years and years, people looking for a special day.  These were innocent spectators, moms, children, grandparents, friends.  What could any of those people have possibly done to piss someone off enough to want to destroy their lives, tarnish their memories and traditions?  Why is there so much hate?

Then I read a person's reaction and it saved me from the dark spiraling descent I was taking.  Many people have commented on the fact that so many people ran toward  the blast and not away from it.  The horrible pictures and video of people falling to the ground, motionless bodies piled atop one another, blood everywhere, all horribly terrible.  But what did people do?  They immediately reacted!  They ran, they tore down barricades.  They squatted down and gave their help.  They were not worried about getting hurt themselves.  They were not worried about what else might happen.  All they thought about was someone else needing help.

That is when it hit me...humanity is still alive and kicking.  There was no time to think about what might happen next.  These people didn't stand there and ponder whether another bomb would go off or whether someone else's blood on them could harm them.  They simply reacted.  They ran and helped.  That is innate people!  That is who we are at our core.  That is proof that human decency still exists!

Even as the dust settles and people are beginning to come to terms with this terribleness, people's reactions are one of defiance.  Of course they will run again next year.  Of course they would react the same way if given a do over.  The human race is strong and confident and defiant and wants to live.  The human race is primarily good. 

Yes there are tons of varying viewpoints out there.  We fight about our religious views, political views, etc but when it comes time we come together and show how fierce and strong we really are.  The human race is inherently good.  Unfortunately we tend to only prove this when something inherently evil happens. 

In these situations I always find myself trying to put logic into such illogical events.  Everyone, myself included, always asks, "Why?"  More often than not we never get an answer.  If you are like me and are beginning to feel jaded about the world, try and think about it like this.  There are roughly 7 BILLION people on Earth right now.  Even if there are 100 million bad people in the world the vast majority of the population is just trying to live their lives and be good and be happy.  Think about all of the people you know.  Their reactions are likely the same as yours.  Everyone you know is horrified by this.

Sadly that gives me peace.  There is still a lot of good in this world.  I just hope that I will be able to hold on to this knowledge and teach my kids to be part of that good.  I choose to laugh and play and live.  I will not fear living my life, going places, doing things.  I may worry from time to time but it will not stop me.  We owe it to the people that these tragedies keep affecting...otherwise the bad guys win and who wants that? 

Caden Saved Me

Oh Mr Caden!  He goes by many, many names:  Tata, Mr.  Tots, Tots McGee, McGee MaGoo, Monster...Its what I do...People that I love, I nickname.  I honestly call very few people by their given name...this was particularly fun when I was teaching! 

Four years ago I became preggars with my sweet baby girl and life forever changed.  I had a dream pregnancy, gained a million pounds, ate cake all the time, had an easy labor, easy birth, easy baby.  She latched immediately, slept through the night at six weeks, took 3 naps a day, usually lasting at least 3 hours, hardly ever cried, happiest baby ever.  I lost all my weight and then some super fast.  I had it going on! 

I became pregnant when she was 11 months old.  It turned out to be an ectopic pregnancy and I had to have emergency surgery.  I was heartbroken, left in pain physically and emotionally, and a hormonal wreck.  

Then I got pregnant again and everything changed again!  I was terribly sick the whole time, ate nothing, gained hardly nothing until the last month or so, he came out cord wrapped around his neck, blood shot eyes, battered and bruised, and jaundiced.  He had a terrible time latching and NEVER slept!  AHHHHHH!!!!

Turns out he was colicky.  For the first 6 months of his life we spent sooo much time at doctors' offices, both cried a lot, and Princess B watched a LOT of movies.  He started getting better, but then we had to learn social skills!  That took another 2 months, then the teething, colds, and stomach viruses took over...AHHHH!!!!! 

Needless to say it hasn't been the easiest year.  I say this all not to bash my poor little baby but to prove a few very important points. 

I have led a fairly charmed life.  I fell in love with my hubby in high school, we went to college together, we are both fairly intelligent people, he has a great job, we have a beautiful home, we had a beautiful daughter.  I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to stay home with her and not return to work.

I had it made with Brennan, she was easy to love.  I thought I was the best mother in the world.  I worried about what she ate, how much TV she watched, germs, etc...typical first baby type things that are much less concerning with subsequent children.  Caden came along and taught me, us really, so many things that we really needed to learn!

First and foremost he taught me humility.  He taught me that no matter how much time I spent with him, how upbeat I was, how much I sang to him, how much I cried, yelled, laughed that sometimes it just didn't matter.  With Brennan I thought I was the shizzle and with Caden at times I felt hopeless.  Essentially he put me in my place.  I had not realized how much better of a mom I thought I was than others.  He taught me to be respectful of others and not to judge a poor woman's parenting skills because her kid is screaming in a store. 

