The Chore Chain

chore chain (n.) - A series of household duties that must be accomplished in a certain order or they cannot be completed at all. Ex. Mary wants to clean the fish bowl, which takes five minutes, but first she must move the dirt dishes out of the kitchen sink, and in order to do that she must take the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and put them away, thereby extending the fish bowl chore from 5 minutes to 45.

Only women understand the chore chain dilemma. Men just see the dirty fish bowl and wonder why it hasn't been cleaned when it only takes five minutes.

The Gift of Giving

We've decided to make our family Christmas celebrations more about the true miracle of God's ultimate gift to us - Jesus Christ - and less about Santa. Easier said than done. This was my conversation with Mason during his bath tonight.

Mom: Santa is a fun story, but do you know the real reason we celebrate Christmas?

Mason: Jesus.

Mom: That's right! God gave us the best gift we'll ever receive when he came to earth as a baby so that we can live in Heaven with him forever someday. That's what really makes Christmas special.

Mason: So who gives us presents?

Mom: People who love you give you presents because it's fun to think of what someone might like and give it to them. Maybe you could think of something to give someone this Christmas to make them happy.

Mason: I could get myself a new electric train.

Mom: But that wouldn't be a gift. You have to give something to someone else for it to be a gift.

Mason: Well then, I could give my old electric train to someone and then get myself a new one.

We'll try again next Christmas.

Okie Thanksgiving

Thankful

I'm thankful for the family that God has given me - we're having such a good time in Norman with Mimi and Grandpa Trent. We spent Thanksgiving Day in Guthrie at Uncle Rocky's new house and then came here to await the much-anticipated OU-OSU game. Jas, his dad, and his brother fully plan to freeze their tail off at the stadium today. I plan to watch it on TV.

Yesterday I was lying down with Carter for a little nap, and Mason decided to join us. I was surrounded in a full-size bed by 2 warm little bodies and 3 fuzzy bears (Big Bear, Little Bear, and Boo). Mason and his bear friends didn't stay long, but it was cozy while it lasted!

'Tis the Season...

...for a bad case of the "I wants." The kids are bombarded with one toy commercial after another. Even Carter points and says "I'nt dat!" (I want that) Of course, the last thing he said that about was a 'Learn to be a Princess' DVD and dance mat.

...for the temptation to spend too much money. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm done Christmas shopping.

...for extra trash in the ol' land fills. To find fun ways to reduce and reuse things for the holidays, check out Family Fun magazine's December issue. They have a "Green Holiday" section with great crafts and giftwrap ideas using things you would normally throw away. My favorite is the gingerbread folk made from brown grocery bags. I also like the aluminum ornaments made from disposable pie tins (after the pie is gone, of course).

Christmas Parade

We went to the Jenks Christmas parade with Christina and Joe this morning. We had on sweaters because I wasn't sure about the weather, but it had to have been 70 degrees out there at 9:30 a.m... in November. Also, I made it to Target last night to buy the rest of Mason and Carter's Christmas presents. All done. Yeah!!

Carefully Choreographed Fits

At almost 21 months, Carter is all about taking other kids' toys, hitting them or spitting at them when he doesn't get his way, and - my favorite - throwing dramatic fits. He lets out a loud wail and then looks around to make sure there's nothing behind him before he throws himself down, lowering his head more slowly to avoid hitting it on the hard floor. He learned that lesson the hard way. Then he makes a pitiful, over-exaggerated frowny face and 'cries' a tearless, complaining cry, looking at us off and on to make sure we're looking. I have to get it on video because it's very creative, and (hopefully) won't last forever.

I'm trying to shop smarter and earlier for Christmas this year. I'd love to do it all online, but the shipping charges are a killer. I did order Mason's space shuttle tent and a personalized book for Carter from lillyskids.com, but I think I'm going to have to drive to Target to pick up the Pirate corsair with skull hideout and the Diego animal rescue station. I hate to pay another $15 shipping charge when I could get in the car and go buy them at the store. I should have gone yesterday or the day before - Friday night on 71st street, especially in November and December, is a traffic nightmare. After I buy 2 or 3 family gifts, I think I'm done. We simplified both the Trent and Hanna family Christmases this year to avoid having to buy tons of little gifts, so I might be finished Christmas shopping before December even gets here! There's a first time for everything.

You have to be super sleepy...

...to fall asleep on the wood floor with the nebulizer running and Stuart Little turned up extra loud to compensate for the nebulizer.

Mason is at school today. He still coughs some, but it's a lot better. I wrote a long, rambling note to his teacher explaining his current health situation and asking her (without sounding too pathetic) to please call me if he gets worse. My anxiousness is payback for every time I rolled my eyes at the notes of worried, overprotective parents when I was a teacher. I've turned into one of them. Oh well...at least I'm not the parent who defends their child in the face of obvious guilt (yet :-).

p.s. I did spell check on this post, and got 'Belize' as a suggestion to replace nebulizer ??

