R.I.P.

Just for the record, and on a funnier (not necessarily happier) note, we have had a couple of deaths at our house recently! I realize death isn't really funny, but keep reading.

The first went something like this... we ordered some Chinese food, and without thinking of all the possible places a 5 year old could put them, left 2 packets of soy sauce out on the counter. A couple of hours later I started to smell salty smoke and I ran into the kitchen, it was obvious where the smell was coming from! Jackson happened to be standing at a safe distance (from me, not the toaster) when I asked who had done it. (Knowing full well only one of my kids can actually reach it.) Jackson proceeded to dig an even bigger hole when he said "Harrison". After a very tricky attempt to retrieve the packets and save the toaster, there was a long talk about playing in the kitchen and burning our house down... and then a very short talk about lying. The toaster didn't make it. And when I asked Jackson why he would do that he told me he just wanted to see them pop out. Sigh. Maybe he will be getting a jack-in-the-box for his birthday!

The second, was not quite as obvious. Patrick and I could smell something weird every once in a while, and it seemed to be coming from the boys room. We couldn't figure out exactly what it was, but had decided it was probably the ceiling fan motor. Later that same day, as I was getting the boys ready for bed, their room smelled really bad again, but the fan hadn't been on. So I started looking around and noticed that their lamp was a weird yellowish color... and smoking ever so slightly. So I took a gander, and sure enough, it was most definitely the culprit of the smell! After looking a little closer I realized that the smell was actually a plastic beaded bracelet that was melted to the light bulb. I didn't even have to ask who had done it, Jackson nominated Harrison before I could even say anything (and I was inclined to believe him. I think he learned his lesson with the toaster)... sure enough, this time, he was telling the truth. Harrison admitted it was him! I didn't bother to get an explanation, but instead proceeded to remove it from the room and have the very same conversation with him about playing with hot things and burning our house down. He just stood there with his head hung in shame. But he listened. I guess that's what we get for letting our boys have dress-up jewelry.

Those two. You know, on the positive side, the house is still standing AND we learned to STOP-DROP & ROLL.