A whole lotta yellin' up in dis house

It's bad enough that we have a house full of boys.  I hear they are naturally pretty loud (I don't have anything else to compare to).  Then you add in that Rob inherited hearing loss from his mothers side (not really...they just all talk REALLY loud)... AND they have an obnoxiously boisterous mother (at least that's what my siblings used to say) on top of it.

They had no chance.

So...what does that have to do with today?

Well...several months ago we stopped letting the kids play Lego Batman or Lego Starwars on the XBOX.  They used to play it with their dad every Saturday.  But...we got sick of the yelling, fighting and crying that ensued before, during and after play.

Bye Bye games....it's been nice.

Today we decided to give it another "go."

Rob is tired of the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that is sure to be a part of "Saturday Toy Room Cleaning Time" and asked if he could pull out "the big guns."  "I guess," I said with a sigh.

"If you can get this room clean in 15 minutes...without whining...we will play 'Lego Batman' after lunch", he told them.

Cheers all around.

And they did it.  With 1.2 minutes to spare. 

Play...lunch...Lego Batman time.

Happy day!  Not really!

Screaming...fighting...Little Red was sent to his room for a bit...more yelling...more fighting...and boobing....Oh BOY!  A WHOLE LOT OF BOOBING after the game was turned off.

"Rob....it's gonna be a long time," was all I had to say.

"Yep..."

Bye bye games.  I'm not sad at all to see you go!

My ears are still ringing....

Just one easy click!

Picking noses and picking battles...

Motherhood is often about picking noses and picking battles.

The kids pick their noses (and eat it) and I pick the battles.

Outdoor play time...for my boys...is a MUST.  I will fight it to the death (figuratively, of course).

It is my experience that little monkeys quickly become giant 40ft prehistoric apes that climb up the Empire States Building (or my walls)  when they have been confined to the indoors for an extended period of time.

G-McBabe and I have often skirmished over his dislike of the outdoors and anything associated with it.

He would rather sit inside and read a book (as soon as his video/computer game time is up, of course).

Now, I'm all for reading.  I highly encourage reading.  With G-McBabe, I am in now way worried about his literary well being.

I am, however, worried about his lack of movement and vitamin D absorption.

Some days the battle rages on for what seams like eternity...and some days it's over without incident.

We wave our white flags and form a treaty of sorts.

A few minutes later I look out the window and see this...

Fine by me.

At least he had to walk to get out there.

A calm settles over the household.

Peace reins again.