A Little of This...A Little of That

Out of the mouths of babes...
A little background: Jackson has a set of bathtub crayons that he just loves to play with. I have two rules when it comes to these crayons; he can only color in the bathtub and not on the tile around the tub, and that he not color with the black crayon because I'm afraid it will stain the tub. I don't know why I haven't just thrown that crayon away yet. I guess I haven't thought about it until now. Anyways, Jackson follows both of these rules really well. Usually.

Last night I wasn't feeling great and I decided to lay down in our bed for a little bit while Jeremy gave Jackson his bath. Jeremy stepped out for a second to get Jackson's pajamas and I hear Jackson talking to himself in the tub. I started paying close attention to what he was saying when I kept hearing "black crayon" this and "black crayon" that. I peeked into the bathroom and Jackson had practically covered the tub with that black crayon. I ran into the bathroom and we had the following conversation:

Me: "Jackson, what are you doing?"
Jackson: "Just coloring."
Me: "Why in the world do you have the black crayon?"
Jackson: "Because Daddy gave it to me."
Me: "But you know better than to color with the black crayon in the tub."
Jackson: (insert long pause) "Welllllllll, Daddy should have known better than to give it to me."

At which point I had to decide that Jackson had won his argument. I was outsmarted by a three year old. And in Jeremy's defense, he claims he never knew that the black crayon was off limits. And he wondered why I hadn't just thrown it away.

Moving on...
And here are the pictures that Mom and I took in the downtown area this past Saturday. We shot pictures for 2 hours and Jackson was such a trooper! I was amazed at how well he did. We wanted to make sure that we had some great shots to choose from for our Christmas cards, and I think we were successful. Mom did an amazing job and I was really proud of how they turned out. Enjoy!

Peter Pan pose

So serious...

I can jump so far!

Cutie pie!

This is his fake smile.

Check out my belly!

Such a stinker!

Posing outside the firestation annex

Great shot of downtown

Love.This.Kid.

I'm sooo over this!

Silly boy!

He knows he's cute!

Precious!

Artsy shot (I took this one)

No. I. Wont.

Another favorite

I took this shot. I love the way it turned out!

Jackson upclose and personal

Have a great day!

Veterans Day

Please take some time today to remember those who have served our country, both past and present, so faithfully to protect and defend our freedoms. Also, please remember the families of those who were tragically killed at Fort Hood. I pray that God gives comfort to the families and friends who lost loved ones in such a senseless act.

Veterans Day Tribute

When America had an urgent need,
These brave ones raised a hand;
No hesitation held them back;
They were proud to take a stand.

They left their friends and family;
They gave up normal life;
To serve their country and their God,
They plowed into the strife.

They fought for freedom and for peace
On strange and foreign shores;
Some lost new friends; some lost their lives
In long and brutal wars.

Other veterans answered a call
To support the ones who fought;
Their country had requirements for
The essential skills they brought.

We salute each and every one of them,
The noble and the brave,
The ones still with us here today,
And those who rest in a grave.

So here’s to our country’s heroes;
They’re a cut above the rest;
Let’s give the honor that is due
To our country’s very best.

By Joanna Fuchs

An Amazing Freebie!

Over the past several years I have sent out a photo card at Christmas. It started off as a picture of all three of us, but has now evolved into just a picture of Jackson. I was thinking about what we would do this year when I spotted a great tip; Heather over at Freebies 4 Mom has posted an amazing freebie. She's sharing a code for 50 free photo cards to be printed (with free shipping) making this an amazing actual freebie! The site is run through Fuji, and you actually get to design your card from start to finish. The code is supposed to be good through November 30th.

I tried making my card yesterday, but the site was bogged down with everyone trying to order. It's up and running again today and I just placed my order. 50 cards for free; you can't beat that! Heather does have some tips in case you have some trouble. The only problem I had was that the site didn't recognize the promo code when I entered it, but I just tried again and it worked. Wanna see the pictures I chose? Sure you do!

Jackson as Peter Pan!

Such a silly monkey!

Our little stinker!

Isn't he such a cutie! Have a great day and get ready to take advantage of this amazing offer!

Stepping On My Soapbox

*Wade's World Disclaimer* If you are a Democrat or a Liberal, you might want to just move on and not read this post. You will not like it. Consider yourself warned. Comments that I deem rude or argumentative will be deleted without hesitation or apologies. I've had enough of all that left wing garbage being crammed down my throat. I'm not like Fox News. I never claimed to be fair and balanced.

