Score!

Since Silas was feeling a bit better this morning, I thought it would be nice to get out of the house. But where do you take a "contagious for 1 more hour" kid... Garage Sale-ing!!

Silas loves to go to garage sales. His eyes lit up when I made the suggestion this morning, and he scampered upstairs to get dressed. I packed lunch and snacks, and we headed out late, around 11:30. Not ideal for getting good deals, but we weren't really looking for anything, just trying to get off the couch.

We went to one neighborhood nearby that was having a community yard sale and had a great time browsing and finding "must haves". We came home with a bike tire inflater, metal bike rack for the garage (much needed as Silas bike is ALWAYS in the way), a white noise maker alarm clock for the nursery, a ten cent spinning top, some craft supplies, and Silas had a hotdog and limeade. We also got a vacuum with a retractable handle that is perfect for Silas, who has already vacuumed the dining room, his bedroom and ours. And I found a home of 2 teachers selling off a variety of thematic project books (Science, US History & Geography, Math) for "school at home" inspiration - notice I did not say for homeschooling, as I have no plans to take that on in the immediate future, but I wouldn't mind having resources for enhancing his educational experience in the future.

The big score of the day was the Eddie Bauer Travel System complete with car seat, stroller, two car bases, and cute winter snuggle blanket (much needed for my Thanksgiving baby), though now I'm wondering if the stroller is going to be too heavy. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I'm hoping to recoop some of that next weekend when I sell mine at our community yard sale. Silas is very excited to select things to sell of his own. I don't know if I'll let him keep the money, but I do have veto rights to prevent him from doing something rash like putting John Brown Dog up on the auction block!

Strep Throat

I am feeling like a big, fat jerk. Silas has been on again off again feeling yucky for almost 3 weeks. Most days he is fine - no fever, no sore throat complaints - just a normal, energetic 4 year old.

Last week he woke up with swollen glands on his neck - I mean REALLY swollen. I consulted my "Guide to Your Child's Symptoms" from the American Academy of Pediatrics and found that swollen glands without fever or other complaint should just be watched - call the pediatrician after 7 days. 7 DAYS?!? Well, if it can wait that long, it must not be anything serious. So on day 8 when he woke up feeling TOTALLY HORRIBLE (a very drastic change from the previous 7 days, but still, no fever), I called the doctor at 9:01 a.m. and had him seen at 10:15.

It turns out it is strep throat.

I texted Steve and he texted back, "I'm surprised. No fever, no tonsilar exudate!!" Those were the things I was looking for too. Fever and oozing stuff from his throat. He had neither. But the throat culture showed strep, and after 18 hours on an antibiotic, Silas is strikingly improved. So much for doctor mom. Or Doctor-doctor dad.

I'm just glad he's getting better and hopefully, we'll be able to go to his friends birthday party on Sunday. Perhaps another day of unlimited tv, books, cuddles and popsicles will bring back my perky little buddy.

John Brown Dog

Silas has a best friend. His name is John. He has short brown hair and brown eyes. They met last fall at Grammy's house and the connection was immediate. We were surprised by Silas' deep attachment as he had never showed such preference before, but given the timing (a month or two after the miscarriage) perhaps it filled a void.

For a few weeks, Silas was telling stories about an older brother named Sean. I'm pretty sure this was his way of dealing with the sudden absence of sibling discussions that had been flowing for some time. We had foolishly included him in our happy news as soon as we found out I was pregnant last fall, and when we got the devestating news that the baby had stopped developing at 6 weeks although my body hadn't figured it out yet as of 10 weeks, we had no idea how to reconcile it for ourselves, let alone for our sweet 3 year old.

And so we clammed up. God is merciful, and Silas seems to have handled things quite well on his own, and so we listened to stories about Sean, delicately showing interest while not encouraging it too much.

We were a bit relieved when he seemed to have latched onto this shaggy stuffed dog. It already held special significance for my mom as she had purchased it years before for her mom who at the time was dying from cancer. Grandma Myer had become very child-like, but never really took to the little brown dog as mom had thought she might. Grieving was very hard on mom, and she didn't have the heart to get rid of it. She just tucked him up in her closet to be dealt with another day.

