Night and Day

My kids could not be any more different. Here are some of our recent conversations:

Colin: "You're the best mommy in the world."

Camden: "I wish I didn't have a mom."

Colin: "I am trying to be good so I don't get on the naughty list."

Camden: "Since I am on the naughty list, what can I do to get off of it?"

Colin: I don't really like this present but I will be thankful for what I got anyway."

Camden: "Can we take this back?"

And the clencher of it all....

This morning Colin was playing very quietly with this legos. After he finished his creation, he handed it to me and said, "Mom, this is a reminder of what Christmas is all about. Jesus was born on Christmas Day but he died for us so that our sins could be forgiven." What a proud Mommy moment.

And then, three hours later in the car... I looked back in the rear view mirror to see Camden with a plastic grocery bag over his head. He put it on his head because he thought it was funny. (Sorry, no pictures of that one.)

Lord, please give me strength.

Frostbite

Today it was cold. I mean really, really cold. When I checked the weather before taking the kids to gymnastics the reports said it felt like -11 degrees. That's really, really cold. After gymnastics Colin wanted to play outside. After a battle of "whys" and "hows" I finally explained to him the process of frostbite. I did not want to have to go that far, but my mommy brain can only function for so long before I just throw in the towel. Had I turned around to look at Colin's face while I was explaining this to him in the car, I am certain that I would have seen the most horrified look. I know because I saw that look about two minutes after we walked through the door.

(Okay, so this picture has nothing to do with what happened today. This is actually on Colin's last day of Pre-K. He cried and cried and cried. The teachers called me to warn me before I picked him up that he had been crying all morning. I had to take pictures of him with all of his favorite toys. He was going to miss Pre-K and did not want to leave. Someday I will remind him that he cried everyday I TOOK HIM TO PRE-K. He left a hole in my heart every time I dropped him off. So on the last day, he decided he did not want to leave. Can you tell that he can be a bit overly dramatic?)

Back to the story....Scooby wanted outside so naturally I let her out. Colin went running to the door calling for her and crying. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Then it clicked. He thought Scooby was going to have her extremities frozen off from frostbite. Why oh why did I have to lose my patience on that subject? I'll probably never convince Colin that is is safe to go outside in the cold.

On another great note, Colin told me tonight that he was so thankful that I was his mom. He said he loved me and that I was the best mom ever. This was totally unprompted so I thought it was really sweet. He went on to say how much he loved daddy too. I was waiting for him to say something about Camden but it never happened. So I asked him if he was thankful for Camden. He told me, "I'll have to think about that." Ah, brotherly love. I mean, who wouldn't love this sweet little kid?

Stories From the Week

I have a lot of random stories and thoughts from the week. I'll just start writing them as they pop in my mind.

First of all, I love Christmas time. I know most people feel the same way. (Except for those Ba Humbug people out there that hate to shop, hate crowds and hate carols.) I, on the other hand, enjoy all that comes along with Christmas. The crowds, the baking, the shopping, the baking, the singing, the baking, the Christmas movies; even the cold....to a point. It has been just downright cold here. Today it was 7 degrees when we were standing outside waiting for a bus that never showed. I ended up taking Colin to school but my toes were frozen for hours. Since it has been so cold outside, I have not been able to get the kids outside much. With two boys, this promotes a lot of wrestling, running and throwing things indoors. Just call before you come over so I can pick up the house. :-)

We've done a lot of our Christmas crafts already this year. I am not sure how I am going to fill the 3+ week break that the kids have off of school. We've already decorated our gingerbread house. The boys always have so much fun licking and tasting all of the candy. Be warned, do not eat anything off of this house if you visit. It's all been licked by one or the other.

It seems that a $10.00 gingerbread house is a good investment for us. This gingerbread house allows for about an hour of quite time listening to Christmas music in an otherwise chaotic house. It seems that candy actually calms my kids. Go figure. It must really taste good!

Camden decided to really get into the spirit this year. He took the term "stockings" to a whole new level. Yes, those are stockings on his feet. He also had to change his clothes so that we could get the full effect of the stockings. Fabio, move over. Here comes Rico Suave.

Of course, after the pictures were taken he hopped down off of the step. Not such a big deal unless you consider that just below the stairs is wood flooring. He dropped the snow globe and it cracked. Tears and apologies were had all around. I guess there's always the after Christmas sales for a good replacement. I'll replace the two broken ornaments from the decorating extravaganza too. It seems like we end up with a few casualties every year. Funny how that works with small children. So, our holiday traditions continue. We have some decorations outside. The stockings are hung. The tree is lit up brilliantly. The boys have their own little trees in their rooms. We have decorated a gingerbread house. I have glue stuck to my floor from all of the seasonal crafts. We've even made sugar cookies already. The only thing missing this year will be family. This will be my first year, ever, to not have family around on Christmas morning. It is going to be very strange for me. I am excited that that kids get to wake up in their own beds and run down to their tree on Christmas morning. However, that void of time that happens after the gifts are all unwrapped and wonderful lunch is cooking in the oven is going to be hard to fill this year. I'll just have to keep thinking happy thoughts. I can remember pieces of so many holidays spent with my family (and Steve's family too). I just hope that someday my kids want me around as much as I want my own family around. I am not sure how we all grew up and still stay pretty close. My parents must have done something right.

So now, just a few random thoughts. Camden is convinced that the word "teenager" is pronounced "teamager". He thinks you have to be on team to be this age. Colin has tried to convince him otherwise but he is not budging. Cam's can be a little stubborn. Wonder where he gets that from?

Colin got his first report card today from Kindergarten. I was not expecting it. To see his grades and achievements assessed on paper. Well, it was quite a defining moment for me. His reports were all good. They don't really get grades at this point but his assessments were all very good. I am so proud of him. He loves school so much. Some days it is a bit of a struggle to get him out the door. However, once he is there he really shines. It seems like college is just around the corner. Someone better be there to pick me up off the floor when that happens.