Watching TV in this position adds variety to the repeats.

Scene of the Day: Bradley walking into the playroom holding a toy princess Belle cellphone to his ear and coming out seconds later with a stuffed Christmas bear in one arm and holding the bottom of a saw-offed mildewed table leg pretending to lick it like an ice cream cone, then nonchalantly tossing the table leg into the baby crib and proceeding as directed by Daddy to the couch for Family Home Evening.

Tonight the kids were in bed and I overheard a conversation between Bradley and Emily as I walked by their room. I could hear Emily say, "Bradley, go downstairs and say, 'Daddy, I have something to tell you.'. Then he will say, 'Yes?'. Then you say, 'Where is the comb?'." Bradley replied, "Ok, I will go do that." So I prepared David by telling him that he would soon have a visitor asking for a comb. When Bradley came downstairs to carry out the well-planned plot, he was quite amused and impressed when Daddy pulled a comb out from behind his ear. However, the magic wasn't quite good enough because he was looking for the comb with the handle. After a moment of thought Bradley said, "Daddy, check my other ear."

I ordered my new Dell today.

Baby Jason: "I don't know these people."

Today I parked the van where I always park it and I somehow managed to hit a tree. It put a giant dent in one of the side doors of the van and did some minor damage to the other door. I mourned my pitiful mistake most of the day. With one eye closed I looked up how much replacement doors will cost. Now I see it as a beautiful blemish. No rush.

I think just about everyday at least one of my kids will do something that just makes me want to scream in frustration. Today it was Bradley who I asked to pick up the array of naked Kelly dolls off the playroom floor and put them in their 2 quart Sterilite container before I allowed him on the computer. I thought it was a simple and straightforward task for a four year old to easily accomplish. For some reason he interpreted that to mean put all 26 Kelly dolls in the bathroom sink, turn the water on and give them a communal bath. Why? Why? Why? So now my kitchen counter is serving as a Kelly doll drip dry center. Maybe we will go out to dinner tonight. Hey -- Thanks Bradley!

I'm gettin' a new computer! I'm gettin' a new computer!

Today I took the kids to the park. For us the park is an event and we spent two solid hours there. After the park we drove to the credit union to deposit some checks (drive thru, of course.) When we arrived home, I felt really good about giving my kids a good day out in the fresh air and time to run around. The minute we walked in the door, Emily said, "Mommy, what do you want to do today?"

Tonight I announced that we were having frozen pizza for dinner. Halfway apologizing to David for the lazy meal, I explained that I needed to use it so that I could make room for the frozen apple pie I'm going to buy on Saturday for Thanksgiving. I call myself a Martha Stewart fan. I probably should not renew my subscription this year. On Today this morning when Meredith Viera asked Martha if you could use canned sweet potato for the recipe she was demonstrating, Martha scoffed and said not to simplify life. And how many kids did she have?

I gave a strong parental recommendation to Emily this morning to change her underwear. With a puzzled look on her face she asked, "Why? They're not wet."

Today I took my kids to the park for the first time in a long time. I feel bad because the typical park to my kids is the equivalent to Disneyland to most other kids. It's as if they get out of the van and are in awe that Mommy actually took them to the park. As we arrived there was a mother with her two children leaving. I set Jason in his infant car seat on the ground and the mom commented to her young daughter, "Look at the baby." Then I pulled Sarah (2 1/2) out of our silver 12 passenger van and stood her on the grass next to Emily and the mom said, "Oh look, another baby." As I reached in the van for Wendy (16 months) I wondered to myself what she was going to say. As I placed Wendy next to Sarah at the same time Bradley jumped from the van she asked in amazement, "Are these all yours?" I said they were and she said, "I thought I was busy with two kids." I politely responded with, "I think a mother is busy no matter how many children she has."

Our children are in the early stages of name calling. The big bad name to use right now is 'BABY'. To 2, 4, and 5 year olds, it's a horrible thing to be called a baby. On many occassions the name has resulted in tears. Tonight as the kids were getting ready for bed, Bradley did something to irritate Sarah. In the midst of her frustration she yelled in her husky voice some toddler cursing and departed from the current 'BABY' and shouted, "DOGGIE!" It failed to make Bradley angry because we all busted out laughing.

Happy 4th Birthday, Bradley!

We have a policy in our house that if you don't like what we are having for dinner you are responsible for fixing something for yourself. To avoid going to bed hungry Emily became competent in using the manual can opener to open a can of spaghettios. It's all about survival of the fittest.