A visit from the Grinch

So, this morning as I was pulling out of the driveway to take Hannah to school, I noticed a hole in the ground where before lived a sweet little dwarf pine tree.

Here's the hole, and here's one of the remaining trees that the missing tree looks like. It appears that the Grinch visited us in the middle of the night.


Here's the trail of dirt left as the tree was yanked from the ground and pulled through my garden and into the street.

The strange noises that invaded my dreams last night, but didn't wake me up, now make sense.

Somewhere, there is someone using our little pine tree as their Christmas tree. It is hard to imagine the joy that they'll get out of this--it makes me sad for them. They must be pretty desperate people to commit a crime to decorate their house for the holidays--what a lot to risk for something that they'll most likely discard, rather than plant (even though they ripped it out by the roots).
I'm also thinking that this was premeditated. They had to have scouted out the neighborhood, selected the tree they wanted, and then arrived with a truck, a chain and a shovel.
I'm actually thankful that I didn't wake up enough to really comprehend what was going on. We might have run outside in our pajamas to try to stop it. At the very least we would have lost sleep and been cold, and it is possible that we could have been hurt.

So what started out as a sad moment, disappointed in the poor choices of a fellow human(as Hannah put it, "They made a really bad choice, didn't they mama?"), got me thinking about what I'm thankful for. I found myself humming the Welcome Christmas song from the end of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas . . . welcome, welcome fahoo ramus, welcome, welcome dahoo damus, Christmas Day is in our grasp, as long as we have hands to clasp. . .


I'm thankful for my sweet husband who took this in stride. I'm thankful for my daughters who bring me so much joy every day. We've been having fun making gingerbread men and decorating our house for Christmas.

Hannah has been going through her toys and selecting gifts for her cousins--things she thinks they'll really love. She wrapped this gift very lovingly for Sarah.

Sarah delights in the lights and loves to show me all the things that she finds.
I'm thankful for the roof over our heads, the food on our table, the jobs that sustain us, the loving family that surrounds us. I hope that the little tree does provide some peace and joy for a family who must not have much.

Winter weaving

Someone said something at SOAR that rang true for me (actually I imagine lots of things were said at SOAR that rang true for me, this one I happened to hear). Denny said that her common response to the remark "Oh, I just don't have the time to do that," while she's spinning or knitting in public is, "We all have the same amount of time."

It's so true. It is just how we use it. I do like sleeping, but sometimes, getting something done feels so good.

Amid the toys and the wonderful chaos of work and children that is my life, I made some time this weekend to warp my loom and start weaving some scarves. This is a delicate 2-ply wool handpainted yarn that I won as a door prize in 1996, I think. I've been using it here and there, and this weekend I used a big chunk of it!

Hannah helped me wind the warp onto the loom. Sarah wanted to help and sat on my lap as I wove.

Hair!

So when Hannah was nearly two years old, I finally cut her hair. It was after she pushed it out of her eyes in frustration exclaiming, "hair!" I didn't wait quite so long to cut Sarah's hair.

Zap

Hannah is sitting here next to me, watching a movie while I do a bit of work online. She just told me that her feet are feeling zappy--and then she held them up to her ears to see if she could hear the zapping. I think that they fell asleep, and the zapping is the tingling sensation. I never wondered before if you could hear it. Made me laugh.

Also, this week I kept finding little pieces of toilet paper by the toilet. I kept picking them up and throwing them away. Then Hannah saw me doing it and she was distraught. Apparently, she's been leaving these little bits of paper for the mice (no, we don't have any--neither pets nor infestations). I don't know what she thought the mice were doing with the paper.

Spring Snow

Our beautiful spring shower turned into a beautiful spring snow. Hannah (home from school today because a cold) and I put on our coats and boots and stomped around in it for a second when we went to pick up the mail and I took some photos.

Sarah's getting big--she'll be 7 months old in two days.

What Joy Is This?

Life is good. My babies are growing up so quickly. The New Year has started. I had time to spin and knit while off from work the week between Christmas and New Years--and (more importantly) the energy to do it!

Here's Hannah on Christmas morning.

Here's Sarah--smiley girl--happily cooing while Hannah and I made gingerbread men on Christmas Eve.

In our very urban neighborhood as we arrived home from Christmas Eve services late at night, we saw two red foxes paused on an embankment covered with snow--it was pure magic.