We have these two wonderful nativity scenes that are, thankfully, wooden. We have them on top of this wine cabinet-thingee, and they are put together because several years ago when our dog, Boo, (a black lab) was a puppy, she got a hold of one of the Joseph's and shepherds and such, so now we have this very interesting scene with a couple of angels, two Mary's (one holding Jesus - this one is from Gautamala - and the other by herself), one Joseph, some sheep, a deer (who knew?), the three wise men, a "rainbow" thing, a shepherd, and a wooden overhang. Oh, and the little carved *white* baby Jesus in the manger.

So, I'm on the phone the other morning after having been up since 5:51 am with A. and having watched two Tellytubbie's episodes, a Barney episode, and reading "Brown Bear" about 150 times. Finally, at 7:45, I decided we had to get out of the house and go and eat breakfast. (I could have made breakfast, but W. was out of town that morning, and besides I was having a bit of cabin fever after being home with A. the whole day before because of breathing troubles.)

We go, we eat, we laugh, A. plays racecar in our little red car before I capture him and put him in his carseat. We get home and it's only 9:15 am and I HAVE BEEN UP FOR HOURS!!!! I was a bit punchy at this point.

So, I'm on the phone and I hear ruckus in the other room. A. has drug a chair over to the wine cabinet, and is throwing - no, hurling Mary/Jesus and the angel and the rainbow to places far, far away. He's having a ball.

I tell the person on the phone to wait a minute, then I go and gather up the Holy Family again to put them back in all the right places, and I can't find the Baby Jesus. I look everywhere. I get back on the phone, figuring that it probably was thrown under the hutch or something, and besides, we still have the Mary/Jesus duo.

Then, I see that A. has something in his mouth...Ah, yes, the perfect size for a toddler to chew on and swallow! Oh, yes, my friends and family, I realized what it was and yelled across the room as I pictured him swallowing, "A., get the baby Jesus out of your mouth!!!"

I walked over and he spit it into my hand, grinning.

There has got to be a sermon in here somewhere...:-)