Cruel & Unusual Punishment?

Now before you judge us...here is the story:

Last Wednesday was a BAD day. Our kids were misbehaving so badly I thought I was going to lose it. Wes was in Salt Lake working on his welding (he was laid off again BTW...grrrr). Well it started when I brought Hailey home from school. She really likes to tease Riley and he really likes to hit. So after about 10 mins of this I decided that I couldn't deal with it. I called my sweet sister and begged her to let Hailey play with Whitney. At about 4:00 I went to pick her up and she started yelling and screaming at me...she is so pleasant. I dragged her home so Katie didn't have to watch the tantrum! Well as soon as we walked thru the door the whining and fighting continued. After about an hour of playing referee, I grabbed them and hauled them out to our trailer for a very LONG time-out. Hailey screamed at me about how I never let her do anything and she gave me the, "I wish you weren't my mom" argument that we all love to hear. Eventually she cried herself to sleep. I let her sleep for about 30 mins and woke her up to eat dinner. She refused it and I took her back out to the trailer, leaving her by herself this time. Well, at this point I had had it and my wonderful mother-in-law came to my rescue. She let me sit downstairs to watch some tv (yay SYTYCD) and got Hailey to eat her dinner. Well when Wes got home that night, I told him about our lovely day and he told me to take the next day off and he would think of a consequence to help the kids learn their lesson. So, Thursday morning I took Hailey to school and then took off for the day. When Hailey got home from school he told her that since she didn't want me to be her mommy, I left. And when she decided that I was an okay mom, I would come back. Also, he told her that because of her behavior she was going to help him clean out the dog-runs. Of course she was mortified by this...which was the point. So here are a couple pictures from their cleaning session. I stayed away for about 12 hours, went bead shopping and hung out with my parents and sister. It was a lovely stress free day and a much needed relax fest!! So, if any of you have any ideas to help me better control my kids, please help. I am fully acknowledging the fact that I am not the greatest mom and do need help. Any advice is welcome!!

YUP...she is cute!

I am getting used to the idea that Hailey is school now. However, my heart strings get yanked on a little every morning watching her walk into that giant glass door that almost knocks her over each time. But, it is nice to have a couple hours with just Riley. This morning he and I strolled the aisles of Wal-mart together. We took our time and laughed and told jokes to each other. I know you may not think that Wal-mart is the best place to bond, but when you are having a good time together, who cares where you are, right?

Kindergarten YAY!

Well I made it through Hailey's first day of school...um...I mean Hailey. Hailey made it through her first day (lol). She was so excited, she has been counting down the days for weeks. She had alrady picked out what she was going to wear and everything. Even her best friend and cousin Whitney had the same outfit so of course they had to be twins. Good thing they are in different schools. =) When she got home everyone asked how her day was. She just said "pretty good". No details. Finally when Grandma Janice asked her, she said, "we didn't learn to read today." Clearly disappointed in her first day of school! But we all got a good laugh out of her disappointment. When I was putting her to bed last night I tried to explain that she would learn to read throughout the year. She had a better day today because they got to do stations with different crafts and projects. Oh and when we went to meet her teacher last week, she discovered that there was a computer in the classroom for the students. She kept telling me that she couldn't believe they had a computer at school. What a strange place for a computer hehe! And just for the record...no I did not cry! Riley however is having a hard with Hailey going anywhere without him. When we dropped her off this morning, he wascrying ans said he was too sad to go to school today...lol. My kids are funny little people.

Hiking up Timp

My hubby is the best...and super brave. One Sunday a couple weeks ago, he decided to take our kids hiking. I thought he was just gonna go to the Grato up Payson canyon. Oh no, he wanted to take them up the backside of Timp to the waterfalls. It was so nice to be able to stay home and read and just be by myself. As all you mom's can agree, it is a rare occurance and a prized one. I believe they hiked four miles (two up, two down) in about 3 1/2 hours. Not bad for little legs. I am pretty sure his motivation was an early bed time...ha, not even close!! Oh, and of course the camera battery died before he reached the waterfall...DOH!

Fishing at Spring Lake

My dad has been wanting to take all the kids fishing for a while. So i went with him one day. We tried to go to the fish farm in Spring Lake, but we weren't sure if they were still open, so we just went to the lake instead. No one caught any fish and I know my dad felt bad about that, but the kids could have cared less. They had fun casting their poles and getting their feet wet. Plus they got to get out of the house, so it was well worth it to them. And Hailey found some more rocks for her collection...what is it with kids and rocks? hmmm...

Bowling with G-ma and G-pa

My parents invited me and Katie and our kids to go bowling...so of course we did! Whitney was so funny. After she would throw the ball, she would do a dance and occassionally jump into the splits. Silly girl! Riley was more interested in the video games, so after 20 laps to get him to bowl, I just left him there to pretend to drive the car.