This was the Christmas I will remember as Zacki's first (not that I can post those pictures here...Grrrr!) and the Christmas of the Paper Products.
At the top of Mouser's wish list: a blue desk (I'm pretty sure Santa had trouble with that one. I'm guessing he had to scour secondhand shops, sand, paint and replace knobs. But just guessing here). Here's the rest: paper towels, tape, and envelopes. There were even days leading up to the Big Day with the query, "Mama, do you think I'm gonna get those paper towels?" To answer the obvious question, she likes to draw on them (with markers! Ask me about the absorption level of a PT sometime) and then cut them into one thousand tiny little white pieces. It brings her sheer delight.
This year she learned to write her name. God bless her. We gave her about the longest name we could think of. It takes her quite a while. She's a bit of a perfectionist. I really should've just taught her to write Mouse instead.
So the new ability to write her name and mine and Birch's- which right now looks like "Dabby" (love it!)- has spurned in her a desire to set up her own Office Depot.
Santa really did outdo himself. I bet he fell in love with it the moment he spied it. The best part is the back panel that lifts and reveals secret cubbies. It's the perfect treasure trove. I can only imagine at the changing delights of her heart that will collect here as she grows.
Juliana remains the Queen of Technology. I now feel like one of those old people who refuse to get a computer and other such "new-fangled inventions". This year she added a Kindle to her collection of electronic things she has that I do not.
Holt's wish list looked like the inventory log from the Lego store. Piggybacked onto his birthday, Christmas is the tail end of the present mother lode for him.
And for the second year in a row, Walter had been featured in the East Tennessee Border Collie Rescue calendar. He made an appearance this year as (drum roll here...) Mr. March. That is either one good looking dog or one unbelievably talented photographer. Or maybe they didn't get all that many submissions. I'll let you decide.
My favorite part (as always) was watching my kids delight in giving to us and each other. I love that they are as excited by that as they are in unwrapping their own treasures.
This was the year of the White Christmas. Afternoon brought much anticipated snow. It was enough to sled for a while, but not too much to cancel our trip to Tennessee the next morning. And this Christmas brought the new Jones tradition of a steaming crock pot of Birch's famous chili for lunch. It felt exactly right with the snow!
So now as I sit here in the air-conditioning absentmindedly scratching mosquito bites, it brings me joy that due to my blog slackerness, Jingle Bell season is only a mere half year away. Praying that the next one finds us together, healthy, with ALL family members around the tree. I'm hoping I have to worry about little hands breaking ornaments and wondering how in the world to keep all the presents wrapped until Christmas morning.
But I'll miss my kids at this age: Holt's absolute immersion into fantasy worlds, Juliana's feet firmly planted, one foot in childhood and the other not, Mouser always carrying a marker, a pen or pair of scissors, Zacki with a thumb red and wrinkled from all the love he gives it. And our house full. The delights of my heart! Christmas blessings all year long!
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