On the first day of Christmas, Arden said to me . . .

As we were decorating our Christmas tree, Arden curiously studied the angel ornaments. After hanging one on the tree, she said, "Mom, why don't these angels have eyes?" I told her they're pretend angels, like dolls, and they represent the angels from the Christmas Story. Being the eager-to-teach mother that I am, I then proceeded to tell her the reader's digest version of the Savior's birth, highlighting the part where the angel visits the shepherds and wise men. Being the eager-to-please daughter that she is, Arden quickly interjected: "Ya mom, I know this part. (starts singing) "the wise men build the house upon the rocks."

Before putting the tree up, I carefully considered ways to keep the kids from destroying it: gates, doing a table-top tree, not decorating the bottom half. After pondering it for a bit, I thought to myself, "Keeping the kids away from the tree is NOT what Christmas is about!"
With this carefree spirit in tow, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the girls decorate the tree and turned a blind eye throughout the week to their less-than-gentle handling of my favorite acrylic ornaments.
Turns out it's a really good thing I decided not to care what happened to this tree. I would have been devastated.


After all our careful Christmas shopping, it seems the only gift my kids really want for Christmas is a couch and some cushions. This has been the favorite toy ever since they discovered it, it's so hilarious to watch them wrestle and fall and laugh so hard at eachother.