Macaroni-n-Spoons

My mother-in-law (MIL) and sister-in-law (SIL) were supposed to come down on Christmas Eve, but called that afternoon to say they were gonna wait and come early Christmas morning, and they'd try to be here before Sarah got up to see what Santa brought her. She was still asleep when they got here, so that worked out fine. She had a good Christmas, and we had fun watching her open all her stuff and play. While we were in the kitchen preparing Christmas dinner, I found out why my MIL was late coming down. She and my SIL were preparing some food ahead of time at her house, and they decided to break into the crown royal. My MIL rarely drinks, and she said they had just had too much to drive down here earlier. Of course, she made the right call by waiting.

During Christmas dinner, my SIL was dipping into the macaroni and cheese, and found something weird in it. She was like, "What IS that?" She dug around and pulled out a SPOON! Evidently my MIL must've gotten pretty sloshed, cause she actually baked a spoon in with the mac-n-cheese. Later during dinner we were teasing her cause she was trying to figure out how she managed to do that. I told her "It must've been the Crown." We decided that for future family dinners I will make the mac-n-cheese. We told her that she would NEVER live that down, and that when she was 90 we'd still be reminding her about her "macaroni-n-spoons." TOO funny!

Preparing for Santa

The other day I caught Sarah with a hand full of baby wipes, cleaning the fireplace. Her hands were black as soot. At first I fussed at her for messing around the fireplace (which she's not supposed to do) and getting dirty. Then I had to laugh when she defended herself. "But Mama, I have to clean the chimney so Santa won't get his suit dirty!" When it came time to put out the milk and cookies, Sarah carefully selected the ones she thought Santa would like best out of the assortment we had. She thought it was best to leave them on the mantle (instead of by the tree) cause she thought he certainly could not miss them there. When I went to put the cookies out, Sarah informed me that we MUST cover them with something so they wouldn't get stale. So we did. She also drew Santa a picture, which we placed with the milk and cookies. Man, I gotta be thorough about this Santa business cause my child does NOT play when it comes to Santa! (grin) She is definitely her mother's daughter.

Laughing Out Loud

My precious Little Loren has been cackling and squealing for a few weeks now, but I've been anxiously awaiting that first real laugh. Well, in the wee hours (12:03 a.m., to be exact) it finally came. Sarah was pretending to play "hide & seek" with Loren. When Sarah pretended to find Loren, she said "Boo!" and Loren just cackled out. Then Sarah was laughing too. Then Loren was laughing at Sarah laughing. Then Loren squealed. Then Sarah squealed back, and Loren just laughed and laughed. It was the jolly kind of laugh that comes from your belly. Those two cackling little cuties were really something. I just sat on the couch and laughed at the two of them. Sarah kept hiding and pretending to find Loren. The game and the laughter probably went on for a good 5 minutes or so. Sarah, at age 3, was able to do something mama nor daddy had been able to so far..........make baby sissy REALLY laugh. I guess my 12 Days of Christmas started a little early this year with 1 laughing baby and 2 silly sisters. Happy Holidays!

The Mouse Is Stirring

.....and all through the house, not a creature was stirring.........EXCEPT for a mouse! Yep, you read that right.........a mouse. The bold little Christmas mice have arrived in our neighborhood, people. I discovered that a little mouse has been plundering in the cabinet underneath the island in our kitchen. My Uncle Pat & Aunt Jo recently reported a surprise house guest of their own this holiday season. And he must be a REALLY brave little fellow to be stirring at my uncle's house. The little mouse first appeared in the living room one evening and darted out from behind the TV. Then a couple of nights later, the brave little rascal hopped into bed with them and ran right across my uncle's head!! What's even funnier? My uncle got up and slept on the couch for the rest of the night. The wee little creature ran big, bad, "don't mess with me Pat" out of his own bed! And my aunt? Well, she stayed in bed with the mouse............which was apparently OK with her since he didn't snore as loud as my uncle (grin.) Sarah asked me why the mouse got in the bed with them. I didn't feel like seriously contemplating this, so I just said "I don't know." Her response? "Well, maybe he was tired." Out of the mouths of babes...................

Merry Christmas God & Jesus!!!

