"a peppermint water miracle"

my kids have been fighting a lot lately .. i guess you could say i'm ready for them to go back to school. and they do, in the morning. and i have a feeling it will seem very quiet around here.
saturday was a step in the right direction however with the older siblings... a day when i wish it would be like that always. i wasn't expecting much from the day.. i was actually in a really bad mood. wanting to get so much done around here and knowing that it wouldn't happen. harboring anger against matt because he was going into work and keeping track of "all the things i've done" i was off to a bad start. the kids noticed and asked what was wrong and i said i didn't feel well.. not completely a lie. the next thing i knew they were asking if they could put water in addie's new pots & pans she got for christmas and use them in the real kitchen. "ok fine. only water, " i told them. thinking this wouldn't last long i tried to use the few minutes to do something.. i don't even remember what. they told me not to come into the kitchen. so since micah was down for his morning nap i went out to the garage to do some spray painting! well.. that was fun. and it was for me! Not expecting that & it did boost my mood. i came in to check on everyone, surprised not to hear fighting or crying. score! then G yelled "dont' tell her!" Addie came running to me saying they had a surprise for me and they were giving me a peppermint! there was a little comment then about "i told you not to tell" .. but i think G realizes that Addie cannot keep a secret. they told me to sit down on the couch to relax and they carried over on a tray a cup full of peppermint water & a candy placed beside it. it was to make me feel better.

and it did!

so while i choked down some peppermint flavored water (I'm not a mint fan).. they told me how they dissolved the peppermints in the different pans until the red lines vanished & that's how you know it's done. the 3 of us played phineas and ferb game (way fun by the way!) until micah woke up. the day went on, much better than i had anticipated. later, when micah was getting ready for another nap they asked if they could make more peppermint water. really? why couldn't they play with toys they got at christmas? i guess, in their defense, they were. but still it involved my kitchen which needed a lot of work and somehow adding sticky water all over seemed a little wrong. but remember.. i was in a good mood now ;) so i said yes. as i was rocking micah i heard them... "this is so fun garrett!" "yeah, we can make peppermint water for next friday." (referring to our 4:00 friday with friends after school!) "ok.. let's make lots!" "ok. we can fill up pitchers and gatoraid bottles. i think those will be good. and we should make some for daddy b/c he was coughing." then i shut the door, happy they were happy. a few minutes later addie came peeking in. i showed her the universal sign to be quiet. i almost gave her the universal sign of "go back out the door" but she seemed bursting with something. she told me that she and garrett "hugged because we love each other in our hearts. we hugged by the stove because that's where we are cooking and having so much fun. we are making lots and lots of peppermint water and it's magic and good and so pretty!" i gave her a kiss and told her to go tell garrett something. i heard her run out and say "garrett!!! Mommy is proud of us!!"

i expected to cry on saturday. just in a very different manner.

their shirts were wet. shocker!