*And now I'm stepping on my soapbox.

All this mess about health care reform is making me sick. Did I miss something in the Bill of Rights or the Constitution that deemed that health insurance was a God given right? Last time I checked, our rights were that of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I don't see health care mentioned anywhere. I watched in horror this weekend as our House of Representatives passed Nancy Pelosi's Health care bill after passing the Stupak Amendment. Now I was supporting the Stupak amendment because it would ban the use of federal tax dollars to pay for abortion, and it's passage was a major victory for the pro-lifers out there like me, but I knew that if the amendment passed that several of the "on the fence" democrats would in fact vote for the health care bill to pass. In that way, the amendment was a double-edged sword; vote against abortion, vote for government takeover of a private industry. And I heard that Pelosi had already worked a deal that if the Stupak amendment passed through the House, that the amendment would disappear in the Senate version, which basically means that lots of well intentioned Representatives voted for this bill in good faith, only to be snookered once again by Pelosi.

Now I have several friends that think I'm somewhat obsessed with politics. I listen to conservative talk radio for about 6 hours a day (in the background while I'm at work), and I admit that I check Drudge Report almost constantly. These politicians are making life and death decisions for us, and we should be ashamed of ourselves if we don't hold them accountable for their choices. We should know exactly how they are voting and what the issues are. People have given their lives in order for us to have freedom to speak out, and I'll be darned if I'm not going to use my voice.

Here's some issues that you need to be aware of as this vote comes before the Senate:

1. According to Pelosi, this 1,990 page document will cost an estimated $829 billion. The actual costs will be closer to $1.055 trillion. That's a trillion dollars that belongs to our children and grandchildren. We are robbing them blind, and they don't even pay taxes yet.

2. Expanding Medicaid, and gutting private Medicare. Pelosi's plan includes using $426 billion from future Medicare spending to fund universal coverage. What does this mean for senior citizens? In addition to not getting a social security check increases, their Medicare coverage will be cut in order to basically put all Americans on Medicaid.

3. Tax the wealthy; The Bill includes $572 billion in new taxes that will apply to anyone earning over $1 million for joint filers, or $500,000 for singles. Their new tax rate will rise to 45% of their income in 2011. This won't directly affect my checkbook at first because Heaven knows, I don't make a million dollars, but this cost will trickle down because it punishes those who are successful. Since when should someone who has made an honest living be punished for their success? They shouldn't. That's straight up socialism, and last time I checked, we lived in a democracy. But get this: even if the government took 100% of earnings for those making $500,000 or more, it's still not enough money. That's where the middle class comes in. Yeah! You will now be considered rich and they will raise your taxes because we still have to pay for the "have nots" in our society. Like a hungry dragon, it's never going to be enough. The government will never be satisfied as long as it's taking from those who still have.

4. Despite the strain on small businesses, and our floundering economy, businesses would be required to pay 8% of their payroll to the government if they don't offer insurance or pay at least 72.5% of their workers' premiums. Mark my words: this will directly affect salaries because if a company is forced to pay for health insurance, they still have to make a profit. In an economy with 10.2% unemployment, I predict that these rates will go even higher when businesses have to make the choice of paying for insurance or letting workers go.

5. You will be mandated by law to buy government approved health insurance. If you choose not to purchase insurance, you will be taxed up to 2.5% of your gross income. If you choose not to pay the tax, you will be penalized with a fine up to $250,000 and could serve up to 5 years in prison. So now the government will force you to purchase something that you may feel you don't even need. What's next? The government taxing cokes because they need to stop us from getting fat? Oh, wait. That's already in the works. The government needs to focus on bigger issues than what I'm drinking.

6. The government will control health care costs and will deem if a doctor prescribed health care regime is essential and cost effective. This in turn will lead to reduced medical care. Basically, a government committee will get to decide if you are worth saving.

Final thoughts: This plan still does NOTHING to cover tort reform. Our health care costs are soaring because of frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits and this bill will do nothing to touch that.

Congress will still not be included as part of this plan. How dare they pass something that they deem "wonderful' and "life changing" and not be willing to join the plan like the rest of America. I'm furious about this bill, and you better believe that if my Senators vote for this bill that I will do everything in my power to see that they don't get re-elected. I'm fed up with this garbage coming down from D.C.

