Glad they are home

I enjoyed our "vacation" with the big kids away in Houston so much that I actually feared that I would be disappointed when they came home. The peace was immense without them and their was a much more carefree, relaxed and CLEAN atmosphere in our home. But I am glad to report that I was so happy to see them again and it has been great fun to hear their rambling tales of their adventures. It is so nice to hear "momma" again and we got lots of snuggle time in this morning. Emora seems quite happy to be with her siblings again and is amazing us once again with her abilities. She performed her first chore today. I gave her some plastic and told her to throw it in the trash and she promptly did! She was also trying to help Ivan pick up the pencil crayons she'd spilled out of the container. She saw that she did not have the dexterity to put the pencils back, so instead she handed them to Ivan who then put them in the container. Teamwork already! Of course the rest of the day they have been screaming at each other.

I am thoroughly liking my new house rule. I've always had the rule that when they are done with one toy and wanting to do something else, they have to put the first one away first. This is not very well adhered to, so I added another measure of insurance to the guideline. I told them that we may have to live in a smaller house in Canada and can therefore not take everything. With this in mind, any toys found on the floor that they are not playing with will be put in the garage sale box and not find it's way with us to Canada. I have had to remind them a couple of times, but they are being much more mindful of picking up!