24th Day of Christmas

The Littlest Things Make Magic

Me: Morning Matthew.
Matthew: <Looking to find Daddy, then crying when he realized that Daddy is at work.>
Me: I miss him, too!  I wish he was home with us. Don't worry, he will try to be home earlier tonight.
Matthew: (perking up after realizing what today is) It's Monday and tomorrow is Christmas!
Me: I know! It's so exciting! What do you want to do today?
Matthew: I want to go to the park to play in the sand.

Fast forward through early morning Mommy and Matthew hair cuts, picking up lunches to take to the park, chatting about our day in texts with Daddy...

Huddled together at the park (It was chilly!) eating our take-out lunch and who pulls up to the park to surprise us at 2 pm? Daddy! He said he'd been 'following us' since our hair cut pic/text. At one point, I remember him texting asking, "Where are you now?" but I was driving so didn't answer it immediately.  I remember thinking he must have been lonely at work and was just asking to be connected with Matthew and I. When we arrived at the park, I texted a pic of Matthew and I eating lunch. Minutes later, he pulled up.

It is the littlest things that make magic.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Matthew's advent activity for today was to build a gingerbread house together with Mommy and Daddy. He was excited to do it but even more excited when he saw that it was a gingerbread train.

A gingerbread train? This would be minor detail to most...a major deal to him.


We have Christmas Eve dinner at my Mom's house so we took the gingerbread kit along with us. It was the perfect place to put together. Matthew had a little bit of help from many hands.

Family was the magic of my evening. 

Where do you find magic?

23rd Day of Christmas

Lazy mornings...are good. 

Lazy family mornings...are sublime.

Sunday morning, we all slept in. As soon as Matthew woke up, he climbed into bed with Daddy and I.  We laid there chatting and enjoyed the quiet of the morning. Peaceful. When we finally got up to start the day, I needed to run some errands with my Mom.  Matthew and Daddy decided to stay home together.  I picked up my Mom and we were successful finding what we needed and the last minute shopping crowd wasn't so bad. We had a great afternoon together.

Sunday evening ended with Matthew, Daddy, and I relaxing on the couch together. 

Gilbert...the perennial beggar!

Seems so simple, but we don't get enough time just relaxing together.

Do you get enough time with your family?

The 4th through 22nd Days of Christmas ...

Here's what we've been up to...

With a little help, Matthew selected a 5 year old boy's request from the Angel Tree. The request was for a pair of shoes. For an added smile, we tucked a Hot Wheels car inside each shoe.

 

Side-tracked:
Trying out the Angry Birds Helmet ~
because you never know when you'll need it.

Angel Tree~ Mission Completed!

Matthew made a picture for his grandparents, whom he affectionately calls Nanay and Tatay because that's what everyone else calls them. =)

He created a picture for his Grandma and delivered

it with a package of Gingerbread flavored coffee.

We watched special, sparkling night-time parachuters land.
What an amazing night!

We made lefty-hand prints!

We ate dessert before dinner. Oh the silliness!
He was tickled by the thought!

Matthew made Christmas cards for all 6 of his preschool teachers and aides. We've danced, we've splashed in the rain, we had a pajama party and baked cookies, we've had family movie nights cuddled on the couch, we've recreated Christmas songs with our own lyrics that make no sense at all...

we're taking the time to enjoy Christmas together.

Merry Christmas.

Are you spending Christmas in a way that fulfills you?