Fish

We have a 75 gallon fish tank. It is our first fish tank as a family. Some would call us ambitious starting out this large, I just thought it was pretty! And it was free! My husband's brother gave it to us. The kids absolutely LOVE it. When we first got it, they would sit by it for minutes at a time just staring and commenting on what the fish were doing.

But what did we know about a fish tank? My husband had one growing up. I was paid to fish sit once while my neighbor was out of town. Other than that, we didn't have a whole lot of experience to go off of. So when it came time to buy fish, all we really knew was that we needed tropical because the tank had a heater on it. So we bought them more for looks rather than compatibility. Who knew Angel Fish could be so aggressive? I thought it was a brilliant idea to have a tank full of Angel Fish and a couple other cheap fish to fill it up. Until I was sitting with my children watching them and they started attacking each other! And how are you supposed to discipline a fish?? I started knocking on the fish tank, which we had instructed our children never to do, and yelling at the fish to stop. You can imagine how well this worked and what it taught my children to do!

So, inevitably, as animals do in the wild, or in our fish tank, they fought until they killed one another. Pretty soon, one Angel Fish was all that was left. A 75 gallon fish tank was housing one Angel Fish. The others were found floating, stuck to the filters, or just gone. Some actually disappeared. We never found them. So what do you tell kids when they ask where all the fish went? They went on vacation to the pet store. Let's go see if we can find them and ask them to come back home!

Santa's Cookies

We have started a very fun tradition. I realize we are probably not the first one's in the world to think of it, but I don't remember doing it as a child so I feel like we are starting this tradition in our family. On Christmas Eve, I make sugar cookie dough. The kids help me roll it out and proceed to cut out candy canes, Christmas trees, stars, etc. We then mix up some easy icing which I dye at least half of green (I don't usually do red because it just ends up being pink). Then the kids get a spatula and go to town. No rules. Just get the icing on and around the cookies! It's so much fun! You definitely come to realize the older you get, how much Christmas is for the children. And you feel the joy as you see them so happy and filled with such accomplishment as they see their cookies start to take shape.

And oh the joy! We put them on the plate that says "Cookies for Santa" and we fill up the "Milk for Santa" cup with milk and proceed to the fireplace. Now is the moment we open the screen on the fireplace to make sure he can get in and place the cookies and milk on the bricks. The kids then sit beside the fireplace and get a picture taken. The next morning the joy continues as they find the empty cup and the cookie crumbs on the plate. Oh how I love Christmas traditions. Oh how I love making Santa's Cookies!!

S'mores

I have a picky eater. They say there's at least one in every bunch, but I was determined I would not have one. I have been in denial. I am now admitting it freely. I have a picky eater. It doesn't matter what I cook for dinner, his immediate response is, "I don't like that". It has now gotten to the point where all I'll say is it's time for dinner and he'll say, "I don't like it". I haven't even told him what "it" is yet! I have come to realize it may be less stressful for me to eat what he likes rather than for him to eat what I like. But this theory gave way tonight.

I had finally gotten tired of eating pizza, chicken nuggets, and grilled cheese sandwiches. I made a dinner tonight that I liked. And to get around the picky eater, I planned s'mores for dessert. We grilled some chicken legs and left the fire going with the ploy of, "Eat all your dinner and we can have s'mores". To a little boy who has been camping with his daddy and knows the delightful taste of a s'more, this was a very exciting moment. He actually said, "I like chicken legs". But the excitement of these words didn't last long. For no sooner than I set down his plate did the all too familiar words come rolling off his tongue!! Only to be quickly followed by, "I only like granny's chicken legs."

So to my great disgust, we spent the next hour doing what we always do. Begging and pleading, bribing and urging. Only to end up with him having eaten 4 bites of chicken and happily enjoying a s'more because after an hour of tears and gagging, we were very proud of those 4 bites.