Pelosi is evil and and Obama is a socialist. Together they are a terrifying combination. 85% of Americans are satisfied with the health care they have. What sense does it make to throw an entire industry down the goverment drain to satisfy the needs of 15% of the people? The bottom line is that I'm a tax paying American who works hard for what I have. I'm not against helping people when they are down on their luck, but I am tired of paying for people who have never earned an honest dime in their life. I'm tired of the government just helping themselves to what I've worked hard for. I'm tired of the government interferring in my life. And I'm tired of the government telling me what's good for me.

And my blood pressure is going up....I guess I better get that treated before Obamacare goes into force and I'm forced to be led out to pasture.

*And I'm now off my soapbox. Tomorrow we will return to our regularly scheduled programming.*

I Need This Shirt!

Honesty in Marketing

Rick and Bubba shared this commercial this morning and it owned me. What a refreshing and honest take on trying to get business, and at the very least, it takes guts (or something else) to run a commerical like this.

So have a great day. Or don't. I don't care :)

P.S. I really do hope you have a great day and a great weekend!

Ask Amy Anything

Because it's Thursday and I've got nothing, I'm opening today up to another edition of Ask Amy Anything. Just leave me a comment and I'll answer soon! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Conservative...And Proud Of It!

In the words of the always wise Maxine...

Let me get this straight:

We're going to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, pssed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a President that also hasn't read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a Treasury Chief who didn't pay his taxes, all to be overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese,
and financed by a country that's nearly broke.

What could possibly go wrong?

And y'all, I sat up watching the election results last night coming in and I was so excited to see a GOP sweep in Virginia (for only the 2nd time in history), and that Chris Christie defeated Jon Corzine in New Jersey! I know the White House will spin this to say that these were only "local" elections, but I truly believe the tide is turning for conservatives!

Have a great day!

Does Anyone Else Hear That Ticking Noise?

I'm seriously under pressure to have another baby. Not "youneedtohaveababyrightnowwhatareyouwaitingfor" pressure, but more of "its time" pressure. The pressure is not so much by family (thank goodness), but mostly by well-meaning friends and coworkers.

And Jackson.

And I don't mind the pressure, but I'm so afraid to step off the ledge on this one because seriously, you know what you are about to get into again with a second baby.

And no kidding, but our three year old son is putting the pressure on more than anyone else. Jackson is obsessed with wanting a baby in the family, and if asked, he'll say that he wants a baby sister, but a baby brother would be okay too.

I'm glad we got that cleared up.

I guess much of his baby fever is due to the fact that his KK is pregnant, his Sunday School teacher Kara is pregnant, and our good friends, Miranda and Britney just had babies. Just yesterday he told me that if we have a baby that he'll make sure to change the baby's diapers (except the poopy ones) and will make the baby a bottle of milk when its hungry.

He's also promised to love the baby and take good care of it and to not drop the elbow bomb on the baby until it's big.

Another thing I'm glad we got cleared up...

And I'm sitting here thinking about a million things at once, as if I don't have enough on my plate already.

A little voice is telling me that it's time to start thinking about another baby since I've always wanted my children 4 years apart.

A little voice is telling me that, hello, I'm 29 years old and these things take time, which I'm short on since I wanted to be done having kids by the time I'm 30.

A little voice is wondering how Jackson would really handle a new addition to the family.

A little voice is wondering if I'm over analyzing things as usual.

A little voice is asking me how will we afford another baby.

A little voice is asking me if I'm ready to start over.

A little voice is reminding me of how much I struggled to get pregnant.

A little voice is reminding me of that ever present ticking sound.

The morals of the story: Jackson needs to quit pressuring his Mama, and I have too many voices in my head.

Tick...Tick...Tick...

Its Monday Already?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Ours was wonderful. Busy, but great. Friday night we went to the downtown area and enjoyed the festival at First Baptist, and then Saturday night we went to the church where Jackson goes to school and had a wonderful time at their festival. Enjoy the pictures!

Spiderman ready to roll!

Spiderman, Nana and Tata

Riding the swings. He loved it, but he just didn't want his picture taken at all!

People thought he was scared, but no. He's just being difficult!

Loving the pony ride!

Such a stinker!

Hotdog dinner at his school

Jackson and Nana

He finally conquered his fear of inflatables!!!!

He loved the inflatable slide! He's always been terrified before, but we couldn't get him off this thing!

Playing games to get MORE candy!

Horse ride (not a pony this time!)

He loved the train ride!

