Our Gingerbread House

Kevin, Trey and I attempted to make a gingerbread house the other day. Usually, I try to control the decorating too much. This time, I let them do whatever they wanted. We had a lot of fun. Some of the highlights of the activity included:

*This conversation with Kevin...
Kevin: "Mom, you didn't become an engineer in college, did you."
Me: "Um, no. Why?"
Kevin: "Look at the house."
The roof had slid off. Again.
Me: "Oh, I'll fix it." Again.
Kevin: "You're not a very good gingerbread house engineer, mom."

*Trey freaking out because he got a small drop of frosting on his finger after putting candy on the roof. "Wipe it, mom! Get it OFF!" I know, most kids would happily lick their finger. Not Trey.

*Me knocking over the container of tiny, hard candy balls - sending them into a bouncing frenzy across the kitchen. And having no one to yell at but myself.

*Trey constantly telling Kevin and I that the candy needs to stay "organized." (I didn't even know he knew what that word meant).

*Kevin teaching Trey the lyrics to "Pinecones and Holly Berries." So cute. They both sang it over and over while they decorated.

*Trey jumping up and down in excitement because when he got the nerve to put another piece of candy on the house, he did not get frosting on his finger. "Look, mom, I did it! My finger is still clean!"
*Kevin telling me that I make the best gingerbread houses in the world. (Apparently, he forgot about his previous comments).

*Kevin making Bryan a map from the garage door to the kitchen where the final product was being displayed, so he would be sure to see "the best gingerbread house ever" when he got home.

*Trey giving Kevin a hug and telling him "I love you" with no prompting of any sort.

Old Photos and Memories...

I was tagged by my friend, Tina, to do this post. You are supposed to go to your sixth picture folder and show the sixth picture and tell about it. This picture is not very good quality. It was back in the olden days when we didn't have a digital camera - so this has been scanned and saved to my computer.
Anyway, this picture brings back a lot of memories because it was taken right before Kevin had surgery on his cleft lip when he was just a few weeks old. I know it wasn't major heart surgery or anything, but I was still terrified. He was my first baby. I was getting ready to give him to a doctor who would change the way he looked for the rest of his life.

I remember him not being allowed to eat for six hours before the surgery. For a baby who ate every two hours, that was a long time. I fully expected him to cry for the last four hours before his surgery, and I was dreading it. Bryan gave him a blessing the night before. Kevin didn't make a single peep the morning of his surgery. Didn't act hungry at all. I know it seems trite now, but to an anxious and frazzled new mom, it was a small miracle. It let me know that God does hear and answer our prayers - even if it's something as small as "please don't let my baby feel hungry for a few hours."

The surgery went great. He cried a lot during the next eight weeks. He had every right to. His arms were tied to his diaper so he couldn't move them enough to touch his face. He had plastic stints up his nose that didn't look comfortable at all. He had a metal bar over his lip so nothing would hit it, and every time I had to take the metal bar off, I ripped a layer of skin off of his cheeks with the tape. Not fun.

I was so worried about everything at the time. Looking back, it all seems so simple. Of all the things to go wrong, a cleft lip was an easy fix and a welcome "defect" (I hate that word) compared to most of the things I saw. I learned a lot during his first three months of life, and if I had a chance to do it over, I wouldn't change a thing.

Trey's Christmas Ornament

Every year around Christmastime, I buy the boys each an ornament for the Christmas tree. When they are grown and have their own families, they can have these ornaments to remind them of their childhood Christmas trees. I try to buy nice, timeless ornaments that won't look dated 20 years from now. That's the goal anyway.

Well, this year I thought it would be fun to let the boys pick out their own ornaments. We went to the store and found an entire wall full of Christmas ornaments. They were so excited. I thought to myself, let them choose whatever ornament they want. It will be more special if they get to pick it out all by themselves and it will show their personalities.

Kevin, who loves this kind of stuff, spent a long time going through each of the ornaments - touching, feeling, inspecting each of them to find the perfect one. First it was a snowman, then it was a star, then it was an ice cream cone. He finally settled on a candy cane. Not my favorite, but he could have done worse.

Surprisingly, Trey was even getting into it. I thought for sure he would have picked out the shiny car or the boy riding a bicycle. After much deliberation, this is what he comes up with...

Seriously?!? It's easily the UGLIEST ornament in the store. It's the ornament that I secretly said to myself, they better not pick that one. I know that I said that I would let them choose whatever they want - I meant, unless they pick that one. (No offense to anyone who may have this on their tree, but really?)

Once Trey makes up his mind, there is no going back. I tried my best. I showed him the shiny silver car and the boy riding a bicycle. I showed him snowmen and Santa Claus. I even tried bribing him with a trip to the candy store on the way home. Nothing worked. "No, I WANT the red bird."

So I bought the ugliest ornament in the store. I tried telling Trey that we should put his towards the back of the tree "so it would be safe." He didn't go for that little lie, and he put it front and center.

So for the next twenty or so years, we will put the ugly red bird on our Christmas tree. When Trey has his own tree, I will be sure to give it to him and let him know how insistent he was on buying such a special ornament.

(I think I'll be picking their ornaments from now on).