Three Cheers for the Golden Arches!

I know, I know...the caloric intake from french fries and chicken nuggets is quite alarming. However, there are days when I simply crave the combination of Diet Coke and french fries. Of course, I have indoctrinated my first born as he requests "nuggets and french fries" frequently. However, I didn't think Andy would touch it, since it doesn't come pureed in a glass jar. However, he gladly accepted a tray full of cheerios with a side of fries. He nibbled on the end and said, "Mmm." Such a funny boy.

A reminder

The second half of January is always a challenge for me. The joy of Christmas fades quickly and my resolutions become just a few more items on the to-do list. Mix in 17 consecutive days of rain and that's a recipe for one grumpy, discontent mama. I'm slowly learning that my attitude carries over to the whole household. The hand that rocks the cradle really does rule the world...at least my little corner of the world. But God has a way of getting our attention sometimes and I think He just may have served up an attitude adjustment this week. While I was wrestling Luke to the ground so he could go to pre-school fully-clothed, Andy was dumping toys all over the house and my attitude was headed south in a hurry. Of course, the phone rang and everybody knows that children misbehave as soon as the phone goes to mama's ear. I think it's programmed into their DNA: phone rings...mama distracted...slug your brother. But, I digress...
The caller is a friend of mine, who just received a cancer diagnosis. I could barely see past my own frustrations of the early morning hours to even comprehend what she was saying. Somehow the background noise faded and I was able to find the words to pray with her. The scenario is frightening, but hopeful. The cancer is in the early stages, but the doctor is optimistic that he can remove all of it very soon.
I have felt convicted about my attitude ever since. I would like to tell you that I changed my way of thinking right there when I hung up the phone. In reality, it has taken me a couple of days to truly recognize that we have SO MUCH to be thankful for. We have our health, our material needs are met, our extended families are doing well, the boys are way more than we could have hoped for. Feeling content is difficult in this world of excess. I can almost always find something to covet. But this week I received a reminder that I have it pretty good.

Oy, Vay...A Snow Day

Much to my surprise, there was snow in our yard once again. That's 2 mornings in a row, quite a treat for us. Luke gets so excited and Steve delays his departure for work because the roads are always a bit icy in the early morning. However, it never occurred to me to check the school schedule. We had Luke all psyched up to go back to preschool today. It was supposed to be our first day back after the Christmas hiatus. Thankfully, I commandeered the television (normally we are watching Playhouse Disney) and checked out the morning news. God bless the Channel 4 news man, who cheerfully reminded us to watch for school delays and closures.

Sure enough, no morning preschool. At first I thought this would be a blessing, but it wasn't long before the boys were provoking one another and I was heading for another cup of coffee. Ugh. The sun came out by mid-morning and Luke said, "hey, the sun's out to melt the snow, now I can go!" He was so disappointed when I told him there wouldn't be any preschool at all today.
Like any good mother would, I loaded up the boys and the dog into the minivan, tucked my coupons into my wallet and headed for Walgreens. Luke is clearly my son, here he is clutching his new truck and a cold beverage. There's nothing like a little retail therapy to cheer a girl (or boy) up.

"S" as in "Super!"

So my next task of mommyhood is to teach Luke his letters. The mommy mafia tells me that Leap Frog's Letter Factory is the way to go. So I trotted off to Target and made said DVD my own. The mommies weren't kidding. It's fantastic! If you don't know the Leap Frog mantra, it goes something like, "A says, "ah", A says, "ah", every letter makes a sound, A says, "ah!" Repeat ad nauseum until it is ingrained in their little brains and your child has learned all 26 letters. We have watched it at least 10 times and I think we've only owned it since Tuesday. Now, please don't pass any judgement, bloggy friends, about the high rate of DVD watching this implies. This is western Washington, people. Only the dog and the daddy are going outside right now and only because they have to. It is nasty. Rain. Blowing sideways. All day long.
My little fellas remain snug as bugs in rugs, learning their letters. Race to your nearest big box store and purchase the Letter Factory. It is SUPER!

Happy New Year!

Ah, the promise of a new year. I always feel so optimistic on January 1st...so many aspirations and to-do lists percolating in my noggin. I enjoy the Christmas season, but I'm also eager to get back to the business of regular life. One of my first fetishes of the new year is organization. I'm fairly organized to begin with, but I totally buy into the post-holiday marketing and start purchasing various lidded containers. The colored lids just make me feel so happy. In fact, I just returned from the happy store (some call it Target) with containers to organize my Christmas ornaments. It's a good thing the actual Container Store is a long way away, or we would be eating lots of beans and rice (while admiring all of our shiny new containers).
The next aspiration? I would like to take more pictures in 2008. Looking back over the last 12 months, there were weeks when I didn't touch the camera. I feel a bit melancholy when I find gaps in the photo album. Even though I lived it, I still feel like I missed out a little bit because the boys change so quickly.
Speaking of boys, the ones that live here are hungry. Imagine that. Happy new year, friends.

Merry Christmas!

Steve and I were able to sleep in until 7am on Christmas morning, I couldn't believe it. That's probably the last time that will happen for many years, so I hope we savored it. Luke didn't quite get that it was Christmas morning until he got to the top of the stairs and saw his gifts. Santa delivered a shake 'n go race car set, per Luke's request. I was hoping to film his reaction with the video camera, but all I got was a blur of boy streaking by me, shouting, "this is so cool!"

Andy could really care less about Christmas, he's still playing with the same toys he did on Monday. Once we extracted Luke from the race car set, we loaded everybody up and went to Spanaway for Christmas, part II. Christmas day photographs are a bit of a challenge for me, but here's a decent one without anyone's backside facing the camera. Grandma and Papa gave Andy a wooden tool box/workbench but I think he was most captivated by the bright shiny bow.

I hate to toot my own horn here, but it's my blog, so here we go. I made my parents a scrapbook of some of the fun events we've all enjoyed since they retired here in Washington. Lets just say it was a big hit.

I can't remember the last time we celebrated Christmas with Grammie Edna. I know she isn't always thrilled to be here, but we are glad to have her. I think she had a good time and handled the chaos pretty well. We gave her the annual calendar with the grandchildren and great-grandchildren featured on every page.

Steve was pretty stoked to receive some kind of fancy remote control flying contraption from my parents. Hopefully the weather will improve and he can take it outside soon.

You Know You Are a Mama When...

...you step out of the shower and find a 3 year old constructing a "big, big, big" tower in your bathroom at 6:45am. Older and wiser women in my life tell me these are the best years because they are little, still want to talk to me (even if I am in the shower) and I usually know where they are at night. I am trying to savor the preschool years, really. But 27 consecutive mornings of seeing Luke long before I see the sun come up is getting a wee bit tiresome. Couldn't our bonding moments begin after it's light outside?

I'm just sayin', is all.