Christmas Day

This was a good year for Christmas at our house. The kids aren't too old, nor too young, to get excited and make it fun. My favorite part, though, was seeing what the kids gave each other and Erin. We let them shop for their siblings at the Crisis Nursery Holiday Shop* every year. This year, though, Alice and Robert both wanted to do more with their own time and money. Robert stewed and planned and researched and studied out gifts that would make each sibling happy. It came down to getting a small thing for each one, or a larger thing they could all enjoy together. He asked Bobby and me for advice. He finally decided to get the larger gift for the family: a set of MagnaTiles. And what a great choice! Those will be used and useful at our house for a long, long time. Even grandkids will probably play with them. For Erin, Robert spent a couple weeks constructing a life-size, 3-D replica of himself out of cardboard, complete with a cabinet in the chest that opens to reveal a book he made for her (a list of things he loves about Erin, a handmade comic strip featuring several inside jokes, and a picture of the two of them playing ball together). Dude.

Alice purchased full-size packages of Skittles and Starbursts and put together a note using the candy names to describe things she liked about each brother. They were extremely pleased. And for Erin, Alice spent hours planning, cutting, assembling, and finishing a Christmas-themed lap quilt. She used what she learned from her quilting class at school to do it. I only helped her find a sewing machine to borrow when ours went on the fritz. Holy moly! Her quilting class is working on pot holders. Pot holders! Not full-on quilts. Was Alice intimidated? No. Stressed? Yes. Thrilled with the outcome? Absolutely.

James wrote and illustrated a story for Erin. Amazing! He's started writing all kinds of stories since then, actually. He cleared off a shelf to put together his own "library".

And I want to tell you about this gift Erin gave me. I'm not usually a gift person, y'know? And this year, I finally figured out why when Erin gave me 2 of the most PERFECT gifts ever. I'm still dancing inside about them. The first: a handful of custom stickers to put on my guitar case. She selected things that totally hit all of my strong and eccentric bits. Here's a picture James took of my new guitar case look:

I love, love, love, love, LOVE it! Dark chocolate, Paris, minivan mom, C. elegans, triathlon, chicken farmer, supporting local food...*sigh* It couldn't have been better, except it DID get better. She also gave me a coupon book for favors/activities/tasks I often want, but can't easily do on my own, and rarely get the guts to ask other people to do for me: pick up groceries, shuttle kids somewhere, date night, attend a lecture/activity together, go to lunch. And that, my dear friends and family, makes the perfect gift for me: something I need/want/use that I can't give myself, or won't give myself. The guitar case stickers count in that category, too, because I had just decided I DID want to decorate my case, but they would have to be stickers that really defined me and my interests, and how on earth was I going to narrow the list down to just a few crucial aspects (I'm an overthinker, too, you realize) and then somehow search for and stumble upon cool-looking stickers that adequately represent each of these parts of my identity?! It seemed an impossible task, and I wanted it badly, but doubted I would ever get around to it or be satisfied with the end result. But Erin gave me that gift! And now I know you can order custom stickers!!

So many exclamation points!!

Gotta calm down.

Whew.

I think I played my guitar better today just because I love those stickers so much.

*gasp* I can also make one that says "Warning: I'm intense."...oh man...

Matthew, my one child who abhors kisses and will peel kisses off of his body and throw them back in your face, turned to me one morning and giggled, "Let's make a kissy picture!" This was our first, and only successful, attempt. He did not throw it back in my face. Huzzah!

*The Crisis Nursery is a non-profit organization in our community and the Holiday Shop is a big fundraiser for them. Businesses donate toys and small gifts to the shop where everything is priced $2-8. The best part is they have volunteers that will shop with your child and help wrap the gifts so his/her gift choices stay a secret from the rest of the family. All four kids can shop for each other in a safe place, all at once, and the money goes to a charity I want to support. What's not to love about this?!