Of Cabbages and Kings...and a Close Call!

First the close call - last night as Dave and I were putting dinner on the table, Aimee was carrying around something a friend had let her borrow, something Ryan very desperately wanted. We asked Aimee to put it away in a a safe place, and just as she was coming back into the kitchen from doing this, we heard a series of crashes, followed immediately by a tremendous, and thus very ominous, crash, along with Ryan's screams. I was at Aimee's door in seconds, Dave at my heels, and for a split second I was completely paralyzed with terror at the sight of Aimee's dresser on the ground. I could hear Ryan but did not immediately see him, and I just knew he was pinned underneath; it was absolutely the worst feeling. I screamed something to Dave about getting the dresser up (this was all happening in a matter of seconds), and just then a little blonde head appeared on the other side. Dave and I both exhaled in utter relief, scooped him up and tried to examine him for any injury as we comforted him. He had, as you can guess, been attempting to climb up to the top dresser drawer, where Aimee had (perhaps not so discreetly!) hidden the coveted object; amazingly, he must have just been knocked aside as the dresser fell, so he was almost unscathed, though completely terrified. He had some odd little bumps on his head that we still can't quite figure out, but he recovered relatively quickly, ate dinner, and slept the whole night, so I think he's okay. Will he learn anything from this? Time will tell - although his short history so far tells us probably not! - but in any case we will anchor all the tall furniture from now on!

On a far more amusing note, I have been meaning for some time to write down this priceless gem: Aimee apparently has been educating Drew on matters of the environment and animal preservation, and once last week when Dave said he was going to cut some wood for a fire, Drew stopped what he was doing and said earnestly, "Daddy, do you know that every second three trees are cut down? And when trees are cut down, animals die?" (Sound of Dave working to keep a straight face.) Then Drew proceeded with a illustration, complete with gestures for added emphasis - "Imagine a field full of horses," he prompted. "Now imagine that field with less horses." Pause. "Now imagine an empty field." While unsure about the link between trees and horses, Dave still agreed to try to keep it all in mind, then sent Drew out to play before we both lost it. :-) That darling, serious boy!

And some random tidbits...I have forgotten to mention how much we are loving our neighborhood. Our next door neighbors on both sides are very nice, and on one side live a 5 year-old boy and his 2 year-old brother . :-) Last week, Aimee discovered that a seven-year-old girl lives across the street, and we've had her over a couple of times, and even Dave has been enjoying talking to the nieghbor on the other side (they're already arranging fishing trips - sigh!), so just about everyone has found someone. I am far from a socialite and need ample time and the right conditions to develop friendships, so just having friends close by again is good enough for me. I'm enjoying setting up house, too now that I've crossed the biggest box hurdles and I can actually see progress being made. Overall, I believe we're all experiencing feelings of peace that we haven't in a long time, and while I know happiness and joy are unrelated, it is admittedly pleasant just to be happy right now!