Anna's 7 days of Terror

The past 7 days have been pretty darn interesting in the Jasper House.

Anna Catherine is my ENERGY child. She goes and goes and goes and when she gets tired she goes even more in order to keep herself up.  

She is the child that tests my patience on a daily basis.

She is child that I believe God gave me to make me a more humble person.

On Tuesday evening while I was sitting in the living room, the kids playing in the bathtub, I kept hearing this sloshing sound. When I went into the bathroom to investigate I was startled by a bathroom COVERED in water. And I do mean COVERED. Anna was standing in the tub full of water with a BIG plastic cup in her hand. She was filling the cup with the bathwater and then sloshing the water ALL OVER the bathroom, soaking the floors, walls, the toilet and even the toilet paper. 

I was so tired by that point in the long day that I simply got her out of the tub, kicking and screaming, dressed her and made her help me clean up the mess.  Not saying a thing until I had calmed myself down enough to speak to her calmly.  

On Monday while I was unloading the groceries and making Anna lunch, she snuck off into the bathroom, filled the sink full of water and ripped off squares of toilet paper, one at a time, and mixed them into the sink, clogging the bathroom sink with a WHOLE ROLE of toilet paper. 

On Sunday morning, while Anna was eating breakfast, she informed me, matter of factly, without anger, that she wanted a new mommy. I told her that I would miss her terribly but that I understood if she felt she needed to live elsewhere. I opened the back door and wished her luck. She informed me that she couldn't leave just yet because she was in her underwear and asked if I could get her dressed.  

I did, pig tails and all.

I jumped in the shower while Anna and Paul played, thinking that her grand idea to find a new mother had ended. When I got out of the shower I heard a LOT of crashing sounds coming from the living room.

 I ran through the house soaking wet, in a towel, and THIS is what I found.

Anna was taking every toy out of her room and was "packing" them up. She even had her tooth brush, tooth paste and mouthwash packed..

Paul said he wasn't going to go with Anna because he thought I was "the best, most funniest mom in the whole entire world." He then folded up a little quilt that he made at Vacation Bible School, handed it to Anna and said "take this so you'll remember me. I want you to have it."

I was running a bit late for church (like always) so I rushed back to the bathroom to get ready. When I came back out to gather up the kids, Paul looked at me sadly as he carried a big bunch of his toys into the living room, "Mom, I've decided to go with Anna. She's my best friend. I can come visit you any time."

At church Anna asked Ms Carla if SHE would be her new mommy.

After church, when Carla left without Anna, Anna got REALLY upset. I calmed her down by saying "Anna, you have to go back home to get your stuff before you move out."

I was thinking that by the time we got home she would forget about the whole new mommy thing.

Well, she didn't.

While she was in the bathroom she yelled out "Mom. Can you come wipe my butt?"

I said "remember Anna, I'm not your mom anymore. But I'll gladly call Ms Carla to come wipe your butt. however, it might take her a while to get over here."

She yelled again, "MOM. can you come wipe  my butt?  PLEASE?!?!?! I've changed my mind. I don't want a new mommy. Can you please come wipe my butt?"

On Wednesday of that same week Anna emptied all of the hand soap into a travel coffee mug. We STILL haven't gotten all of the bubbles out of the travel mug. Not to mention that she wasted a WHOLE container of hand soap. 

On Thursday Anna spent the ENTIRE day going around the house locking all of the doors and shutting them.  Any time I wanted to go into a room I had to hunt down something to pick the lock. At one point she ended up locking herself in her room and her brother in the bathroom.

On Friday while we were trying to decorate the tree as a family, Anna INSISTED that she do it all by herself.  THIS is was the end result.

She is seriously a nut.

Paul, as the big brother, has his hands full with this little bundle of energy.

I try my best just to sit back with a cup of tension tamer tea and enjoy the craziness that is my life.

(click the link to order some for yourself)

To finish off the 7 days of complete havoc, I found Anna butt naked in my room last night (saturday night) drawing a master piece on the mirror with my lipstick. "hey ROGER. Come check out what your daughter is doing?"   

Shortly before that she had taken my brand new ball of really good yarn and attempted to "knit" with it. Making a MASSIVE knot for me to spend the rest of the evening trying to untangle. 

Anna is such a funny, strong willed, little girl that seems so incredibly curious about the world and the people in it. My Dad says she reminds him of a little Jessica. I must have been a hoot to have around as a child and a heck of a lot of work.

Man oh Man.

Ps: Roger redecorated the tree once the bundle of energy crashed in her bed.

side note: Anna is now wearing 4t in clothes size and just moved from a car seat to a booster seat this morning. Oh my goodness she is growing up so fast.  I can't believe she is nearing the 4 year mark.