He taught me patience...I was/am a middle school science teacher.  I know patience.  I have two kids...I know patience.  I am a stay at home mom.  I know patience, or at least I thought I did.  Until you have a baby that screams night and day, never sleeps, and can't be comforted in any way, you do not know patience.  He taught our family patience. 

He taught his sister to share.  He has taught her and continues to teach her that the sun doesn't rise and fall because of her.  He has taught her that there are others to consider.  This was exactly why I wanted to have more than one child.  I was aware that she was spoiled and got a ton of attention.  She is flipping adorable, was the first baby, first grandchild on both sides of our families, and has a great disposition...how do you not spoil that?  Caden keeps her in line and always will!  And oh my does he adore her...has since day one.  He doesn't look at anyone else the way he does his big sissy...it is the best feeling in the world to see that bond. 

He taught me how to laugh again.  I have always laughed and had a pretty twisted sense of humor. I am generally an inappropriate person.  When your days and months are filled with screaming and constant worry and guilt it becomes hard to laugh.  Every so often he would stop crying and smile and laugh.  I know it sounds contradictory but he is the happiest baby I have ever met!  When he isn't in pain, he is a giant smile, laugh, and giggle.  He has never met a stranger, always wants to be held and played with.  Every little thing he touches or sees is a new and exciting adventure.  We laugh a lot now!  I guess I realized, if he can be this happy with everything he has been through and felt then I have no excuses.

The biggest thing he has taught me is unconditional love.  Like I said, Princess B is easy to love.  Mr. Caden was a challenge.  Of course I loved him from even before conception but oh my was it hard sometimes.  He taught me to appreciate Brennan for the baby she was.  He taught me to love my husband for not leaving me/us during those 6 dark months of screaming, crying, and no sleep as understandably I was not a very nice person.  He taught me to love him even at his worst.  He taught me to love myself again.

There were so many times I felt hopeless.  I cried.  I yelled.  I repeated daily how much I couldn't live like this.  I didn't understand why it was happening, I just wanted everyone to be happy.  I wanted him to be ok.  I blamed myself.  I got pregnant too soon after my surgery.  I took anti-nausea drugs during the pregnancy.  I honestly still blame myself sometimes.

Tomorrow my sweet, happy boy turns 1.  No one believes me when I say we are having a monster themed party because he was my little monster for so long.  All they see is a happy, curious, laughing baby.  We stayed holed up for 8 months working out the kinks.  I didn't want anyone to see or remember him at his worst so we simply never went anywhere.  The house is decorated, the food is cooked, everything is ready.  Tomorrow I will do nothing other than play with my babies and celebrate their lives.  This weekend will be all about the four of us being together and being happy.  Next week I will post pics of the party.  

Now that the worst is behind us, I completely see why we had to go through that.  I am so thankful for his presence in my life.  I am so thankful that he is mine and that I get to spend everyday with him.  Caden made our family stronger.  Caden completed our family.  Caden has made me a better person.  Caden has given me tools that I will use for the rest of my life.  Caden saved me.  I gave him life.  He showed me how to live mine.  For that I will always be in his debt.

Are We Never Going to Learn?

So this whole gay rights decision pending in the courts right now really burns my bunghole...pun absolutely intended.  I have been debating writing about this for awhile.  I have run it by a few people and they have all cringed and suggested very nicely that I should not write about it, that people don't just put their religious and political views out there for the masses.  Really because I thought that is  what Facebook and celebrities were for?...obviously I listened!  Doing the right thing isn't always the easy thing I suppose...I feel convicted!  

Disclaimer****I am by no means an expert on any of this subject matter so chillax if something isn't totally accurate...it serves its purpose for this little rant and is here just to get my point across...its close enough!  

Let's take a little journey back to the past.  America got the brilliant idea to enslave black people...that went well.  Then our peeps decided that men were better than women...right that worked out!  And don't even get me started on that whole no alcohol thing, COMPLETE DISASTER!  Now we are hating on the gays.  Really why do we care?  We all know how this is going to turn out!  History has proven we can't hold down our fellow citizens so why delay the inevitable?

A few of the more popular arguments against gay marriage:

"Let them do what they want, I just don't want them to destroy the sanctity of marriage."  OK really!?  So the divorce rate is a stupidly high number.  Everyone who knows anyone knows peeps who have been divorced.  I got hammered and remarried my hubby in Vegas a few years back...seriously Elvis was there and it was totally legit.  We were smashed and had to prove nothing.  There were no tests to pass other than one of us needed to have a penis and the other a vagina...then we signed on a line and BAM! we were hitched.  Sanctity, schmanctity.

