Saturday….

Today I did not battle flies like my friend Sarah, healthcare like the commercials we have been seeing, or even traffic. What I did battle was boys. My boys to be exact. Let me ask a question of anyone who reads this. Why is it when you think you have planned a fun event for your family filled with adventure and picture taking, it seems to always end up in someone getting in trouble and more than one fit being thrown? It may not begin or end this way, but somewhere in the middle it happens.

Let me tell you my story. It was a beautiful day and we decided to take another trip to Caney Mountain. All three boys had naps and a snack (this usually helps). We jumped into the truck and began our journey. On our way we heard the usual arguing of who was going to sit where and other such normal discussions. Then it started. Isaac began to scream that Tyler was touching him and Tyler returned the favor by really touching him (hitting to be exact). We solve this fairly quickly with the assurance that each boy will keep their bodies to themselves.

Issac then gets upset that he is not going to get to sit in the middle until the way back. A loud scream followed with a very urgent no. This is probably my husbands biggest pet peave. He tells Isaac to stop, it hurts our ears and so on… We tell him he will not be able to sit there now because he chose to scream at us. This is not the first time or even the one hundreth time he has chosen to scream at us when he didn’t get his way.

We  hit the auto trail and get to the top of the mountain. We get out to enjoy the view. It is beautiful. The wind was blowing lightly and the sun was behind some pretty white clouds. There were mountains as far as you could see. Green, peaceful, beautiful, mountains. There was a fantastic rock to take pictures on so I whipped out the camera. Here it comes again. I set a water bottle down beside me and pick up Nick. The picture is perfect. Then Tyler (in the middle of the camera going off) stoops down to move the water bottle in front of him.This, of course, distracts Nick who the suddenly wants down. The picture is ruined. I am upset.

Here it is…Nick is no longer interested in the fun daddy calling his name

So Tyler feels as though he is in trouble. We move on and let the boys ride in the back. (It’s enclosed if you are worried) And they are having tons of fun….except, Tyler is yelling out the window about selling ice cream. There is no rule he is breaking and I am sure there is no person around to hear him, I just feel its disrespectful to the scenery. So I ask him to stop. I ask him again. And again. The fourth time I find myself yelling at scrunching my face into that mad mom look. He stops. But now I feel a little yuck between us for a few moments.

We finally get out of the trails and onto the highway. It all seems ok now and they don’t seem stuck on what happened. But I am stuck. Is there a better way to handle it?? Was I loving enough or not firm enough? Are they going to look at these pictures in five years and remember the yuck that happened or will they simply say they loved living near a mountain. And thanks for letting us ride in the back…..

one of my favorite pics of the day