Christmas morning - bullet form.

Afton awake from 2:30 -4:30 am in pure "I can't sleep Mama!" excitement. Cedar up at 5:30 am. We pound down the stairs with baby Jesus dolly bouncing in Cedar's arms. When we hit the ground floor - everyone stopped still to take it all in. Pure quiet.

I expected the pandemonium to hit - but no.

They giggled quietly with "Omigosh!" and "Oh, Cool" punctuating the mental absorption.

Afton asked, "Is it my Birthday?"

Only later after the stocking full of candy was ingested did the chaos of indoor rollerskating, toy bulldozer, a balloon, and random Dora/dollie/playdough-ness take place.

Christmas was very simple this year in scheduling and gifting. It felt really good. Quieter somehow. I've now had a chance to really process some of the true gifts and truths I've been privileged to receive.

Christmas morning.

Too legit...

Hoser

As many of you know, I have a fabulous friend living with Levi and I. Her name is Lisa and she tells this story.

"My dad was great at changing the diapers of my sister and I. He made sure we were clean and in fresh ones. Many men won't even help this way. The challenge with my dad is that he hated poop. Being the type of man to find a way, he....found a way. He would dump all the poopy diapers on the lawn and HOSE THEM OUT. Mom's favorite game when she got home from work was to - find all the diapers scattered across the lawn. Thank God we lived in the country."



You know I can't resist a poop story for long.

Barbie

Having a little girl always poses the question of "To Barbie or not to Barbie", does she unnaturally warp little girls minds with unfair expectations and hopes? I'm thinking if we created a Barbie that was more true-to-life it would be "flat-chested, pear shaped Barbie". Maybe with stretch marks...