Holiday Mood

Okay, it's far enough into November that I can let myself get excited about the holidays (even though we have the AC on today because it's a humid 75 degrees outside). I'm posting pictures of the table I decorated for the Ladies Gala because it helps set a Thanksgiving mood. If I didn't have small children around 24/7, I would set my own table this way and leave it until December. Someday I'm going to be fancy - when Carter quits dragging the hairdryer into the kitchen every day and bouncing my decorative pumpkin like a basketball.

Mason is staying home from school today because his asthma is still making him cough almost constantly. I took him to the children's urgent care center on Saturday because he had a fever and was coughing nonstop, even with breathing treatments all day long. They gave him a liquid steroid to take, in addition to the inhaled cortisteroid that he takes every day with his nebulizer, but it doesn't seem to be helping. He takes it for three more days, so hopefully it will help at some point this week.

It's a Cousin! (Boy)

Baby Asher came today around noon - just in time for lunch - 8lbs7oz and 19 inches. I've been so excited that my boys will have a cousin, but it just occurred to me that I'm an aunt! I've never been an aunt. I'll have to decide if I want to be 'Ahhnt Angela' or 'Ant Angela.' The picture is Asher with his Mimi (and Mason and Carter's Mimi).

The picture of Mason is a snapshot of our lives this week - the poor kid has had one breathing treatment after another. We visited Dr. Baker today, and he decided we need to run, not walk, to the pediatric allergy clinic. He's been telling me to check into it for about a year, but he was more proactive today. He called the clinic for me.

Super Toys

I get frustrated with toy stores and toy sections of department stores because the toys are all the same - Fisher Price and Hasbro mass productions. The specialty toy stores are neat, but overpriced. So I was thrilled today when I found the coolest toy catalog ever in my mailbox. Lilly's Kids. Never heard of it, but I'll be ordering all of Mason's Christmas gifts from them. There were some unique things I won't be ordering, too - like the plastic ice skating rink for your backyard - a snow painting kit - a blowup toboggan. How cool is that?!?! I will be ordering the bed tent and at least one of the 'space' theme toys. I can't wait!

Okay, I just looked at lillyskids.com and I'm even more excited! It's a division of Lillian Vernon - which explains the low prices. They have even more awesome Christmas gifts on the website - like the space shuttle bed tent in the picture. I was just going to get the sports one, but Mason will flip when he sees the space shuttle. I wonder if I can sneak in his room Christmas Eve and get it on his bed while he's sleeping so he wakes up in it. Christmas morning. He would LOVE that!!

Carter Einstein

Since we got satellite a few weeks ago, Carter is off the Barney kick and now loves Little Einsteins and Deigo. He calls them "Tines" and "Gego Go." He does everything the little cartoon characters (with very big heads) tell him to do. He pat, pat, pats to give Rocket more power. He raises his hands as high as he can and says "Bapof!!" I think he has Rocket's blastoff confused with the space shuttle launch that Mason watches over and over because he tries to do a countdown before he says blastoff. "Ten, fi, to...BAPOF!!" It's very cute. I would post a video clip, but he clams up and refuses to perform when I get out the camera. Smart kid! (He looks JUST LIKE his dad in the first pic.)

The Pursuit of Healthyness

As flu season approaches, I've been looking for ways to boost our immune systems - alternatives to the flu shot. I'm just not convinced that the shot is effective. And it has well- documented potential dangers. Besides, everyone I know who gets the silly thing gets really sick - more than just the 'mild flu symptoms' the doctors warn about. SO we're taking cod liver oil. It's a little fishy...and, well, oily...but it's not bad. Mason and I take it every day in a shot of orange juice. Carter gets it every few days, although he's not exactly a willing participant. We're also taking vitamin C, and my cousin Sonii - my natural health consultant - recommends a probiotic. I haven't looked for that yet.

Carter has had a fever since last night. No other symptoms. Maybe I should have given him more cod liver oil. He seemed better when he went to bed. We'll see if he needs Tylenol at midnight and 4:30 like last night. Fun times for mom!

Learning More Every Day

Kindergarten is an amazing year! Mason is growing up and learning so much so fast that I find myself wanting to slow down the little clock inside of him that keeps speeding up. He can sound out words and recognize a good amount of site words. He couldn't do that a few weeks ago! His little knowledge bank fills up more every day. Of course, he thinks it's full - much more full than mine, anyway.

We had a fun Halloween/Fall Festival experience last night. Mason and I worked the "Fishing Pond" at church and then came home to Trick-or-Treat with Carter, Wanda, and Sadie (the peacock wienie dog). Mason's 'Dash' costume was too big (because I didn't know costumes had sizes - go figure) but he didn't seem to notice. He wanted to wear the Thomas the Train costume 2 years in a row, so maybe he'll want to be Dash another year or 2.