We took Sarah to see a Christmas program at a local church tonight. They had live animals, so Sarah loved it. Recently she asked me what a camel looked like, so I described it and then did one better..........showed her a picture online. Then I explained that she'd get to see a REAL LIVE camel at the Christmas play, so she had eagerly anticipated it. The look on her face when that camel came down the aisle made it worth the trip. She stood up out of her seat, her mouth dropped open, and she put both hands on her cheeks (think "Home Alone" and substitute a gasp for the yell.) It was priceless.

When the king came up to present baby Jesus with gifts, she couldn't understand why she couldn't just go up there and talk to him. She kept asking over and over. After the program was over, I found out what the urgency was all about. As we exited the gym, they had the cast lining both sides of the walkway so guests could speak to them as they left. Sarah just had to talk to the king. She walks up and says, "Um, excuse me, King Herod, but why did you want to hurt baby Jesus?" Then it was my turn to do the Home Alone imitation. It suddenly dawned on me what the deal was, so I explained to the guy who played the king that they'd been studying about King Herod in Sarah's class at church, and since that was the only king she knew about so far, she figured he must be King Herod, who wanted to kill baby Jesus to keep him from becoming the "King of the Jews." I explained to Sarah that this king who was in the play loved baby Jesus and came to see him and bring him presents when he was born. The king assured her that he did indeed love baby Jesus, and then everything was cool. Leave it to my child to stand up to the mean old king who wants to hurt little babies and ask for an explanation. She's just too much!

On the way home, she said she wanted to tell God and Jesus "Merry Christmas!" I told her to go ahead because they could hear her. So she looks up at the roof of the car and cheerfully says, "Merry Christmas God and Jesus!" Since the play Sarah has renamed her doll. He is now "baby Jesus." She takes her blanket and drapes it over her head like Mary in the play, and wraps her baby up like Jesus in the manger. After we got home Sarah asked if we needed to buy a Christmas gift for Jesus, and I explained that since He was in heaven now, we wouldn't be able to give it to him right now, but that He had everything He needed and lots of cool stuff He wanted up there. So he really didn't need us to buy him a present, but that it was really sweet of her to think of Him. I tried to explain why we buy each other gifts at Christmas, just as the kings, wise men, and shepherds did for baby Jesus so long ago. And indeed, "Merry Christmas, God and Jesus!" And most importantly, "Happy Birthday, Jesus!!!"

Mama's Little Helper

My precious Little Loren is growing soooo fast. She's trying to talk. She's a lot more vocal than Sarah was at that age. She can hold her bottle by herself if it's not completely full. She's trying to laugh. She will cackle out from time to time, but I can't wait for one of those full-fledged "belly laughs." And Sarah is such a good little helper..........when she wants to be. She's still adjusting to the fact that she's no longer the only child around here. But when she's in the mood, she helps me. She'll pick a diaper for Loren and tell me whether she wants her to have Elmo or Cookie Monster this time (or whatever Sesame Street character strikes her fancy at that moment.) She helps by unfolding the diaper, and once I get it in place, she secures the tabs on each side while I hold the diaper. She'll hold Loren's bottle for her. She'll help me lotion her up after a bath.

She even "reads" to Loren. Although she can't read yet, she has an incredible memory. So she sits and turns the pages of the book, pretending to read, and tells the story from memory. She's pretty darn accurate, too. It amazes me how much she retains. One of the funniest things is that since she can't burp Loren, she likes to burp her baby doll while I burp mine (grin.) She gives Loren hugs and kisses, and the sweetest thing is when she sings to her. She'll say, "Big Sissy's gonna sing you a lullaby." And she changes the words from Mama to "Big Sissy" when she sings "Hush Little Baby" (example: "Big Sissy's gonna buy you a mockingbird.") These are just some precious moments that I want to remember.

God Bless Jack & Bill

When Sarah says her prayers at bedtime, she has her usual list of things to pray for and people to bless. "God, please help Sarah to be a good girl and please make all my boo-boo's better. God bless Mama and Daddy and baby Sissy. God bless Teddy and Baby Doll (our Cocker Spaniels.) God bless Ma-Ma (grandma) and Pooh (yes, we must bless grandma's dog, too.) But every now and then she throws in something new. We've been talking a lot lately about hubby's dad (Jack) and my dad (Bill), who have already gone to heaven. So tonight during her prayers she adds "and God bless Jack and Bill." I just had to smile to myself. It was so sweet. I guess she figured that even though they're already in heaven, you can never get too many blessings!

