my little security guard

I must say I am quite impressed these days with my eldest! He's been really doing an excellent job stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility for his younger siblings. For example.

on a trip to Washington, DC with Dad and Jboy, Cboy noticed JBoy standing a little too close for comfort to the edge of the train platform, he walks over takes JBoy's hand, leads him away and tells him, "let' stand over here. It's not good to be that close." I got this second hand from TriniDaddy, but wow and boy was I impressed.

Did I mention that he repeats to his siblings advice he's heard us tell him over his short span of life. like, "If you eat your dinner, you may get a treat for dessert." He'll even see me instructing JBoy, for example, telling him why it's important as an older sibling to sometimes yield to a younger sibling for peace and because he should know better. He'll step in and offer to "show" Jboy what I mean and to volunteer we go through a "mock" exercise just in case JBoy isn't getting it by me just lecturing him.

I mean, he did that yesterday. He took a toy from GG just so I can tell him to yield and he would do it willingly so JBoy could "get it"!

That's a great kid. There are so many other examples, but I just lose track. I just wanted to document that for prosperity sake.

I've been slacking majorly in the Mischiefmakers blog category, but I think I've found a way to keep it up: Block Blogging!! Yup, when I'm inspired and have (or put aside) a block of time, I'll put as many posts and then time them to auto post periodically! Neat eh!?

Also, I think I may have an offer from a third party to help me with Mischiefmakers.

Easter 2009 with the Mischiefmakers

Easter at the Mischiefmakers was fun!! We ventured down to TriniDaddy's old church, the oldest African American Catholic Church in America (or at least in DC. I forget the stat) Those kids "gave me thunder" like they say in Trinidad which means they gave me a run for my money. We came in early for once, right at the procession and had to sit in the front row. They were well fed, un-sleepy and ripe for causing mischief and noise. GG even went up and down the aisle a couple of times. After church, we headed to TriniD's aunts house. Hung out there for a couple of hours and then home. I set out the Easter candies and plastic eggs in the backyard. Came back in prepared lunch. The kids did their hunt, died eggs afterwards, decorated an Easter cake and blew bubbles outside. Fun Times. My sisters came through with their kids, including our newest nephew, Cousin KD! He is 4 months this very first Easter of his!

GG didn't care to hunt for anything. Her aunty did all the hunting for her while she played on the swing. I ate her candy stash when it was all said and done. What a diva!

Cousin KD and his mom, my baby sister with her baby!! Whew time flies!

My sisters

JBoy's Birthday Celebration Photos

We celebrated JBoy's birthday last week in a variety of ways. His Godmother got us a family of four pack tickets to the Kennedy Center's National Symphony Orchestra's Teddy Bear Concert. We had a great time at the performance. Before and After, we got a chance to go through the Instrument petting zoo. They got a chance to play the instruments. The next day, we took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese's where they met up with their newest nephew. Finally, on Monday, on his actual birthday, JBoy celebrated with his class. I brought in cupcakes and goody bags. The usual fair. He loved wearing his Birthday boy paper hat his teacher bought for him. He beamed. Finally, his turn to wear the birthday hat! Later, at home, we surprised him with some gifts (new jeans and a train set) and a cake. The boy really enjoyed the weekend celebration.
Mom bragging time. So the guy who was stationed at this play station area said he never had a kid as young as 15 months hold the pic and strum the instrument ever! Yay GG for breaking that record!After the performance, the kids got a chance to go downstairs to see the performers and show them their teddy bears they bought to the show.
So at Chuck E Cheese, we sat next to this "ride" that was unplugged. We had to tell all 456 parent who ventured over there and situated and tried to buckle their kid in that the ride didn't work! Needless to say, after a tech finally came over, plugged the thing in and wiggled a reset button, "Ouila!" it came back to life. Guess which 6 1/2 and 3 year old were the first to ride?
Cboy got out of class to come up and eat cupcake with baby brother in his class.

What a fun birthday weekend, huh, Jboy!? God bless him!

1st Annual Mischiefmakers Award

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first annual Mischiefmakers Awards! Thanks for coming. No time to waste, let's get straight to the categories, shall we?

The nominees for the most spoiled child are:

• GG, the 15-month old breast feeder

• JBoy, the whiner

• GG, the toddler who can't sleep in her bed for more than 3 hours alone at a time

• GG,who insists on being carried around all the time...while you're cooking, cleaning the house, washing clothes even though she's been walking since she was 10 months old

and the winner is...GG, who insists on being carried

The nominees for most neglected piece of housework are:

• the pile of laundry in the corner of the boys bedroom waiting to be laundered

• the pile of sheets and comforters that has been sitting in the dining room since November 2008 waiting to be taken to the laundromat

• the pile of dishes that keep resurfacing even after being washed the day before

• the pile of clean clothes in the master bedroom waiting to be folded and hung up

and the winner is....the pile of sheets in the dining room!

The nominees for most eaten food by the kids are

• macaroni and cheese, microwave Kraft or Boston market
• chicken nuggets, Tyson frozen foods or McDonald's
• pizza, Three Brothers or Papa John's
• peanut butter and honey

and the winner is...macaroni and cheese by a landslide

The nominees for most turbulent time in the house is

• in the morning when trying to get the cranky late risers to brush their teeth
• in the morning when trying to hustle the kids in the car so they are not late for their 5 minute ride to school as they are 4 out of 5 times in the week
• any time when Cboy and Jboy are going through sibling rivalry mode and fighting to be the first to push the elevator button, or open the SUV door, or sit next to GG in the car or hold the umbrella etc
• on the weekends when trying to tear Cboy away from the TV or video games

and the winner is...in the morning when trying to get the cranky late risers to brush their teeth

The nominees for most likely reason JJ(mom) is ignoring the children are

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Blog Posting
• Work for ungrateful, late paying, slave driving clients

and the winner is....WORK for ungrateful deadbeat clients

The nominees for most likely reason Trinihubby/daddy is ignoring the children are

• Watching TV in the basement
• Posting on his cricket site
• Watching TV in the bedroom
• Playing football (soccer) on Saturday mornings religiously even if Cboy has a standing soccer game the same time and mom JJ isn't good at soccer and will have to handle 2 kids while Cboy plays (yes there is a rant in this one)

and the winner is...Watching TV in the basement

JJ's Work procrastination project of the year goes to

• Sorting the files in the office
• Purging the emails from her 1/2 dozen email accounts
• Getting the laptop repaired
• Reinstalling the operating system to her PC

and the winner is...Sorting the files in the office

AND FINALLY...

The nominees for Mischiefmaker of the Year are:

GG
JBoy
Cboy
JJ
Trinihubby

and the winner is...A tie! GG and Jboy!!

Congratulations to our Winners!

Good night and see you next year!