They're at it again!

Kids really do say the darnedest things, and mine have been on a roll lately.

Justin was watching a cartoon yesterday (I honestly don't know which one; oops!), and after hearing the name of the dog on the show he said, "That is a VERY unfortunate name!" I have no clue what the name was, but there is no doubt about Justin's opinion.

Grace has only recently be given the honor of traveling up to the second floor of our house. It's not that the stairs are a problem for her, but rather that she is a problem for all of the items once she gets there. Our second floor consists of one LARGE loft, and that's it. We have affectionately named it "Kid Land" because that is where toys, game systems, etc. live in our house. We don't keep these things in bedrooms (eliminating much bedroom chaos and bedtime distractions). The bigger kids (Justin and up) are not allowed to bring their toys downstairs. Then, when one of you decides to drop by unannounced, you can't see the disaster that inevitably exists in a home with this many children. That gives me some peace of mind, and the children are thrilled not to be nagged by Mom nearly as often as they would if the mess was on the main floor. So, back to Grace. She can only be upstairs if one of the older kids is directly supervising her. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Grace does have a bevy of toys on the first floor. We aren't evil enough to keep all toys away from the under 3 set just to keep a neat house. In fact, she has even earned the nickname "Hurricane Gracie" because of her amazingly fast ability to cover the entire first floor with her playthings.

Well, yesterday, one of my big kids decided to bring Grace upstairs with them. That was fine until they got caught up in the activities of their other siblings, and left Grace's supervision to Justin. Let's just say there is a different level of respect from a 2 1/2 year old for 11 and 13 year old siblings, than there is for a 5 year old sibling. Grace spent the better part of an hour screaming at Justin, spilling whole bins of toys on the floor, and taking anything and everything that he picked up and claiming it as "MINE!!!" Finally, I could not stand the assault on my ears any longer, and called Justin and Grace downstairs. I was waiting at the bottom of the landing as they worked their way down. Before I could ask any questions Grace mustered up all the indignance a 2 1/2 year old is capable of, put her hand on her hip and informed me that, "Justin is annoying me!!"

Heaven help us!!!