Friday, January 8, 2010

A Thanksgiving Prayer

I found a Thanksgiving prayer written by Spring7.

"Dear Jesus,
I am thankful for my family and me. I am also thankful for my toys, my Earth and zebras."


I suppose the African savanna would be a dull place without all those stripes.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

O Christmas Tree

I'm finally taking down our Christmas tree. I've been in the process of taking it down for a few days now and I keep getting interrupted. Imagine that!

Our Christmas tree is one of my favorite things. Almost all of our ornaments have some meaning...places we've been, gifts from friends and family, the special ornaments I get for each boy every year and ornaments the boys have made for us. The tree is a big green collection of memories and happy thoughts.

Some people have beautiful, color coordinated ornaments, lights and ribbons on their trees with the ornaments spaced out perfectly. Our tree is so far from a designer tree, it's almost funny. Keep in mind that the tree is 7 feet tall and I'm only 5'1". I can stretch pretty far but can't reach the top. Also, keep in mind that I have two little people in my house who will remove and then run away with ornaments. Basically, my tree has A LOT of ornaments right in the middle. Every year, Mike returns from work, looks at the tree, giggles, then moves some ornaments to the top for me. I try my best not to move around any ornaments after the boys are finished decorating. Sometimes, it's inevitable if say a special ornament is too low or some creative person has put four ornaments on one branch. The big boys have some sort of photographic memory of ornament placement and will directly ask me why I moved their ornament.

As much as I love having it up, I'm also relieved when it comes down so I'd better get back to work!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Heeerrrree's Johnny!

No, not Johnny Carson...I guess the title really should be "Heerrree's Winter3!" Remember the famous scene from The Shining when Jack maniacally peers though the partially open (well, hacked open) door? Take away the maniacal part and it becomes a scene from my life.

Winter3 is pretty good about going to bed and staying in bed...for a while. The problem is that as you know, he is everywhere and into everything. People say that no one wants a smart cat because of all the trouble they can cause. The same can be said about three year olds. Curiosity really didn't kill the cat...it stressed the life out of his mother. We just can't trust that Winter3 will stay in bed all night long. I have visions of him going downstairs in the middle of the night and trying to make soup, or call Ireland or start my car. I'd like to think that my son who is "skeered of funder" would be too fearful to go downstairs alone but I don't care to lay awake in bed debating that thought.

Sooooo...cue parent of the week music...we lock him in his room at night. Naturally, the one door of the house that doesn't close well is his bedroom. Since the knob doesn't close well enough to lock we've tried various doorknob covers which all worked for a while but which he eventually figured out and broke off. We stepped up our game by duct taping the door knob cover on. This too worked for a while and even well enough to lock me in the room (only for a minute, sheesh). He's worked so hard at the door (persistence is good trait, right?) that now it won't latch at all.

Our final move before we give up on this chess game is a chain lock like you might find in a hotel. So far, so good but this brings me back to my "Heeerreee's Johnny!" reference. Rather than an axe wielding murderer, I have a talking three year old. Imagine the little face squished in the door, "MomMomMommyMommmmyyyMama! Let me out!" The power to open his door, even if only that much, was exhilarating. After a few days, he gave up and doesn't play with the door much except at naptime and in the morning.

But he can't get out. And my life is no horror movie so even if I have a crazed three year old on one side of the door, I know that my sanity is safe.