Elmo's World

Elmo's World appeared in our basement over the weekend. His goldfish, Dorothy, as well as his crayon arrived to help Brett celebrate his third birthday.

Didn't he do a good job ; )

Mommy is not MacGyver

Mothers wear many hats. Cook, nurse, teacher... you know what I mean. And being a little bit of a Handy Manny won't hurt any mom's resume. I, apparently, need to brush up on this skill. Why? you ask.

Because my two year old is locked in the bathroom.

It all started innocently enough. He finished his peanut butter and jelly sandwich with about as much jelly on him as in him. Naturally he was sent to the bathroom to wash.

I opened the child latch on the outside and went back to my own sandwich. Running water... clank of the soap dispenser... water splashing... door shutting... more water... Wait. The door was shut but still water running? Something not quite right...

And sure enough, two seconds later I hear "Mom? Mom? Can you open door?"

So I (reluctantly) abandon my sun-dried tomato turkey sandwich to rescue my son, except it isn't that simple.

The door isn't just shut. Its locked.

Vainly I tried to talk Brett through the steps of unlocking the door. It was a comical experience, filled with lots of "uh hu's" and "yep's" but no results. Cool heads are necessary in such circumstances so I tried to chill and remember what Daddy did when this happened once before. Oh yeah! Unscrew the door knob!

So I did.
Still no luck. What I failed to comprehend before I tore my door apart is that the locking mechanism won't allow the other side of the doorknob to fall. The bolt in the middle still needs to be popped.

Which of course I cannot figure out how to do. Thankfully Brian is working in the shed a few miles away and is on his way home.

But, like I said. My two year old is locked in the bathroom, happily flushing the toilet over and over because there is no one to stop him.So I failed the MacGyver portion of the Mommy test, but at least its not a burning building.

Abstract Easter

You can go online and find a plethora of ideas for making Easter a sacred holiday instead of a secular one. I like the one about celebrating the "12 Days of Easter" using those plastic ressurection eggs and the recipe for cookies that bake over night and are empty in the morning.

But none of this seems to connect with my two-year-old. In fact Jesus is still a very abstract idea for him. (As are sins... ; )

And I might have forgotten to count backwards from Easter and missed the whole 12 day thing entirely.

Despite all this, I still love to color eggs. Since we are not praying to them or offering our creations to any pegan deity, I think its just FUN! Please observe:

And pretty too!

Anyone have any brilliant Easter theology ideas for toddlers?

Promised Pics

Terrible Twos

It's official. The little guy is two. Terribly two. Right now he's sitting on my lap screaming at me because I will not let him play with the electrical outlet. What a mean Mommy.

The fun part about turning two was the Birthday Party. I had tons of fun planning and scheming to make it just right. And I think it turned out really well. I created a dump truck cake, "birthday zone" sign, and CAT truck center pieces. With yellow and orange balloons it all came together!

His birthday present from Mom and Dad was a swing set (see old post here!). We invited his Sunday School class and they broke the set in nicely.

I'm working on a picture trails slide show, so I'll post more later. Right now my screaming toddler has fallen asleep in my arms.

Two is not completely terrible.

Its Not Easy Being Green

Literally. For the past several days my family and I have all been quite green. With the stomach flu. Very apropos, being March and all. Really, it was our turn. Brian was sick in January for a long time, but he hasn't been sick in years, so I figure he was just due. The little guy and I have both been bug free all winter long. And that is just not fair.

So we have now done our part to promote justice and equality.

I have learned how many loads of laundry my washer can handle if you stay up all night just waiting for the dryer to ding. Little guy has learned how to say "tummy hurt" (but not what to do about it...). Both of us now know how to subsist entirely on Sprite. So in addition to being fair, this whole thing was also a learning expereince.

But I've learned enough to last at least another year I think...

Of All Things

You will so laugh when you read this.

Yesterday was our 5th anniversary, of course. And I told you Brian was taking me some place that was a surprise. I also shared that the 5th anniversary is the year of "wood."

This just kills me.

My surprise was shopping for the dinning room table I've been wanting for like four and a half years! Grandma came and picked up the little guy. Then we rushed off to an "appointment." Before we left the driveway, however, Brian tied a scarf around my eyes so I couldn't see. I followed all the turns until we left C hwy, then I got lost and truly had no idea where we were going. He took the scarf off at my fav furniture store!

We had a great time, looking through all the selections without worrying about anyone climbing on top of the tables. I found two that I like a lot, one of which we could get at a great price as it was returned with a *tiny* nick on one corner. I understand not wanting flaws in furniture you paid full price for; I also have no problem getting a discount on something I'll never notice!!!

I'm going to do some more shopping (any excuse, right?) but I'm so excited about my anniversary gift! Wood! Who'd a thunk?

The Year of Wood?

Happy Anniversary to me! Today marks five whole years together-- which sounds so much better than saying we've been married for four. Why is that?

Curiously, I looked up that whole "year of the ___" for anniversaries. You know, 1st anniversary is paper, give your spouse a book etc. Year five is wood. Dandy. Now we can have a fire.

But even more curious to me is what we are doing tonight. We have a babysitter. We have plans. I even have clothes. I just don't have a clue about where we are going.

I've been warned it's nothing too fancy. Frankly it has been so long since the two of us went out (last May) I wouldn't care if he took me bowling.

Although, it might not matter if he had told me. The other day I was cleaning a closet and I stumbled across a Wal-Mart sack. Inside was something we both wanted, something that seemed suspiciously like an anniversary present. So I wrapped it up and put it back. And I'll be durn if I didn't completely forgot what it was. No clue whatsoever.

But I do remember where it is...

Are You Missing Humor?

If you don't work with your family each day in a business arrangement you really have no idea what you're missing. Namely-- humor. For example:

The other night my brother and sister-in-law went to a football game and left their three year old with my mother-in-law. After the toddler woke up from his nap my husband and father-in-law decided he and Grandma should both come to the field and help with harvest. Meanwhile I've fixed dinner and taken it out to the field. My little guy and I are riding with Brian in the combine.

So MIL calls hubby and says we need the semi, so she's going to drive his combine while he goes and gets it. We stop to switch with she and my nephew, but since all of the family is in the combine we end up staying in our vehicles and driving back to the car. Then the three of us get in the Grand Prix (which is parked in the middle of a field after a two mile trek through newly cut bean stocks) and the two of them begin harvesting. We drive two miles down the rode and drop Brian off so he came pick up the semi. He drives it back to the edge of the field and then I drive him all the way back where he gets into his combine. Then MIL gets into the truck with the three year old and drives across the field to the other combine driven by my father-in-law. She switches with him so he can drive the loaded semi back to "home base" where the bins are.

At least they are amusing.