The Year of the Dragons

I'm not sure what animal the Chinese say this year is, but at our house, it is the Year of the Dragons. Ben just bought, thanks to some Christmas cash, a 5-foot dragon from IKEA, and Sophie becomes a dragon 3 times a day when I give her a breathing treatment. The mask looks like a dragon, and when she breathes out, it smokes.

Our children (all six of them) had a unique experience last night--they watched a video while sitting on a couch! Always before the TV has been in our bedroom or the guest room. We got the old brown couches from my parents' house and put them in our basement in our new Family TV area. The other two areas of the basement are Messy Boys' Area and Girls' Corner. When we're done with it, I'll be sure to post pictures, but don't hold your breath.

One thing we bought was a yellow plastic curtain that had been cut vertically in 1-inch strips. I hung it as a divider between the boys' and girls' area. When my father saw it, he said something like "Yeah, right. Like that will be safe there." He may have even snorted, and for good reason. Yes, I know and hate that my children are so destructive, but every once in awhile I give them another chance. I told them that people didn't think they would be able to keep that curtain up, so to please prove them wrong. A few hours later, Ben comes upstairs and says "You know those people that didn't think we could keep the curtain up? Grace proved them right! She yanked on it and it came down." It's back up again, and I smacked her hand and told her not to pull on it. We'll see how many days we can keep it up and in good condition.

School is officially beginning for us on Monday, and I have a tight schedule to keep, so I'll not be blogging very much. At least I shouldn't be. Thank God I'm feeling more energetic than heretofore, and the babies' schedules are becoming more predictable.

One last very exciting thing I want to relate. My Aunt Linda and my mother are going to keep all six of our children so Mark and I can go out for our anniversary in two weeks. This will be the first time we've gotten away overnight for our anniversary in 5 years! I'm looking forward to this one night reprieve, and if I weren't too busy, I'd be tempted to make a paper chain to count down the days.