And I just have to share this: Jackson, Nana and I decided to ride the hayride. We waited in line and when we got onto the hayride this adorable little girl runs up and sits right next to Jackson. He immediately got shy and hid his face. This sweet little girl says, "Hey Jackson!" and I realized that she was in his class. I asked her name and she said it was Amelia. I've heard all about Amelia, and know that she is Jackson's girlfriend. Well, Amelia saddled right up to Jackson and grabbed his hand so that they could hold hands during the ride! Isn't that so cute. Amelia's Daddy wasn't too pleased, and luckily for Amelia's Dad, Jackson wanted nothing to do with her because he was too shy! I think it's so sweet! And she was such a classy little gal, dressed up like Little Red Riding Hood.

If my three year old has to date, at least he's got good taste!

Have a great day!

Pumpkin Carving and Spiderman Captain Hook

So last night I carved our pumpkin. Jackson had a hard time choosing between a pirate, Mickey Mouse, or a monster, but he finally settled on the monster. The original plan was for him to help me with the pumpkin, but once he saw how gross it is inside a pumpkin, he refused! He kept saying, "Mama, that is gross and yucky and I'm not touching it!"

So I did it and was really pleased with the end result!

And today Jackson has a Halloween party at school. He was so excited about his costume until it was time to put it on. He pitched a fit! We finally convinced him to wear it as long as he got to take his pirate hook with him today. So, I would like to introduce you to Spiderman Captain Hook.

He also did NOT want his picture taken!

So I tricked him and told him that I was only taking a picture of his hook. It worked. He fell for it hook, line and sinker!

Have a great day and Happy Halloween!

Update from Jacksonville

So thanks to Jeremy's hard work and steadfast determination, Jackson can now say, "supercalifragilistic" and "expialidocious" but only as two separate words. It's quite funny, especially when he's insiting that "you say it like this!"

Jackson is going to be Spiderman for Halloween. He has a "Fall Festival" party tomorrow at his school that he gets to wear his costume to, and then tomorrow night we will be heading to the downtown area to go to FBC and do their fall festival. Then on Saturday night, we will be heading to the fall festival at the church where Jackson goes to school, and then, maybe, if we are not in "melt-down" mode, we may go through our neighborhood.

And speaking of Halloween, Last year my sister and I went to a Halloween party as Britney and and the very pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears. I was Britney and Kellyn was Jamie Lynn. A year later my sister is pregnant. Does this mean that a year after pretending to be Britney Spears that I've turned into a crazy person? Miranda, keep quiet!

So in thinking about Halloween costumes this year I thought about having Jeremy and I go as Jon and Kate Gosselin. It should be easy enough. I could just wear this wig and a pair of over sized sunglasses and yell at random brunette-haired children, and Jeremy could wear a diamond stud earring and follow me around pretending to be as disinterested as possible, or just not show up since Jon isn’t really in the picture anymore. Just a thought….

Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Papa!!!

Jeremy and I want to wish his Dad a wonderful and happy Birthday! We can't wait to see you! We hope you have an amazing day!

Happy Birthday Buddy!!!

I'm Nuts For This Kiddo!

He's only three and check out his coloring page from school yesterday! Look at that "coloring in the lines" talent!

I may be biased, but I think he's brilliant!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Last night during bathtime I decided to get all wild and crazy and put a tattoo on Jackson. We got the tattoo at the Sherrif's Office booth at our fair a few weeks back. Of course, like most people with tattoos, he wasn't ready to stop with one!

Jackson's new pose! He makes this face all the time now!

Double trouble!

Check out my guns!

Does this mean he's an undercover agent?

And after we got him out of the tub Jackson looked at me and said, "Thank you so much Mama for my tattoos!" Jeremy officially called it last night that if Jackson decides to get inked when he's older, it's all my fault!

And speaking of Jeremy, this morning as I was getting ready he came into the bedroom and said:

Jeremy: "Amy, Jackson can almost say 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' all by himself!"

Me: "Really?"

Jeremy: "Well, he can say the 'supercali' part!"

Me (insert crickets chirping): "That's not even close to the whole thing. You are sooo going to end up on the blog for that."

Have a great day!

At Least He's Got The Right Idea....

Mom and Dad watched Jackson for me on Saturday so that I could take a group of girls from our church to Birmingham, AL to go meet a missionary we have been collecting school supplies for. We had a great time, but as usual, my parents had a funny Jackson story to share with me when I got home.

Mom and Dad have a baby gate put up between their den and their kitchen to keep their dog Shadow contained. Mom had run out for a little bit, so my Dad was watching Jackson. Dad went over to thet gate and pretended like his foot was stuck and wouldn't come over the gate. Jackson, of course, was doing everything he could to help his Tata get off the gate and my Dad, of course, was doing a great job of pretending that he needed help.

