Wow, it's been quite a week. On Monday, Casey left town for his annual "6th grade Camp Joy" trip which left me in charge of the three kiddos. I know - before you say it - he does this all of the time when I leave for work but it's different. He's more patient than I am! So, on Monday, I am in a huge hurry to grab the kids and get them back to the house by 4:30 so that I can leave them with the babysitter and run down to class for a test. I grab Emma and we're walking (quickly) to the car so we can get Luke. Emma looks up at me and says "you know, when adults walk fast, it's like running for kids." It was so cute. We had an uneventful Monday evening and Tuesday morning school drop-off.

On Tuesday afternoon, Casey brings the kids home from class. He walks in the door and goes immediately to the bathroom where he proceeds to get sick. Uh-oh. Not good. I have to leave to go class for another test. Emma looks at me and says, "it's okay, Mommy. I'll take care of Mia." Then Luke pipes up, "And I'll take care of Daddy." I had to go upstairs and break the news to Casey that Luke would be taking care of him while I was gone. As I'm leaving, Emma is holding Mia and says "Do I know everything that I need to know about Mia, Mommy?" I stiffled a laugh and told her that she knows just as much as I do!

So, I leave for class and come back to find Mia fussing in her crib (she had just woken up from a nap), Luke roaming in the upstairs hallway, Casey passed out in bed, and Emma, passed out on her floor, books all around here and her glasses on. The next day, Casey missed work so I had to take the kids to school. Emma proceeds to tell me that not only did she feed Mia (sweet potatoes) but she also got dinner for she and Luke (chicken and applesauce). Then she put her jammies on and helped Luke's with his. She said that she was reading books to him but apparently, she fell asleep before he did. She said that she only needed Casey's help to get Mia out of her highchair. I'm just so impressed!

A couple of other stories... Luke has been hitting his friends at school. We're not taking this lightly and he continues to get punished when it happens. I picked him up from school last night and Ms. Schoeny reported to us that there was another incident. Come to find out that Luke was using the potty and a friend was trying to get into the bathroom area. All of the sudden, the friend starts crying. When Ms. Schoeny asked Luke what happened, his response was "I don't know. Maybe someone pushed him?" He had TV taken away for that one.

Today, he came home from school because he hit another friend. He was sent immediately to his room. In addition to his room sequestering, he was also denied a car snack on the way home (Emma got to eat hers in front of him). Taking snacks away has been the most effective punishment so far. Casey is concerned, however, because he doesn't think we should deprive Luke of extra calories. He's skin & bones but he's a Schnieber, after all!