well, if there has ever been a case for "safe haven" laws for older children (like the one that is being corrected in nebraska), M has sure made her case in the last week...

i think it was monday afternoon... not sure where i went but i was only gone for a short time. hubby was in the same room, but apparently napping on the sofa. it seems that a sharpie was left within reach and M went to work... i arrived home to find a life size (for a 3 year old) family portrait on the hallway wall. she was so proud of her work, she even pointed out who was who in the picture so we would know. thanks M for that. on a bright note, at least she is drawing pictures and not just scribbling... that's progress on her part!

the week seemed to be pretty quiet until friday afternoon. again, i left to get G from school and the two smaller ones were in the basement with the hubby. i came back to find that M decided that the fish were looking a bit starved. well, she fixed that! she managed to pull a chair over to where we keep the fish food and then proceeded to dump all the remaining food into the tank. there was a nice thick layer of food along the entire bottom of the tank. well, i think they are full now! i have done two water and filter changes, and the water is still so cloudy that it is difficult to see the back of the tank. and it is not a big tank.

and then today, i was taking a nap since i work tonight, CJ was sleeping with me, and G was supposed to be cleaning his room. M took this opportunity to ... well, let's say play... in the bathroom. i am sure that if she had not fallen then things would have been much worse. she emptied two tubes of toothpaste onto the mirrors, and if the fish were not happy in their tank, they may have been able to find a nice home in the small pond that made its way to the floor. i realize that i tell G all the time not to tattle... but maybe he could have chosen this time not to listen to that.

i don't know what i am going to do with her... i think there are laws against duct-taping your children to a chair (and at the rate she is going, i'm positive she would escape that anyways...) so i guess i will just have to grow a pair of those "eyes in the back of the head" that i was sure my parents had when i was a child. here's to hoping this week goes a little better than last week did...