Kate says we should join the circus...or the zoo

OK, we're not your average family most days...but lately, we've been even wackier than usual. Take tonight, for example. No, I'm not talking about holiday stress. I'm just talking about life in the looney bin...like this evening when somewhere between Tanya's basketball practice and a late dinner, our psycho dog, Nellie, ate 3 Christmas ornaments right under our noses. After that, we celebrated our dog Fletch’s 5th birthday with a peanut butter and bread cake for the dogs to share only to have Nellie get the peanut butter and bread stuck to the roof of her mouth so that we almost needed the jaws of life to unglue her. Then Craig and I suddenly heard Kate screaming as if being murdered. Don't worry, she's fine...but her glasses aren't. They fell victim to a rather violent pillow fight and are irreparably shattered...the other party to this pillow fight, Madiyar, retreated to his room and hid under his comforter after we delivered our standard lecture. (You know the one, "It's all fun and games until someone gets poked in the eye!") A chastened Kate slunk away to the shower and Craig and I settled down for all of 10 seconds before we heard Max yelling that he had gotten a Lego stuck in his ear...Huh? Yes, a Lego...he claimed he rolled over on it in bed and now it was lodged in his ear canal. Now you have to understand that I defer all things remotely medical to Craig since his father and ex-wife were both doctors...therefore, I called in my quasi-medical expert for the Lego removal. I was pressed into service as hand holder while the tweezer extraction took place and I was amazed when Craig withdrew a 2 inch long Lego from Max's ear canal. A brief but heartfelt lecture about punctured eardrums, hearing loss, and sign language followed...then Aniyar helpfully ratted his brother out, debunking the accidental nature of the episode and explaining that Max was digging wax out of his ear with said Lego light saber and Mom felt compelled to further comment on the real dangers of hearing loss. In the middle of all of this, Tanya wanted to know if she could go the movies with her friend Tyler...a boy. Gulp...hyperventilating...breathe, Mom...OK, Tyler's mom will chaperone so it's a go for Saturday. We'll squeeze it into the schedule right after Max and Aniyar's appointment with the doctor tomorrow...and Kate's appointment to get new glasses.

Now it's almost 11:00 and all the kids are finally settled in bed...for a while, anyway, it's quiet. I think I'll go sit by the Christmas tree for a while, maybe listen to a Christmas CD and wrap a gift or two. Tomorrow will be here before I know it...and it'll probably be even loonier than today…and did I mention the snowstorm that’s headed our way?