Babysitting...a lot of it

It has rained everyday this week. Not such a bad thing, but when you throw three to four mischievous little boys running, toddling, and crawling around a tiny house, a whole week feels like a long, long time.

Don't get me wrong, they are good little guys. Just busy, busy, busy! My days have been filled with kissing owies, changing diapers, watching cartoons, making lunches, stopping fights, wiping tears, wiping noses, wiping spills, putting kids down for naps, cleaning up toys, putting shoes on, taking shoes off, and speaking in a language that only the mother (or babysitter) of small children would understand.
"No no."
"Num-nums?"
"share, please!"
"sippy sippy?"
"uh-oh!"
"Oh, you got a boo boo?"
"That's a quack quack."
"You feel the coco?" (anything soft is a coco in our house now.)
"Don't touch that please, don't touch that please, don't touch that please...don't touch that!"

My house is filled with little boy toys. Cars, trucks, trains, planes, guns (not real ones. Not even toy ones. I swear, a little boy can turn anything into a gun), zoo animals, play dough, balls, etc. For eight hours on Monday and six hours every other day of the week, it has been chaos! But it has been a good kind of chaos.

Along with the craziness has come a lot of sweet moments. A lot of laughing and hugging and cuddling. Bennett has benefited greatly from all this socialization too...and has been toughened up quite a bit in the process. All three boys are good friends, which is funny because they range in age from 10 months to 3 years. It is fun to watch them learn from each other. Caden (the oldest) has taught Jace (1 1/2 years) to climb on top of the table. Something I am not thrilled about. Jace has taught Bennett that he can hold onto movable items and "walk" around the house if he uses them for balance.

Overall, it's a great job for everyone. Bennett gets to play, I get to make a little extra money, and Matt's happy because I am now reconsidering how close I want our children in age. :)

The boys. Some days there's more, some days there's less. It's always an adventure.

Jace, giving Bennett a hug and kiss. This is one of his favorite things to do lately, and some days I have to stop him for fear of Bennett's breathing ability.

Jace and Caden, posing for the camera. They really are good little boys.