God is Right On Time

Since I got laid off from work, money has gotten pretty tight for us. My hubby is in sales, and in his industry, (charter bus transportation) December is the slowest month of the year. So here we are right before Christmas.........completely broke, not knowing how we're gonna pay our bills, much less buy Christmas gifts. Beginning in college, I truly came to realize that God would always provide for me. If I needed something, it might not come early, and it might not be there as soon as I wanted, but when I TRULY needed it, He has always provided. There have been several times in my life when I was really strapped for money, and it came to me at a critical time from some unexpected place. This time I just I couldn't figure out what nook or cranny God was gonna scrounge up $500 from for our rent this month. Our rent is due on the 5th, and on Monday of this week I still didn't know where the money was gonna come from.

Monday night I get a phone call from my mother telling me that she received some mail for me at her house. What could it be I wonder? A check made out to my father's estate. Now, my father passed away over 5 years ago, and I was the personal representative of the estate. So all that stuff was settled long ago. So where did this check come from? A tobacco contract my Dad had before he died. Now, I have since sold the farm that this contract was associated with, and I thought I'd already received all the back payments I was gonna get. Well, this check was for a previous year before my Dad died. That just goes to show how long the delay is with the Agriculture Dept. to get money from those contracts. How much was this check for? $518...........just enough to pay my rent. And when did it come in the mail? on Dec. 5......the day my rent is due. So just let that be a reminder to you (and to me.) Sometimes when you feel like God is letting you down.............HE'S RIGHT ON TIME!!!

Sarah & Heaven

Sarah is really intrigued by God and heaven right now, and she asks lots of questions. She has her own personal trilogy: God & Jesus & heaven........and when she mentions one, she usually says all 3. My hubby's grandma (granny) passed away the end of October, and that has prompted lots of conversation about heaven. Sarah understands that Granny's heart stopped working, and she died and went to heaven. She gets it that it's the angel's job to take you there and make sure you get to the right place. She understands that God decides when it's time for you to go, and that once you're there, you can't come back. (She briefly had the misconception that you can "visit" heaven. I had to clear that up for her.) We talked about how she'll get to see Granny again when she gets to heaven, provided she's a good girl, and she believes in God and Jesus. She asked about sleeping in heaven. I explained that God never sleeps, and that I didn't think we would either once we got there. She said, "But mama, what if I'm tired and need to take a nap?" I tried to explain that I didn't think we'd ever get tired in heaven, so we wouldn't need to sleep. Her compromise? "Well, I'll just take a nap on the angel's wings while he's taking me to heaven." What will she come up with next?

She asks a lot about my brother (BJ), my Dad, and other people that passed away before she was born. Sometimes I tell her things and she has to "stew" on it for a while, and then ask more questions later. We often talk about how she'll get to meet family she never knew when she gets to heaven. So tonight she says, "But mama, I don't know what they look like." I told her I had pictures of some of them, but she still had concerns about the rest. I assured her that either there would be someone there she knew who could introduce them, or she'd just somehow know it was them. She wants to know what God looks like and asks if I have a picture of him...........sorry, honey.........can't help you on that one. She asked about BJ one day while drawing a picture, and I told her that he really liked to draw, too, and that he was really good at it..........much better than mama (I have ZERO talent when it comes to art.........can't draw a straight line without a ruler, people.) Later, she drew a picture and informed me that it was for her "Uncle Billy Joe" and that she was gonna take it to him when she went to heaven. She said she'd put it away in her room so it wouldn't get messed up until then. It was so sweet that I didn't dare tell her she can't take it with her........which reminds me of something.

I'm an avid list maker. I mean I am REALLY serious about my lists. You know how they say you can't "take it with you" when you die? Well, a close friend (Hope from the Edge) and I have a running joke about that. I joke about how I have this list of questions that I'm making of things I want to ask God about when I get to heaven. When I commented that it was too bad that I wouldn't be able to take my list with me, Hope joked that if there was anybody who could figure out how to get anything past those pearly gates, it would be me, with my list (seeing as I'm such a serious, determined, resourceful list maker and all.) LOL!

Now more on Sarah and heaven. We've been reading the story of David and Goliath, and she has decided that she wants to meet David when she gets to heaven so she can talk to him. She asked about Goliath, but I told her I didn't think he'd be there. "Why not?" she asks. "Because Goliath was a bad man who wanted to hurt people, and I think he probably went to the BAD place (her name for hell.) That took care of that, because I clarified this earlier. She thought she could just go down to the BAD place and straighten the old bad devil out so he could go to heaven too. I explained that he had his chance already, and that he decided he just wanted to stay bad and be ugly. Well, that just totally wrecked her plan.

