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Just another day in the Malone household. It was storming horribly outside, so there was going to be no sending the kids out of the house for a break. The twins were up early, and Bennie was annoyed. He was just trying to drink his coffee, not get accosted by smelly toddlers.

Marnie tried her best to distract the little ones, but she was only one person.. and there were two of them. Naturally, the other one followed Bennie around, trying to get some attention.

Bennie tried grumbling at the toddler, but all he got was a quizzical look. Finally he tried yelling at him. That worked better, although getting a nasty look from a toddler isn’t any one’s idea of a good day. At least the twin – whichever one it was (Bennie could care less) – finally left him alone.

Marnie was just finished with giving a bath when Braydon came in, begging to be shown how to go potty. He certainly hadn’t been taught by anyone, and was curious how this whole thing worked. (And at this point, the only way he was going to learn was by his own choice or demand.)

Poor Marnie took care of that, then tried to get some of the never-ending cleaning done. Her mind was wandering, however, and she ended up spraying the table instead of the high chair. Could nothing go right??

After school, Jaz hummed to herself as she walked up the stairs. For the most part, her day hadn’t been too bad, and Benji’s suggestion had worked like a charm. She had been able to go to the bathroom all by herself and without the prying eyes and bullying words of the other students. She had kept to herself all day, though, and had avoided the playground at recess, so finding something fun to do and someone to play with was high on her list of priorities.

Bennie turned out to be the wrong choice for a chat partner.. and why Jaz tried him first, we’ll never know.. but as you can easily guess, it didn’t go well for her.

Braydon was playing nicely by himself now that he was all clean, had a fresh diaper, and a full tummy. It was amazing how nice a happy toddler can be. Myles worked on some art projects for his scouts badge, oblivious to what happened with the rest of his family.

Jazmyn was completely annoyed now after being yelled at by Bennie, and decided she’d go play with Braydon for a while. All the noise, however, woke a grouchy Benji up from a nap (in Jaz’s bed, no less) – and got her another “talking to”.

Luckily, however, Bennie had disappeared (nobody knew where – he hadn’t bothered to say), and the living room was free. Little Brett had decided to join in on playtime, to Jaz’s delight, and they had a lot of fun playing with the little toys.

Phoenix was murdering some piece of music or another, (I assure you, nobody knew what it was – probably not even him), and Brett thanked his big sister for actually taking some time for him the only way he knew how.

Since the TV was (uncharacteristically) actually not in use, Benji talked Jaz into playing some games. He may or may not have picked her because she was easy to beat, but he certainly wasn’t going to admit it.

Poor Brett had hoped for more attention, however, and toddled off with a pout to find someone else he could annoy.

Marnie, luckily, caught him before he ran out the front door into the storm, and got him into bed. Braydon was already asleep, so she tried her best to keep Brett quiet, but it wasn’t working. That was when she noticed the smell.

Sure enough, there was a diaper that needed changing before bedtime – so Marnie took care of it. She may or may not have been begging a higher power for an actual break in this screenshot, and if she was, who would blame her?!

Bennie ran in to the house soaking wet, and in a better mood. (He wasn’t going to explain where he’d been, because his C-lister gig wasn’t exactly something to be proud of, but at least he had 240 bucks to show for it. Grocery money!)

Unfortunately, the night wasn’t over. And having all the kids in bed really didn’t mean anything with the twins in the house. Before you knew it, Brett was up again, and bawling at the foot of the Murphy bed. Bennie grumbled and poked Marnie. “Your turn.” he mumbled.. and rolled back over. Marnie yawned widely, and glared at her husband’s sleeping form. “When has it EVER been NOT my turn!” she whispered, and wearily turned to catch the toddler before he headed off to wake up the rest of the household.

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