Dad said after a minute or so Jackson just tore off running through the kitchen and Dad hollered to Jackson, "Where are you going, Jackson?"

Jackson hollered back, "I'll be back in a minute! I'm going to call 911!"

My Dad was dying laughing, but luckily caught Jackson before he was able to make his phone call.

But at least he know's what to do....

My First Crock Pot Flop (Which Worked to My Advantage)

I got all adventurous Friday and decided to try out a "make it all up as you go" crock pot recipe. Here's what I did: Open a package of chicken breasts and dump them into the crock pot. I then added a mixture of bbq sauce, Moore's sauce, Italian dressing, and Dale's sauce. I guess I was thinking that since the chicken would cook all day that it would need to stay moist. Guess what? It didn't work. The chicken was terrible! I opened the door to the house to smell something funny. It wasn't a burnt smell, just odd. When I tried the chicken I think I was a little surprised at how bad it was, but I was going to pass it off as edible and hope Jeremy didn't notice.

He did.

He took one bite and quickly pronounced it awful. There might have even been some gagging sounds involved.

Not that I'm bitter or anything. Ahem.

So I quickly enacted my family rule that if a recipe doesn't work out we are either ordering a pizza or going out for dinner. We decided to head to I-Hop for breakfast at dinner, but at the last minute changed our mind and went to the new Japanese hibachi place in town.

Can I just take a moment to tell you how much I love hibachi restaurants. I love them. I really do. Hands down it is my favorite thing to eat in the world. Too bad it costs and arm and a leg to eat at one.

Anyways, we decided to try out the Japanese place with Jackson. I know, it was a risky move with a three year old. I've seen many a kid freak out in the restaurants when they start up with the fire. I was praying we wouldn't encounter that. We talked on the way over with Jackson about how the cook would make our food at the table and that he would see some fire, but we stressed that it would not hurt him at all.

So we got in and got seated immediately. We ordered and they brought out our soup and salad. I think that's one of the things I love so much about these restaurants; you get so.much.food.

So Jackson was not a fan of the salad at all, and personally, I think he's crazy because that Ginger dressing is heaven on earth. But he LOVED the soup. While he was eating the soup, my ever-so-safety-conscience son was pointing out all the fire extinguishers in the room because, "I'm not gonna let the fire get to me."

And then the show started. Jackson was a little scared at first of the sounds, but quickly got into enjoying himself. Then the man lit something on fire, and guess what, Jackson didn't freak. He got a little scared, but all in all, it was not big deal.

Jackson loved the rice, he ate most of my steak, he was not a fan of the veggies (surprise, surprise), and he ate with kiddie chopsticks. I so wish that I had my camera with me. He told us that he loved the food. So now I know we'll be back. If only I could get him to like that Ginger dressing and we'd be all set.

And just for the family....new pictures of Jackson!

Jackson wanted to shave with Daddy!

Apparently he really enjoyed himself! (And not to worry, the safety cap is on!)

Have a great Monday!

It's The Song That Never Ends....

I’ve always heard about parents talk about the frustration that occurs when their child gets to the “why” stage of life. “why do we do this?” or “why are we going there?” type of questions. I know it gets old being questioned all the time, and I definitely know that Jackson is just trying to figure out his world, but I’m a little confused as to whether we’ve completely skipped over that line of questioning, or if we are just gearing up for it!

Jackson’s questions about life right now are “what” questions, and we get them all the time and usually it’s a question that we’ve answered about a million times already and his questions always take us in a circle!

Jackson: “What are we doing, Mama?”
Me: “We’re getting ready to go to church.”
Jackson: “What are we going to church for?”
Me: “To learn about God and Jesus.”
Jackson: “What are we going to learn about God and Jesus for?”
Me: “Because God made everything and we love him.”
Jackson: “What did God make everything for?”
Me: “Because he loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Jackson: “What does he want us to be happy for?”
Me: “Because God doesn’t like it when we’re sad.”
Jackson: “What does he not want us to be sad for?”
Me: “Because being sad is no fun.”
Jackson: “What is being sad no fun for?”
Me: “Because if we’re sad then we’re not happy and if we aren’t happy then we aren’t having fun.”
Jackson: “What are we not having fun for?”
Me: “We are having fun sweetie. We’re about to leave to go have some fun.”
Jackson: “What are we doing, Mama?”
Me: “We’re getting ready to go to church.”
Jackson: “What are we going to church for?”
Me: “I give up.”

