Shiny New Toys

It has been a week of sparkles and glimmers around here. We woke up one morning to shiny, happy toddlers bombarding our bed. After much wriggling about by the miniatures that invaded us, I bailed, leaving Joshua to fend for himself against the twosome. As I was hauling myself up, Thomas declared, 'take picture'. He was not to be swayed from this, and so I grabbed the camera and made everyone blink! Cute, aren't they?



That evening, Joshua came home in a fire building mood. Not that I blame him. It was cold out, and snow was being predicted. This being Alabama, I don't put a lot of stock in the weathermen when they start shouting the dire warnings of snow and ice and blah, blah, blah. So very frequently, it just turns out to be rain and cold. But rarely cold enough to make that rain into snow. Anyway, Thomas and Joshua headed to the back yard wood pile to grab up some fuel for our fire. Thomas was a helper by carrying the 'flashylight' for Daddy, and they soon returned with a box full of wood. Thomas was interested in the fire building process, but it simply could not compare to his newfound tool. The 'flashylight'. Once we had the fire going, we cut all the lights and enjoyed the firelight. And the flashylight. Thomas was enamored.





Alas, we took his beloved flashylight away. In reality, it is a big MagLite, and we did not want to chance an argument between our offspring, just in case the 'don't hit' part wasn't at the forefront of two little brains. One whack with that flashylight could do some serious damage! Thomas was crushed. So much so that Joshua went out the next day and bought cheapy, light weight flashylights for the kids.

Did I mention that we did get that snow? Yup. In a rare turn of events, the weathermen had it right, and we awoke to snow on Thursday morning. Not much, mind you, but still, there was a fine shimmering layer of snow (mostly ice and sleet build up, but who's counting?) covering our world. And it was raining, slowly chipping away at our blessed whiteness. Our front yard was an odd mixture of flowers who think it is Spring and sparkley snow.



With the help of Sarah and Thomas and their new flashylights, the laundry process is gaining momentum. I hear shouts of 'I help, Mommy, I help' each time I enter the utility room. I am happy to let them assist me, and am actually grateful as my belly grows larger to accommodate Baby 3, that they insist on lugging the laundry baskets around for me. Thank goodness for the flashylights, though. Otherwise, we might never find our way to the utility room with only the light of day to guide us!