It's time to stop lying to myself and come clean to all you out in cyberspace. I am never going to send my Christmas cards out this year. Seriously...it's not gonna happen. We took the picture. We printed it out on cute paper. I'm staring at the drawer that is holding the stack of envelops with addresses on them. But who am I kidding? It is practically "i love you" month and I don't see me sitting down and going through with that project any time soon. Or later, for that matter. I did manage to send them out to most the family. A few friends got a copy as well, but I'm not sure which ones. So, instead of giving out excuses I decided to post the picture I used on the blog.

Here is a VERY late Merry Christmas wish for YOU! (imagine cute Christmas-y paper with sweet little Christmas trees all over the background.) -from the Joneses

Yesterday I picked up little Ethan from the bus and as we settled down I realized that he smelled. I kept sniffing him and I could have sworn that he'd been lighting up in the playground at school. Okay, maybe not him but I did wonder if someone at school was smoking around him. During my onslaught of questions, I realized that Ethan doesn't know what a cigarette is. So I described it to him, "You know...was someone holding a little white stick to their lips and blowing out smoke?" Ethan looked like he got it and asked, "You mean when someone is eating dirt?" I have no idea how that worked out in his head. After some more intense CSI investigating, I finally realized the smell wasn't on the boy. For one thing, it was getting stronger.
I started walking the house trying to find where it was coming from. I opened the door to see if someone was burning something outside but the air there was clear. The smell was definitely coming from inside the house. That's when the panic started growing in my gut. I knew that smell...it was the smell of a burning house. (I'm a little traumatized still) So I started looking around and thinking what I should save should I need to quickly vacate the house. My quilts. Pictures. Oh yeah...the kids.
At that moment my entire kitchen filled up with dark, choking smoke. The dishwasher cycle had turned to dry and usually clear steam pours out of the vent...but not his time. That's right. I nearly burnt down my house with my dishwasher. Somehow one of my wooden spoons had fallen down onto the hot coil on the bottom of the washer and was smoldering away. When I got to it, it was nearly burnt through and there were a bunch of red, angry embers threatening to burst into flame at any moment. So, despite our freezing weather, I had both doors open and all fans going trying to clear out the smoke. I've sent my washer through another cycle already, but the smoke smell is stubbornly clinging on.
It is amazing how many times I've left the house or gone to sleep with the dishwasher on, without thinking twice about it. Robert swears that it wouldn't have gone anywhere being contained in the washer but he doesn't know what it looks like to see your house burn down. Or to walk through it the next day. Little shiny red embers have big dreams.
It is amazing how past experiences make you extra wary of the slightest possibility of a recurrence. I hate candles in the house. Robert uses one of those lighters that looks more like a mini-blowtorch than anything else and every time he uses it my heart jumps. I hide matches so well that I can never seem to find them. I'm nervous about the little pop firecrackers that have made their way into my kitchen drawer. I have two gas fireplaces that I've switch off the gas to.
Hmmm. It now seems that what I thought was a healthy dose of precaution is a full-fledged paranoia. So glad I shared. What I really wanted to say was that my spoon caught on fire yesterday and it was a little scary and very smelly. The end.

Snow Day!

We don't get these very often. In fact this is our first and may be our last snow day of the year. Even now, the sun has come out and the snow has begun to melt. As soon as the kids woke up they were aching to get out into the middle of it. Since school was closed (I know...we are such babies here) we all got to go out and roll around in it. It was so much fun to watch the kids throw snowballs, make snow angels and eat all the snow they could handle. The weather was calm and warm and the snow was fluffy white softness. After the kids were frozen through, we came in and filled up on hot chocolate with marshmallows.

After we warmed up we gathered together in front of the TV to watch the inauguration. I was so moved by President Obama's speech. It was wonderful to have a president give such a eloquent speech (crazy that his speech writer is only 27...so I heard). I loved the line about how America would reach out the hand of friendship to all other countries if they would first unclench their fist. Something like that. I also loved the references to how far we've come from the sheer determination and work of our forefathers. All those unnamed heroes that have bought us our freedom with their sweat and tears, all because they wanted a better future for their children. I did feel a sad that President Bush's work wasn't acknowledged. I didn't agree with a lot that he did, but he did carry the mantle of the Presidency with respect and diligence. He is also a part of the fabric of our history and desired the best for all of us. I'm exhausted just trying to run our little household. But I did love President Obama's speech and I hope he can continue to inspire Americans to step forward to work together to improve our country and lives. American's have an uncanny ability to accomplish amazing things when spurred on by hope, faith, determination & inspiration.
I also was fresh from watching Martin Luther King's entire "I have a Dream" speech. I don't think I've ever seen that in its entirety. (They played it on CNN yesterday.) It was so moving and emotional for me to watch. I can't imagine how hard it would be for King or anyone listening to him that day to believe that we would be watching our first African American President be sworn into office nearly 45 years later. I don't think the kids will remember this day but I was glad that they were able to watch it. I'm so glad I was able to see it.

On a more silly note. Here is a small video of the kids caught playing together. Enjoy: