Jokes on YOU!

I somehow thought time was standing still as I was getting all the kiddos in bed - and then realized the last 20 minutes had gone by way too slow. I kept staring at the clocks wondering how it was only 9:20, when at 9pm a child had gotten out of the bath, we read scriptures, bedtime snack for two & all 3 older kiddos had gotten ready for bed & were actually in bed?!! There is no way we did all that in 20 minutes!

Then I suddenly got it. Bryson Jr. has a love of practical jokes & he checked out a pile of joke books from the library today. Classic Bryson move - he had set all the clocks back 1 hour! I'm thankful I caught that move tonight....and sad that it wasn't even close to 9pm --- why is that time for bed is so hard to actually accomplish?!!

Bryson really is the jokester in our family.  This past weekend the kiddos had a cousin sleepover at Nana & Papa Lord's place.  Papa got the Wii for Christmas & the boys think that they need to play it every time they are there (ugh - dislike on my end, like on the boys end).  It appears that the Wii was turned off for bedtime, and then the boys set Bryson's watch and got up in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep and went down to the basement and played the Wii until the wee hours of the morning (oh, I just reread that...Wii and wee hours of the morning....ha ha!).  

Bryson Jr. said he went to bed sometime around 4'ish & Jacob....we aren't sure if he went to bed & got back up, but he was up in the basement at 6:30am when Papa got up.  That is a long night for two little boys & since no one knew of their midnight adventures, the girls all thought they were sleeping in way too late with not being up by 9am.  They were exhausted that day, but they were kept busy at home with Bryson/Dad doing projects around our home and then went to bed rather agreeable on Saturday night and slept really well :)  

The story does not surprise us with Bryson...actually both boys.  Particularly with Bryson, he just really likes jokes and doesn't (usually) do things to be malicious or disobedient...and sometimes what he does is comical (as frustrating as it was knowing they got up to play Wii in the middle of the night, we all laughed at how creative they were to accomplish their little Shangai manuever!).  Jacob is now following suite and really gets into his own little scraps of trouble with being a prankster.  

On Sunday, Jacob complained that he wasn't feeling well & it was a struggle to get him ready for church.  He was being stubborn and absolutely refusing to get ready to go to church...everyone had already left and I was finishing getting ready and trying to get him to hurry along.  It ended up that he absolutely flat out refused to get ready, and truthfully there are days that I will work with the boys & their behavior...and days that it just zaps all my energy and spirit.  Today was one of those times.  I knew that if I tried to get him to go to church, it would be a battle & then the point of going to church to help refuel my spirit would be pointless.  So, I left Jacob home and told him there was no movies, or computer - he could sit and read (the children all love to read & will read for hours & hours if we let them....this was not a punishment by any stretch of the imagination).   

When I came home, Jacob was moving around the room with a bit of a suspicious air.  I couldn't put my finger on what was going on, until I saw that the back door had been left open just a bit.  I knew I had checked all the doors  before I left for church, and this back door is the one that goes down to the unfinished basement - or outside.  Unless Jacob had suddenly had a desire to do some laundry - he had been outside...and of course, then it hit me...the weather was so nice we had put the trampoline back up just two days ago & he had been out there jumping!  The little turkey!  I asked him if that is what he had been doing, and he admitted it.  So, I grounded him for the week from any play dates.  

Sometimes I wonder if the boys enjoy reading Calvin & Hobbes because they can relate to Calvin's insatiable curiosity and way that he is always getting into mischief!  Or - if they are getting ideas from reading Calvin & Hobbes and getting into more trouble along the way!  Either way - these boys are a handful of fun, rambunctiousness and crazy antics almost, well....most of the time! :)