What would I do without locks? Everything in my house is locked up like Fort Knox. I seem to go from room to room in my house unlocking one door and then locking the next. I actually hate locking everything up, but the alternative is much worse. I also hate fixing and replacing everything we own.
We had to start locking Carter in his room at night when he was about 3 1/2 years old. He was getting up around 4:00 am and going out the front door with the dog. He can get into all kinds of trouble if he is not watched 24/7. We still have to lock him in his room at night, not much has changed other then now he gets his little brother to do all the naughty stuff with him. Unfortunately, we have to lock Andrew in his room at night also for the time being. Andrew will get out of his room and unlock Carter's door and the 2 of them have been found with the kitchen knives. Hopefully this ritual will end soon. I think Andrew will be able to understand why he can't let his brother out pretty soon, and hopefully Carter will be trusted with his door unlocked in the near future. It feels horrible to lock the boys in their rooms at night, but it's for every ones safety right now.
My bedroom door, our theater room door, the guest room door, my bathroom door, the kitchen pantry door, my office door, the game closet door, and the front house door, all remained locked at all times if someone is not using them. Horrible things happen if one is left unlocked. These are just a few of the examples of what happens with no locks:
My glasses are broken, Nick's cell phone is put in the shower and destroyed, my makeup is painted all over the bathroom, deodorant is rubbed into the slate floors, all the food in the kitchen pantry is devoured, all the clothing in my closet is pulled off the shelves and hangers and thrown all over the floor, Kennedy's fingernail polish is used to paint her room and carpets, Kennedy's cell phone, ipod, nook and laptop are up for grabs and under attack, Kennedy's brand new camera now has a permanent black line through every picture, all the games and pieces of every game we own is dumped out and thrown all over the game room, every dvd case in the theater room is opened and the dvd's are used as Frisbee's, the boys will get out onto our second story balcony from the guest and theater rooms and climb up and hang off the railings, black t-shirt ink was rubbed on the floor in my office, my cell phone put in a glass of water and then the water dumped on my laptop keyboard, etc. The list goes on and on. All these things happen within minutes. The boys are always on the prowl for trouble like a pack of hungry wolves!
The scariest thing is when they get out the front door. We use a chain on the inside of our front door to make sure they can't get out unnoticed. The thing that sparked this entire blog entry is the fact that Carter and Andrew have now figured out how to do whatever it takes to unlock the chain on the front door. *GASP* Now I have to go buy a deadbolt that can only be unlocked with a key from both sides. It's a lot of work to lock your kids out of everything. In closing, my life would be complete madness without the ability to lock things up, but I look forward to the day when our family can live in a free and open home with locks to keep the bad guys out....not my children. :)
I went to the other room to talk to Nick about my progress and when I got back, Andrew had the scissors in hand and had just cut the new plastic on one of my finished chairs to SHREDS!!!
I decided no more plastic! I went to the store and got some faux leather and re-covered them....AGAIN! I really like how they turned out. I am praying these covers can withstand the wrath of my boys for awhile.
I began a tradition of inviting the neighborhood kids over to tie-dye tshirts during summer break. Then I make a "neighborhood crew" tshirt design on the computer with all their names and add something that tells a little about each one of them (this year I did bugs). The Picture above is this years design.
The older girls seem to use the word "epic" all the time, so I made them their own EPIC shirts. One epic shirt is normal tie-dye and then the other shirts I stayed up all night shredding for them. They are dancing all over the place in them. Girls are so fun and crazy! 
We just got our dog back and now she looks like someone beat her in the head! Andrew took a thick purple sharpie and colored on her head with it. It won't wash off, so we will just have to wait for it to fade. No wonder Chloe ran away from home! 
Nick brought home pizza for dinner tonight, yay!! We all got some and sat around the table. I got up to do something for somebody and when I got back to the table, Drew was gone and so was his plate. I started calling for him to come back to the table with his food but there was no reply. This is where I found him, out on the trampoline. He told me, "No pictures," and "go back in the house, Mom." I guess everyone needs a little alone time. 
