Mama Bears Kill Big Stingin' Bug

So the other Saturday night, my mom, sister, the boys' godmom, and I were hanging out with a total of six kids when Godmama heard a buzz, and saw...a huge stinging bug.  Two things to know about big stinging bugs: 1--you don't want one in your house, and 2--if you make them mad, they sting. 

Instinct took over and she dashed to B's room where she guarded several of the boys playing in there.  Mom called for a shoe and one of us took a whack at the Big Stingin' Bug.  She got it, but he was only dazed.  He flew a dazed circle then flew off.

Great.  Now we'd made Big Stingin' Bug mad.  Cass, Mom and I grabbed a shoe apiece and tried to position chairs below him to get another crack at him.  G followed around, pointing an invisible gun and shooting him.  Soon I found him by the light over the kitchen sink, positioned my chair, and whacked at him.  The light globe was in the way, though, so it wasn't a perfect shot.  He lazily nosedived towards me.  My bladder went weak.  I charged off the chair, through the dining and "reading rooms" and toward the master bathroom.  Cass followed with G and K, and closed the door behind them, telling them to stay where it was safe.  Then she went back out to battle with Mom. 

I have no idea how Big Stingin' Bug survived as many whacks as he did.  It shouldn't be bugly possible.  By the time I returned, Mom was screaming for a magazine.  I searched high and low, but I'd recently ridded the house of all that extra paper, so all I could offer was a thin textbook.  It didn't have the malleability to conform to the slanted ceilings, so it did little good.

The next request was for a broom.  I was pretty sure Josh had taken it out to the shed, but was lucky to find it the utility room.  Now, Big Stingin' Bug was hiding, though.  We searched and searched, and even took one of the boy's suggestions to turn off all but one light so Big Stingin' Bug would gravitate toward it, but it was futile.  Finally we gave up. 

It was then that Mom heard the buzz.  She looked up, and Big Stingin' Bug was right above her.  She called for the broom.  I tried to strike him, but I'm not really good with a broom, so I handed it off to her.  She got him, and he dropped to the floor in front of the sink.  He was still moving.  She slammed him with the broom, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 times!  He twitched, and Cass through her flip flop at him. 

Now to dispose of him.  since he'd been so resilient, we picked him up with a dustpan (which, as you can see from the photo is really dusty), and flushed him...twice.  Tenacious bugger. 

Keeping Boys Quiet in a Waiting Room

B, G, and I waited for Josh in a waiting room for about an hour tonight.  Yikes!  I'd brought a book for G, and for a while, he looked at it while B perused Highlights magazine.  After about twenty minutes, though, G abandoned the book and B claimed it.  This was our first crisis.  G only wanted the book if B had it; B wanted the book mostly to tick G off.  I ruled in favor of B since I couldn't prove that he was being a jerk, and because G needs to learn that if you leave it, it's fair game. 

Luckily, there was construction just outside another window in the waiting room.  If only the machines had been running, the boys might have been occupied for more than five minutes.  After that time, G began climbing on B, and a wrestling match was in the making.  I separated them and we took a bathroom break. 

When we returned to the chairs, books were out.  G was getting antsy.  I found a matchbox 4-wheeler in my knitting bag and handed it off to G, who was content.  B was upset, though, because he didn't have a vehicle.  Referee again. 

Once that became boring to G (and just after I spanked him for raspberrying at me when I told him to sit), I noticed the box of buttons in my knitting bag.  Thank God I like to knit.  I dumped a handful out for G, who happily lined them up, then curved them into a "rainbow", then circle.  B wanted to play, too, so I gave him a handful.  He wanted the 4-wheeler to drive on his "obstacle course", but I foresaw another fight, so I gave him 2 large blue buttons to use as a pretend car. 

G hopped in and out of his circle, then picked up all the yellows.  Then I had him pick up all the pinks.  Then he picked up all the browns.  Twenty minutes of peace!  I tried to snap a picture, but B had destroyed the course in the time it took me to click "camera" and "click" on my phone.  Oops!

PS: for all you fellow worriers, there were no little kids around.  We were also very careful to be sure we picked up every button before we left!

Crayola Washable Colored Bubbles

Today we spent time outside.  I broke out some bubbles.  Including these:

Grammy bought them an Easter or two ago for B and his cousin.  They came with bubble guns, which were super cool, but which jammed pretty easily.  These bubbles are thicker than regular, and take longer to burst, so that's cool. 



B was really into mixing the bubble solutions of different color, adding water and regular bubble solution.

I am so glad that this stuff is washable. 

A few months back, I blogged about G's attempt at stalling at bedtime.  Last night, he showed up in my room in a panic. 

"There a tiger in my bedroom!"

I glanced up from Pinterest. 

"Here, G, use this sword and kill the tiger.  Then go to sleep."  I handed him a pretend sword.  G and I hand each other lots of pretend things: cookies, dog treats, weapons.  It's cool. 

"Ok!" he agreed as he dashed off to his room. 

A minute later he re-entered my room with "Tiger Pooh":

Then off to bed he went.