A Few Things I Learned on Christmas

What a difference a year makes! Can't even begin to describe the 180 degree change from last year this Christmas was for us. Praise the Lord. It really was one of those years that you just felt like everything happened like you hoped for - well, most everything. Here are a few insights gathered over the last couple of days....

1. "Baked" french toast is just not a hit for our family. I think I've tried 3 different recipes and garnered 3 different sets of "yucks". Oh well, that's what cold cereal is for.

2. Just because a product is described as "Heeleys" on E-Bay, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's really that product - hmmm, that seller and I will be having a chat... (Heeleys, FYI, are the shoe that many boys are wearing with the wheel in the back)

3. The "Fur Real" baby white tiger does really appear to be "for real". John and I both found ourselves stroking it, feeding it, and letting it sit on our laps while it growled contentedly, hic-cupped, or snored.

4. Never again should I ever purchase another set of Legos or Mega-blocks for my son. He has never been in to them, and I doubt if he ever will be, no matter how much he tells us otherwise..... his cousin, on the other hand, could hardly restrain himself from breaking into his 1300 plus piece Star Wars lego set......

5. The simplest things can often be the best - for Brayden, football trading cards - particularly when combined with enthusiastic attention from Daddy, for Mikayla, the $7.99 twin baby dolls..... you never can figure!

6. It doesn't matter how you dress it up - whatever the main dish of a nice sit down dinner is, my children will not like it. If it's not pizza or chicken nuggets.... well, it's just not pretty.

7. My kids are inheriting my own post-Christmas let-down genes at a very early age. On Christmas Eve, as Brayden is struggling to fall asleep (which I'm laying down trying to assist in for Santa's sake) - he tells me he's "sad tomorrow's Christmas because it will be a whole year before it happens again". And today, Mikayla says, "It's not Christmas anymore, huh? - But, that's okay, there'll still be fun things we can do, right?" I guess, all this just means I must have done something right in helping to encourage a holiday they absolutely love.....

8. Despite our local paper's review, "Night at the Museum" is a GREAT movie - thoroughly enjoyed it.

9. A $27 Snowboard Plug-In video game (you stand on a psuedo snowboard and follow the course on tv) can be worth it's cost four times over in terms of entertainment on Christmas night. Mom, Dad, Travis, Michele, Michael, myself, John, (and just a few turns for the kids....) all had a blast. The truly surprising part of all this, is that I hold the top 3 scores of the game! I'm very proud of myself........

10. My kids have matured temendously in their thankfulness and lack of greed and patience (though I did catch Mikayla cheating a couple of times in trying to "rip before her turn"). This is a huge blessing to me as that has all seemed a bit out of control in years past.

Once again, a wonderful year - I hope you had many special memories and oportunities for "learning" too!