The Greening of the house

Today is the 1st day of Advent. The season when we prepare for the coming of the Christ child. In our house, we decorate our home with all the decorations it can hold and start our tradition of lighting our advent wreath, enjoying songs and the Christmas story each night.

I love this day. Every ornament I hang on the tree reminds me of the person who gave it to us. We have an ornament that Jim's sister Amy bought us the 1st Christmas that we were married. It has 2 little penguins with monogrammed scarfs and "The Lynchs" underneath. I also love the teeny tiny baby bottles that our nieces, Lauren and Delaney, used when they were preemie newborns, it reminds me of how precious they both are to us. Today I hung up all the ornaments my Pop got me when I was a little girl, the Mickey Mouse ones and a train carousel. He got me an ornament every year for many years and I treasure them. I love the trip down memory lane they all provide.

Today we had a special guest to help us with our decorating. Poppa was here to experience the madness and glory that goes along with decorating for Christmas. The house looks great and hopefully Poppa is no more worse for the wear after wrestling Nolan with the ornaments.

Enjoy the season!

Banana Hot Dogs

When I came downstairs this morning I was greeted by a very enthusiastic 6 year old saying "Mommy, can you please make this recipe for breakfast?!". As I inquired further I was told that the recipe consists of hot dog bun slathered with peanut butter, a banana down the middle and honey (or jelly) sprinkled on top. Voila! Banana hot dog. Enjoy your recipe of the day compliments "ze frook".

Wendy Waters to the rescue!

As a precursor to today's story you need to know the following information: At our house, everyone is a Rescue Hero and we all have Rescue Persona that we are required to take on at a minutes notice. Jim is the leader of the Rescue Heros, Warren Waters. I am Wendy Waters (his daughter) and then we have Cliff Hanger (Quinn), Billy Blazes (Nolan), and Smokey the fire dog(Nolan's webkin tiger). We are often the dutiful rescue family off to faux rescue someone or something in our hyperjet (AKA our black van).

Last night as I was getting the kids ready for bed I hear Nolan say "Oh NO! Where's Smokey the Fire Dog!?" No one had seen the beloved fire dog in at least 4 hours. After extensive serching it was determined that his precious animal friend must have been left in the van which was currently not at our house. After a few minutes of hysteria, I reassured Billy Blazes that Smokey would return to the command center as soon as he is done helping Warren with whatever rescue they are currently needed at and climb right into bed with him. All was well.

When Jim returned home Smokey was in fact NOT in the van. Now I was starting to panic. How could we loose Smokey? I now remember telling Nolan to put Smokey on the step and that was the last we saw of him.

This morning when we asked Nolan about it he said "I put Smokey in that LEGO box on the step and now I can't find the box!". "I know, the box is in the garbage Nolan!", I respond. This leads to many tears from Nolan and a Rescue Hero call to action from Quinn (AKA Cliff Hanger).

Cliff decided that we would have to get the Swiffer and take off the sweeping end, replacing it with a long string of tape which we would then lower in to the huge garbage bin. Smokey would stick to the tape and we would pull him to safety.

Billy decided that we should stick the vaccuum tube in there and Smokey would stick to it when we turned on the vaccuum and then we could pull him out.

In the end, Wendy hoisted Billy over the top of the can and he pulled the box out that Smokey had spent a long, cold, lonely night in. We quickly pulled Smokey to safety, wrapped him in a hug and warned him never to go in a box again.

I am sure you will all sleep better knowing that Smokey is safe and sound and that the Rescue Heros are on the job.

Happy Birthday Month to Quinn!

Ok- I am going to steal an idea from my super talented cousin about how to make people feel special. On their birthdays she posts 10 reasons why they are special and I love it- so Marisa, I am stealing your lovely idea and making it my own.

To Quinn Riley- Here are 10 reasons we celebrate you.1. You are too smart for your own good- and you know it.2. you have the most adorable devilish eyes.3. You love to learn all the new things life has to offer- good and bad.4. Your heart is so sweet and loving, even though you try and hide that.5. When you do something, you do it 100% and give it your all.6. You think your mom is the best cook on the planet.7. You can build the most amazing LEGO creations I have ever seen.8. You are yourself always and do not let others change you but instead influence others.9. You are creative and are never afraid to try and make your creations come to life.10. You are our first child, you are the one who made me a mom.I love you my 6 year old!