"The Bible says its wrong."  First off the Bible says a lot of things depending on where you look and how you interpret it.  Secondly, if Americans are so worried about religion being a factor then how are peeps that are not Christians allowed to marry?  What about people that are GASP!!  atheists or agnostics?  If this is your argument than a ton of peeps should no longer be allowed to marry.  Furthermore, what about all the people who have non-religious ceremonies?  Hmm? Huh?  How is that allowed?

"The traditional family will be destroyed along with the children."  OMG this ship has sailed!  The traditional family done been gone.  There are so many step-mothers, step-fathers, boyfriends, girlfriends, single parents, grandparents, and yes gay people raising children it is not even funny.  Divorce, never marrying in the first place, teen pregnancy, gay peeps, and older single women doing in vitro with sperm donors has already "destroyed" the traditional family.  Who is to say that the traditional family is the best thing anyway?  Yes kids flourish with both a loving mom and dad in the house.  Do they not with a loving grandparent, single mom, etc...the key here is love not gender.  There are sadly tons of traditional family homes with terrible mothers and/or fathers...is that better than having two mommies or daddies?  Really?   So we are saying that our beautifully, efficient and effective foster care system is a better place for kids than with two peeps of the same sex?  Just wow! 

"They have chosen the wrong path and these are the repercussions."  Yes all of the gay people in the world woke up one day and decided that they wanted to be persecuted and judged and screwed by all the straight people.  They chose to be gay and its a simple matter of choosing to switch back.  Well straight sir you go play with a penis for awhile (no not your own, that doesn't count), and straight madam you go play with a vagina for awhile, and tell me how natural that felt to you.  If it is simply a choice then it should be easy to do and then you can simply switch back...right?  RIGHT? 

And what about all the bi-sexual people in this world?  Are they given a free pass to have everyone as long as when it comes time to marry and get tax breaks they choose the opposite sex?  Man some of them are going to be really lucky and some are going to be really pissed when they finally love someone enough to marry them...or not depending on which sex they choose.

When are we going to learn?  There are too many haters out there.  We all need to chill out and quit being so judgy!  Give the poor gay masses their tax breaks already!  I am honestly not quite sure what business the government has giving out tax breaks because we signed a piece of paper, but I will definitely take it!  Yes please!  And shame on you if you read this and didn't find it humorously dripping with sarcasm and puns...I recently saw a quote on Facebook that said something along the lines of "You find this inappropriate?  I find it hilarious...that's why I am happier than you are."  Quit being so serious and laugh a little more...jeez!   

Fabulous Contained Mess Idea

Kids love to make messes!  Anyone that has spent more than 30 seconds with one knows this.  There is that magical age between crawling and about 5 years old where I really think they have secret meetings to share ideas on new and creative ways to make messes.  I can spend 30 minutes cleaning and it is a wreck in 30 seconds. 

I used to spend more time than that cleaning until I realized there was no use.  Luckily, we have a playroom.  I try daily to pick up and throw everything into the playroom.  If I miss a day the house is a complete wreck.  I only clean up the playroom and put everything where it goes once a week.  If I spent more time then this I would go completely mental. 

Brennan is old enough now to help.  She used to suddenly become a deaf mute whenever I asked her to help clean.  Now she will help but the child does everything at a painfully slow pace.  Sometimes when we are super busy, it is just so much easier for me to do it myself. 

Anywho, hubby has a work thing in Myrtle Beach at the end of April for a weekend.  We are going to make a week of it and take the kids.  We are staying in a standard room with two double beds.  Hubby is naturally worried about the cramped quarters.  I am actually really excited about it. 

I think it will be nice to be crammed down each others' throats for a week.  I won't have to cook, do laundry, or clean that much.  Hubby and I can sit on the balcony at night when the kids go to bed and listen to the waves, drink beer, and talk...heaven! 

I was googling different ideas on ways to make our stay easier in such a small space with two young kids.  I read a lot of things but one in particular that struck me as odd was painting in the bathtub.  The more I thought about it, the more I decided it was brilliant.  I thought, if they can do it on vacation, why can't I do it at home. 

So that is what we did today!  Mr Tots wanted to paint but flings everything he touches right now.  Princess B can be trusted completely, but Tots was awake when she wanted to paint and Lord help us all if Mr Tots isn't included in something!  Everyone, myself included, needed a bath so I figured no time like the present to test out my little theory.

Once we convinced Tots that the paintbrush did not go in his mouth it worked fabulously!  They made a huge mess, loved every minute of it, and when they were done I simply turned on the shower and it all magically went away! Once all the paint was gone I got out the cups and paintbrushes and stopped up the bathtub.  I let the shower continue to run until the tub was full.  They loved that too!

From start to finish they were in the tub about an hour and half, maybe longer and they came out squeaky clean and I got cute pics!  I highly recommend this activity and will definitely be doing it again.  Thank goodness it went well because I guarantee you Princess B will wake up tomorrow asking to paint the bathtub again!