The Clean-One-Owner Car

It's his crappy beater car
He drives to work each day
Twenty years and counting
She takes him on his way

Squeaky doors and dingy seats
She manages around
Seeing out can be a challenge
Since the headliner's falling down

His trip to work's not far
Only about two miles
But driving much further can't be done
She needs time to rest a while

For us it's a good car
We've really had good luck
Best investment ever made
For only seven hundred bucks!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: My husband really loves me (and has a good sense of humor!)

This was my Christmas present to my dear husband. I then forced him to wear it to my parents house for our Christmas time with them. What a wonderful man with a good sense of humor, right?

For more Wordless Wednesday see 5 Minutes for Mom

LIFE WITH KIDS

Having children brings joy
(Though sometimes it feels like warfare…)
Having children gives meaning
(But at times you want to pull out your hair…)
Having children brings laughter
With the comical things kids do
But it can feel like 'Survivor' with no eliminations
And a season that’s never (ever) through!

I CAUGHT MY CAT!!

For those of you who know me
I am a bit of a neat freak
The sight of dirt and clutter
Often make me want to shriek

Every item has its place
And that's where it ought to go
Toys go here and papers there
As my family members know

I preface this so you can see
That when I caught my cat
You'll understand my total disgust
To his horrifying act

I was in the bathroom
When Butch, our cat, walked in
But instead of drinking from the stool
His actions pumped my adrenalin

He jumped up on the counter
And with an awkward, shaky pose
Peed into my sink
As I stood horrified and froze

I do not know what prompted
His act of urination
But what other covert things take place
To make me consider assassination?

For now I will forgive him
But will keep a watchful eye
And if I ever catch that cat again
This clean-freak will crucify!

(For my faithful blogging readers
This one thing I must now tell
I think I know my problem
Explained in my post I titled, "SMELLS"!)

STRESS!!!

Ever have so much to do
You don't know where to start?
And as you tackle all your chores
Things start to fall apart?

I need to bake and pack our bags
For Christmas family gatherings
But leaking stools and broke down cars
Seems as if my world is shattering

The house needs cleaned and vacuumed
There's laundry yet to do
Already tired and cranky
But my list is far from through

(There's also missing silverware
My youngest is the thief
Can't keep him clothed or diapered
His hobby's giving Mommy grief!)

I think I'd like a breakdown
And a sound-proof, padded room
So when disaster hits
I won't hear or feel my doom!

Christ's Love = True Love

I'm learning a hard lesson
About what true love really is
It's not how much I can collect
But how much love I ought to give

Thus far I've held my heart out
So that others might try to fill
But when loved ones failed this task
My heart would sink and feel quite ill

God created us to feel His love
And only God can fill this void
Expecting love from things or people
Will leave us hurt and quite annoyed

I can choose love to be patient
I can choose love to be kind
Forget the record where I've been wronged
With only bad things to remind

Love is the opportunity
For us to give and not to get
This is a perfect Christmas lesson
One we should learn and not forget

I pray this Christmas season
You'll give your love to those around
And with this you can be certain
The love of Christ will soon be found

SMELLS

I sit here writing
With a scented candle burning
Flavored coffee in the maker
Cup of Joe - I'm now yearning
Pot roast in the oven
With aromas I want to eat
Laundry in the dryer
Fresh fragrance with drying heat
Throughout my house
Such warm and pleasant smells
Then there is my bathroom...
An odor I can't pin point or tell
I've cleaned and scrubbed
Washed and bleached
There isn't an inch
I haven't reached
Wiped down the walls
Sanitized the trash can
But this odor evades
All my tough cleaning plans
What is about smells
And the feelings they create?
Some good, warm, and fuzzy
Others gag as they permeate
And what makes us want
Other people to sniff
Something we found so horrid
We passed out with one whiff?!
I'll take the warm fuzzies
And good smelling stuff
'Cause with two stinky boys
I've had more than enough!

(As for my bathroom
I blame my pee-crazy boys
Their aim is so crazy
Stand back when they deploy!)

MEAN PARENTS

My husband and I are evil
This we truly are
We've been lying to our son
Perhaps taking things too far
Our oldest believes in Santa
We've told him he exists
But it's not just the myth of Santa
Or the nice and naughty lists
No, we've taken things much further
Than just a simple, small, white lie
And have used it to our benefit
To get him to comply
Whenever the little man pouts
Or starts to misbehave
We tell him we're calling Santa
As we give our phone a wave
To this he vows perfection
And that he'll stop behaving bad
We've even faked a conversation
(I know our actions are quite sad...)
What we're doing to our son
Has made me question a simple truth
If kids claim their parents mean
Should we believe our complaining youth?
As for now, my spouse and I
Will probably keep on with the fibbing
Parenting has a learning curve
With plenty of ad-libbing.

Let It Snow?

The weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
School's out and driving's a no
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

It doesn't show signs of stoppin'
The kids have begun head boppin'
Sugar highs make patience run low
As it snows, as it snows, as it snows

Can it finally be bedtime?
How I'd hate for my temper to blow
Sleeping kids would be so sublime
I'm going crazy like you wouldn't know!

The weatherman says more's coming
And I start some nervous humming
Another day with no place to go
There's more snow, there's more snow, there's more snow

At bedtime I do some praying
I catch myself softly saying
PLEASE GOD I BEG YOU SO
STOP THE SNOW, STOP THE SNOW, STOP THE SNOW!

Stop the snow
Make it go!
Mommy's done ever wishing for snow!

Christmas Shopping

I am done shopping for Christmas gifts this year
But please hear me out before you give me a sneer

All of my shopping was done here in my home
I didn't darken a store door or get out and roam

No, I did my shopping with efficiency and ease
Using search engines, websites and nice computer keys

You see last year was full of all sorts of disaster
With screaming kids and wiggly carts I couldn't move or master

I even had a fellow shopper swat at my hand
She grabbed a sweater I was holding as I stood trying to understand

What's up with the craziness Christmas shopping creates?
Are we so consumed with buying we make unloving mistakes?

Did Christ want us stressing and running around?
Or focusing on Him that His love may abound?

I decided this year would be different for us
I can still buy nice gifts with little to no fuss

My kids won't get antsy or frustrate my nerves
There'll be no angry shoppers whose hands I must swerve

Christmas will be calm and on His love we can fixate
Only problem now is keeping hands off cookies I bake!