Sarah likes to help me clean, and she was playing around with the broom. She said, "Mama, when I get to heaven, I'm gonna be a good helper and help God clean." I explained that this was very sweet of her to want to help, but that I thought heaven would be quite spotless and that we would never have to clean. Her response? "Well, I guess I don't need to take my broom then." (snicker)

Songs in the "Rain"

My 3-year-old, Sarah, loves to take a shower with me. When she was smaller, she used to tell me she wanted to "get in the rain," meaning she wanted to get right under the shower head. She loves to sing, and if there's water involved, that's even better as far as she's concerned. She has loved water since she was a baby. There are a few songs she likes to sing in the shower. One of her favorites is a Barney song. If you have kids, you surely know this one. If so, sing along. If not, here are some of the words:

If all the rain drops were lemon drops and gum drops,
Oh, what a rain that would be.
Standing outside with my mouth open wide.
(Now tilt your head back and stick your tongue out!)
Ah, ah ah ah, ah ah ah, ah ah ah!!!

We like The Wiggles, too. The Wiggles Bay video provides some lively bath-time song material. We get to sing about Henry the Octopus, Swim Like a Fish, and my personal favorite, Zing Zang Wing Wang Wong. It's upbeat and really quite catchy. Sarah hit me with a new one tonight while she was washing her hair. It was from the movie Mulan, in the scene where she's in the tub getting her hair washed by the "Match Maker," where she sings, "Spit and polished til you glow with pride..." It always amazes me how she can take something she sees on TV and apply it to her everyday life. She's soooooooo smart that way. And even though she understands what the shower is now, we still jokingly call it "the rain." Some of our most fun times together are spent "in the rain." (smile)

Thursday - Part I - Redneck Baking

"Hope from the Edge," this one's for you. The satellite guy came to install our new DVR today. Man, those things rock. We got so happy with the first one that we were keeping it full between my stuff, hubby's stuff, and Sarah's cartoons. So we had to get another DVR to end the squabbling. And now Mama has her OWN personal DVR....don't knock it, man. Anyway, my hubby works from home some and was apparently having an "Emeril" moment, so he decided to bake homemade chocolate chip cookies. He'd just gotten them outta the oven when the satellite guy arrived..............and man, did they smell GOOD! Hubby has already sampled the goods, and I tell him he should offer some to our guest. His response was that he worked hard making those cookies, and he wasn't gonna share with some stranger. I reminded him of his Southern upbringing, and he said he was only kidding. He brought the guy a couple of cookies and he graciously accepted. They were gone in no time. When the guy got ready to leave, hubby offered him more for the road, and he said, "I'm good, man. It was good to be back home. Thanks!"

No, Hope, it wasn't as good as your ham biscuit story (visitors, you must check out her blog if you haven't read that one already)..........but there's more. Later hubby informs me that the mixer wouldn't work when he went to mix up the cookie dough. We moved recently, I guess it got damaged in the move. Anyway, hubby informs me that he found a great substitute for the mixer......HIS DRILL!!! LOL!! He attached the beater to the drill and it worked just find. Hubby was quite pleased to find that he even had adjustable speeds this way........snicker, head shaking, eyes rolling. Too funny!

Ferocious Beasts & Spotted Puppies

Several weeks ago, my 3-year-old, Sarah, stripped down to her "big girl" panties and marked all over herself with a purple marker. When I asked what on earth she was doing, she said, "I wanted to be a ferocious beast........like on Maggie & the Ferocious Beast." The beast has spots, and I do believe they are indeed purple.........and since it was water-color marker, I found this quite humorous. You gotta give the kid credit for creativity.

Then today, she strips like before, minus the big girl panties.......yep, she's butt naked this time........and proceeds to mark all over herself with a black marker. She even managed to mark on her back some. When I inquired this time as to what she was doing, she informed me that she wanted to be a spotted puppy dog. I had to snicker and roll my eyes (as I do quite frequently.) Bad thing is..........it was permanent marker this time. As hard as we try to keep the office locked, that girl will sneak in there every chance she gets and swipe something. Dang her! I gotta find a better hiding place for those markers. I still had to laugh at her though.