It’s the song that never ends….

More Ruminations on Life

Katherine over at Grass Stains posted more Ruminations on life. I had to share them with you. They are too funny, and too true! Once again I've starred my favorites. Enjoy and leave me a comment with your favorite!

I'm 100% convinced that whenever I'm behind one of those trucks transporting about 18 cars, they're all going to fall on me and I'm going to die. Realistically I doubt this would ever happen, but you can bet your tail I'm switching lanes right now.

*I wish I could copy and paste things onto paper with my eyeballs.

*Yes, I'm pretty sure I turned the oven off before we left, but now that you ask, I'm pretty sure our apartment is definitely burning to the ground right now.

***I really can't wait until the day when I can hum a song into my computer and Google will tell me the name and artist.

*“This person was dumber than we initially thought" should be a valid and legal reason to fire anybody.

*There is no worse feeling than a failed nap.

Nothing is more excited than turning the radio on and hearing the chorus of your favorite song. And nothing is more disappointing than realizing it's the end of the song.-

The worst feeling in the world is when you are in the middle of a good story and realize no one is listening to you.

I hate scrolling down through all the U's just to find the United States ... No, I am not from Uganda.

Can we please just stop the "I can't believe it's the end of the month" conversation already? I don't think I can go another 60 some odd years listening to people constantly getting surprised by time moving forward.

I can never gauge accurately how much dressing to put on a salad or how much sauce to put on spaghetti. It's kind of ridiculous, actually.-

*A multivitamin a day keeps the vegetables away.

Who decided that every home needs a fake drawer directly below the kitchen sink?

No, Microsoft Word, my name is not spelled wrong.

Why is the universal "Save" button logo still a floppy disk? I'm pretty sure they became obsolete about a decade ago.

What is it about turning a picture black and white that makes people feel artistic?

Does anyone actually sing in the shower? I’ve tried it. I was alone, yet still mortified by the result. But in the car with the stereo cranked up so I can’t hear myself? I'm hitting every note, and sometimes better than the artist. I just know it.

*I love it when an impatient person tries to pass me, only to find out they totally misjudged the other lane and have to get right back behind me. I wish a sign would pop up on my back window and say, "Hi, you look awfully familiar..."

Can Someone Please Make The Imaginary Friend Behave?

Remember Jackson’s imaginary friend Allison? He’s still wrecking havoc around our house. The other day Jeremy came into the kitchen as I was making supper and said, “You have GOT to go see what is going on in Jackson’s room.” I walked into his room, where I promise he had only been unsupervised for less than 5 minutes, to see that the cords from Jackson’s 2 sets of plantation shutters were wound into a knot that was almost an inch and a half thick and the blinds were completely open. We’re talking 4 cords with wooden do-dads on the end in a knot that was half as big as my palm.

We have no idea how it happened so badly and so quickly.

Jackson swears that Allison did it.

We’re not buying it…

I abandoned dinner making, much to everyone’s chagrin, and started working on the knot. In order to reach the knot since it was so high up on the blinds I had to climb on top of Jackson’s toy box and keep my hands about neck level the whole time. Talk about numbness! In all fairness, Jeremy completely offered to take over undoing-the-knot duties, but by this point it was almost therapeutic trying to unravel the knot. I was so over making dinner by that point.

It took me ten minutes to just get the blinds to go down.

After pulling on the cords relentlessly for awhile I realized that I wasn’t getting anywhere. I would loosen one strand only to tighten the other three. Keep in mind I was also dealing with 4 of those wooden pieces on the end of the blinds, so I really had no give with the strings. I finally got a brilliant (if I say so myself) idea to take off the wooden do-dads and just work on pulling out the strings with tweezers. Luckily I stopped taking the wooden do-dads off after removing only one because as soon as I took it off, I realized that I had no idea how to put them back on.

So 30 minutes after working with 3 wooden do-dads, one pair of tweezers and one string I finally started making progress and the knot started unraveling. After 45 minutes it was completely done.

Jackson was watching intently the whole time and kept saying, “Allison needs to get in trouble. He messed up my blinds.”

Uh-huh.

I have now informed both Jackson and Allison that if either of them ever so much as touch the blinds again, I’m going to get both of their hiney’s.

Seriously, as a working mother I have enough on my hands taking care of a three year old without having to worry about disciplining imaginary friends as well. It’s hard enough making my kid listen to me, let alone a kid I can’t even see!