You did what?!?

Stashed candy wrappers
Candy wrapper close up
Silly putty and the purple dress
Silly putty and the area rug

The Blankinship's are having one of those weeks EVERY family with a preschooler has. You know the one I'm talking about...the one where every day (or even hour) you stumble across yet another "surprise" left by your wee little angel. One happy note: Because my little angel is 4, my surprises are, at least, NOT of the bodily function variety (I'm saying that with a prayer on my lips.) We've had those in the not-too-distant past, but I'm going to refrain from sharing.

My "surprises" have been rather plentiful this week, so I decided I just had to share a few.

* The candy wrappers stashed in the mixing bowl in the cabinet.

I stumbled across those while reaching for a cutting board. And yes, I KNOW it was Cassidy. She is the only one of my children sneaky enough to HIDE the evidence. Reed would have snuck the candy, but not thought to actually hide the wrappers. Cass will be the mastermind behind their lives of crime!

* THE HAIRCUT COUPON

Background: Lori gave me a coupon she found for 1/2 off a hair cut (for first time customers) at the salon she uses. I called and made an appointment for Wednesday morning.

So, I remember Tuesday night that I need to put the coupon in my wallet or I'll forget it in the morning. I jump up and run into the kitchen where, to my surprise, my COUPON is MISSING! I start the search. Long story short - Randy and I look EVERYWHERE!

(Side note: How do you know if your husband really loves you? He gets out of bed and digs, by hand, through the full kitchen trash bag for your haircut coupon. Of course, he did point out that he would dig through the trash for a dollar bill and this was worth more than that. But I'm sticking to my own interpretation: He dug through the trash for me...he loves me!)

The coupon wasn't in the trash can. I found it 20 minutes later in little pieces on Cassidy's little flower table. So, I did what anyone would do (right?) and Randy and I put it back together with tape. Yes, I had to explain to the ladies at the salon, but hey...it saved me 13 bucks! We were, though, unsuccessful in our attempts to ascertain WHY Cassidy tore the up the coupon ...oh well.

* Silly putty and the purple dress

Cassidy ground silly putty into her purple dress. And I mean GROUND it in so that it is now ONE WITH THE DRESS. So, again, I did what anyone would do and I put the dress in the freezer. For future reference, that doesn't work. In fact, silly putty doesn't really even freeze. How crazy (or, dare I say, SILLY) is that?

I was a little upset about the dress. I had actually thought earlier that morning how glad I was that the purple dress still fit and wasn't too stained because she could still wear it to school. But I was MORE than a little upset by my next "surprise."

* Silly putty and my area rug

Yes, that is right. Apparently, Cassidy really enjoyed grinding the silly putty into her dress. She enjoyed it so much she decided to grind it into the fibers of my area rug. And here is where it gets a little sad. I saw what she did and my FIRST thought was " At least the silly putty is in the same color family as the rug!" I am going to try a few solvents to see if I can get it up. But be forewarned, if you come to our house, we might have an area rug stained with silly putty! Oh the decorating disaster!

Here's the thing. Kids are just so expensive! Randy and I have had this discussion before (like after the time Reed found a screw in the garage and decided to "write" a line ALL THE WAY AROUND the Suburban at his eye level) and we both remember doing things that cost our parents (bless them) A LOT of money. One of mine involved red nail polish and carpet that was literally 2 weeks old. Randy remembers an incident involving his fist and a wall. I seem to recall a little encounter with Aaron, his skateboard and the wall in his room. So, I know these things are par for the course. And I'm sure it will be so funny to me...MUCH LATER!

Well, so far today (it is only 10 AM) we are surprise free. But it has grown quiet while I type this...never a good sign. Gotta go!