A Lasting Memory

This is a HUGE reason why holidays are so much more fun with children. Koen's race track waiting anxiously to zip around cars. Daradie's cowgirl doll and doll bed waiting to be loved and cherished.

Fort Knocks

Dan must have no faith in me. A normal person would wrap Christmas presents up and place them under the tree. He has yet to do that. When Dan worked at the bank he'd hide my presents in the vault. Silly. Dan thinks once a sneak, always a sneak. Childish. Doesn't he realize that I'm an adult now? Adults don't peek at presents. Adults don't try to find their Christmas presents in drawers of the filing cabinet... inside suitcases... inside sleeping bags rolled up... inside storage boxes... under the couch... under the kiddo's bed... He brought the bag in, I saw him but where did he end up with it???...in the trunk of the car... inside black paint totes... behind the extra roll of carpet on the top shelf of the garage and using the lawnmower has a step ladder.

I'm beyond sneaking. I'm flat out tearing this house to pieces!

Perhaps a New Tradition...

We were running out of time. I don't recall why it took us so long to get a tree but we were desperate. No trees could be found at the grocery stores, the nurseries had a few but we didn't want to spend $75 on something that would be tossed out in a few days. We drove back home. Dan was frustrated. I was frustrated. Our kids were grumpy and needed their bed. We headed north for more tree opportunities. We drove past a gas station. "Look! They have trees!" That they did. And there were 3 left. We continued the search. Hoping for a tree not from a gas station close to a dairy. No trees at the stores. We had a small feeling of how Mary and Joseph felt--neglect, hopelessness and huge disappointment. The drive home lead us back to the gas station. There was one left. We bought it. It was ugly. It was small enough to fit in the back of the Tahoe. The road home was full of groans from the kiddos. "This tree stinks!" repeated 486,902 times in 15 minutes. We told them that was pine scent up close and personal. We put the tree up and decorated it. The next morning the house had a unique smell...stench. Every dairy atom alive clung to that poor little Christmas tree. Smells permeated throughout the home of cow stalls and gasoline.

Our Christmas memory from 2010. And yes. We bought a tree from that same gas station just yesterday.

(*Update: our children still have Halloween candy! So much so that it has clearly been forgotten. So much so that it's okay for their father to sneak a piece here and there while watching Hawaii Five-0.)