Movie Night

Tonight we attempted a movie night with the boys, complete with pizza, Dr. Pepper (well, apple juice for them), and the movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  Taking into account that our boys are four and half, two and a half, and nine months old, this may have not been the best idea.  It certainly wasn't quite the fun, relaxing night I had envisioned.  It started out well.  Aaron took all the boys with him to get the pizza, then when they got home we brought in the high chairs and put them in the movie room in an attempt at mess-control.  We got our pizza, we started the movie, and everything was going great.  Then things began to happen.  Simeon was on the floor and started fussing.  I thought he might be tired, so I took him upstairs to put him to bed.  Aaron paused the movie for me, which was a big mistake because it gave Malachi and Izzy a chance to realize that they had been confined in one spot for more than two minutes.  As soon as I was back they were asking to get down.  I was just thankful that they at least finished eating first.  Or so I thought.  It soon became apparent that Izzy wasn't really done eating, as he kept trying to sneak pizza out of the box from the dining room table, which means that what's left of the pizza in that box became mutilated and/or devoid of all toppings.  Meanwhile, Simeon would not go to sleep, so I brought him back downstairs and let him have some pizza, which, I think, is what he actually wanted in the first place.  From that point, he sat in his chair eating quite happily, giving funny grins and going "Mmmm...mmmm!"  Izzy was wandering, which always makes me nervous (if you've been reading my other blogs, you know why).  Chi was the only one being still and watching the movie...the plot of which was becoming more and more chaotic, and a fairly accurate reflection of how our night was turning out.  All we were missing were giant pancakes falling on our heads.  Of course, this "peaceful" scene couldn't last for long--there is, after all, only so much pizza a baby can really eat.  Simeon soon tired of participating in our movie night and began to fuss again, this time because he really was tired.  Izzy kept trying to climb up Aaron's legs or stand directly in front of the TV.  Finally Aaron made him sit down, and then he started crying which meant we couldn't hear the movie at all between Izzy and Simeon crying.  There was maybe five minutes left, so I desperately hoped to hold them off until the end, but alas, it was not to be.  I gave up on watching the end of the movie and took Simeon up, once again, to get him ready for bed.  The movie ended about two minutes after I left, and then Aaron and the boys came upstairs too so they could go to bed.  Now that it's all over, I can undoubtedly say that it was the most exhausting movie night I have ever experienced.  Maybe next time we'll take it easy on ourselves and, I don't know, take them to a fine dining restaurant.