Today, the children learned

1. That flooding the bathroom twice only earns extra time on the stairs and lots of work cleaning it up.
2. That a full can of frosting might taste good going down but all it gives you is an upset stomach.
3. That pouring unsweetened kool-aid powder into a cup does not necessarily give you something yummy to drink and, in fact, according to Charles, tastes quite yucky.
4. That it might not be that wise to dump a substance onto your plate when it's something that you don't want to eat, especially when you're expected to eat whatever you take. Charles and Deedee both found out the hard way that it wasn't good to dump a bottle of red pepper flakes onto their trays. They're lucky that it was old and not at full strength. However, I buy the best so even one infinitesimal flake still burned their tongues. While I couldn't sanction making them eat all of it, perhaps the tiny amount they did get made them think. (Probably not.)
5. That's it not really a great idea to eat most of a brand new jar of jam and then smear any left overs upon your person. Charles learned this the hard way by getting a dunking in ice cold water. They had to turn the water off for a while today, so I prepared by filling the tub half way with water for use in flushing the toilet. And while I never had to use it for that, it did come in handy for washing a very sticky little boy.
6. That putting on your sister's dress might make you look really cute, and might even earn you a smile but it does not get you out of the trouble you were in over stealing your sisters peanut butter pretzel nuggets.
7. That pretending you're Super Man & Bat Man and jumping off the the back of the couch might sound like fun but in hind sight all it earns you is assorted bruises, a bump on the head, and an angry mother when you squish your defenseless oldest sister (the one that promptly kicks your butt for landing on her and knocking over her tower of blocks).

Yes, my children really did do all of this today and it totally drove me up the wall. However, while they were taking their well earned naps and after they were sent to bed early, I did get a lot more of James' bag done. All that's left now is to sew the sides together, and then fashion how I want the belt and get that done. It won't take long at all for it to felt. The yarn was sticking together just on the skein (even the white) so Freedom brand wools so far are nice. I'll have to see how it is after it's done felting.

I did try to kick them outside for a while, but it was just too cold. The one nice point was while dragging Charles back down the hill he wasn't supposed to be on, a whole covey of quail passed. There were at least 12 that I counted. That's one of those rare moments you wished with all your being that you had a camera on you. :( It was nice and peaceful watching them pass though and it did calm me down a lot. Charles still got his time out on the bench for going out of his boundary although he did finish it. By that time, I was freezing, and the kids were shivering. The wind chill was nasty today. That's one of the few things I dislike about Moscow.

I did find time to take some cute pics. All except for Deedee. She just wouldn't sit still and the one good shot I finally got of her had a naked brother in it so it still wasn't any good.