A Tribute to the Night Before Christmas--Shelton Style

'Twas the night we bought the bunk beds and all through the house,
Our two little creatures were stirring and I looked for help at my spouse.
Sheets were purchased and placed on the bed
But little boys were too excited to lay down their heads.

Visions of them accidentally rolling out and hitting the floor danced in my head,
Most horrendous thoughts filled me with dread!
My husband, somewhat chuckling over my womanly fear,
Did at least put an arm out and draw me near.

Sounds of jumping and giggling filled the whole bed time,
If you turned for but a second little feet the bed would climb.
We added to our prayers, "Lord, let them not break a bone,"
and when I left the room I closed the door with a groan.

When out from the room their arose such a clatter,
We both jumped from the couch to see what was the matter.
On the floor were a toy car, a teddy bear, a flashlight, and ball,
And two faces grinning from the top said they were enthralled.

With time the newness has worn off and my children survived,
Although there is no way I can say we have arrived,
Now with confidence I can say as I shut off the light,
A peaceful night to all, and to all a good night!

Such were my fears when we purchased the bunk beds for Landon's room! Yes, I know. Paranoid mother. In my defense, I've heard plenty of stories, from everything from broken arms to stitches from "Superman" hitting the ceiling fan when he started flying... Overall, I've gone from "why did I do this?" to "It's great to have an extra bed for company!" And the boys have learned the main rules of "no playing on the bed," "no playing on the bed," and last but not least, "No playing on the bed." Throwing toys off the top bunk qualifies under "no playing on the bed." Landon had to earn the right to sleep on the top bunk, and has learned how to safely, but even with the railing we still wedge some bumpers up there. We're (probably more of the "I" than the "we") grateful that he's usually content to sleep on the bottom. :) Bedtime as a whole is much quieter now that the boys have separate rooms. :)

A Letter from Camp

A Letter from Camp

Dear Mom,
Our scout master told us all write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and worried. We are OK. Only 1 of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Chad when it happened. Oh yes, please call Chad's mother and tell her he is OK. He can't write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search & rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have found him in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning. 

Scoutmaster Webb got mad at Chad for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Chad said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas can will blow up? The wet wood still didn't burn, but one of our tents did. Also some of our clothes. John is going to look weird until his hair grows back. 

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Webb gets the car fixed. It wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked OK when we left. Scoutmaster Webb said that a car that old you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance on it. We think it's a neat car. He doesn't care if we get it dirty, and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the tailgate. It gets pretty hot with 10 people in a car. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrolman stopped and talked to us.
Scoutmaster Webb is a neat guy. Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Terry how to drive. But he only lets him drive on the mountain roads where there isn't any traffic. All we ever see up there are logging trucks. 

This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster Webb wouldn't let me because I can't swim and Chad was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Webb isn't crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the life jackets. 

He has to spend a lot of time working on the car so we are trying not to cause him any trouble. Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Dave dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Also Wade and I threw up. Scoutmaster Webb said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken, he said they got sick that way with the food they ate in prison. I'm so glad he got out and become our scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time. 

I have to go now. We are going into town to mail our letters and buy bullets. Don't worry about anything. We are fine.

Love,
Cole

http://www.joke-archives.com/outdoors/campletter.html

This joke is something that my family has laughed about from years. A running joke is, "We're just going into town to buy bullets. Everything's fine!" I wish I could have written something like this. I'm not even halfway creative enough. And while the entire story is far-fetched, I bet we've all known boys to whom this would be a tremendous adventure and wouldn't fathom why their father is taking their mother to the ER with a heart attack.

How many times in our lives do we not see the danger, whether physical or spiritual, in our lives? Like the time my rifle quite literally exploded in my face while I shot it, I am so grateful for a sovereign God who cares enough for His children to protect them. Spiritually, what's your warning system? Who do you have in your life to warn you when you're sitting on the tailgate? Sometimes, just like this letter, we are either too immature to realize the danger we're in, or our caretaker isn't so good at his job, or both. God is never asleep at His post! Thank you, Father!