So when Silas discovered it in her closet and asked to take it home, I made a BIG DEAL out of taking good care of Grammy's puppy and returning it to her after his sleepover. When we tried to return it the next day, Silas had grown so attached that mom was happy to give him a new home.

At first his name was just Brown Dog - Silas was new at "naming" and so he went for the obvious. While on vacation with Mom and Dad in January, a friend of theirs asked Silas if Brown Dog had a name. He thought for a minute and said "Sean". Then he seemed to remember that he had assigned that name to someone else, and so he quickly changed it to John. And so John it is.

John goes with us everywhere and holds a special place in my heart as well as his. He is Silas' playmate during the day and his champion in the night. He goes to the library, the grocery store and even was able to visit his preschool a few times. Every evening at bedtime, one of us is searching for the last place John was in play. I've noticed in the last several weeks that there have been nights that Silas has forgotten John, and I find him dicarded on the floor somewhere. I know he might be missed in the middle of the night, and so I slip him into Silas' bed and tip-toe back out.

Perhaps his need for John is coming to a natural end. There is a new baby on the way and his focus is shifting to his role as a big brother. (Needless to say, we waited until we were VERY safely out of the woods with this pregnancy to share the news with him, even though he had been asking about my growing tummy for weeks - I tend to show REALLY early, and I think I've educated him a bit too much about growing babies.)

I am grateful that mom didn't get rid of that little brown dog. He wasn't able to comfort a dying grandma, but he was able to come along side a confused little boy and bring joy and friendship, and for that John will always be cherished.

Pregnancy #3... First Trimester COMPLETE!!

Everything with my pregnancy is going well. I have officially made it through the first trimester and things are looking just like my pregnancy with Silas looked and NOTHING like the miscarriage in the fall - Praise God! It's funny, but it's taken me this long to really settle into begin pregnant! I just pulled out maternity pants on Sunday (and was comfortable for the first time in weeks!) I guess I wasn't rushing things so much, as one of the hardest things about the miscarriage was being in maternity clothes and NOT being pregnant.

I think I told you about meeting last month with the specialist from OSU and how we felt God's peace and comfort afterwards. Steve had a blood test while we were there to see if he was heterozygous or homozygous - basically whether he carried only positive factors (I don't know the actual term) or whether there was a 50-50 chance that this baby could carry a negative factor and thus not be affected at all by the anti-body senstitity. For some reason, we didn't get the results until just this week, but I am happy to report that he is heterozygous!!! Even though it's a small thing, it is an answer to prayer, giving me hope that this pregnancy will be uncomplicated and building my faith that God is in control and that he will watch over and keep this baby safe. I also had more blood tests on Friday and got the results yesterday that my levels have not changed AT ALL - another huge encouragement! So I am feeling tons of peace!

I recently came across this scripture from I Chronicles that has been encouraging me to stand strong: "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles and the judgments he pronounced." (I Chron. 16: 11-12) I feel like I am able to look to God and that he is revealing himself to me in so many ways. He is in control and I can trust him.

We finally told Silas last week about the baby and he is THRILLED! Of course, the waiting is hard and I would have liked to have waited longer, but my belly has been popping out for weeks and I felt bad misleading him whenever he mentioned it. Here's how the conversation would go:
Silas: "Your belly's getting bigger, mom" said with a sly grin.
Me: "That's cause I eat too much. Your belly is getting bigger too. And so is daddy's."
Which resulted in him breaking out in giggles and allowed a quick change of subject for me. If only he didn't hang out in the bathroom when I'm in my skivvy's, it wouldn't be a problem.

Preschool Humor

Silas has discovered joke-telling as a way to be entertaining. His first real joke was a knock-knock joke and it was pretty cute:

"Knock-Knock"
"Who's There?"
"Cow Go"
"Cow Go Who?
"No, Cow's Go 'Moo'!"

Cute, right. But understanding why it's funny hasn't yet occured. So now Silas is into making up his own jokes, and they're not very funny. As one can imagine, what is funny to a preschooler, is usually nonsense to a grown-up.

At first, I was encouraging his efforts by laughing and telling him that he was funny, but with his recent spoiled-child behavior, I've decided to be more realistic about his attempts at joke writing. I explained that jokes are funnier when they make sense and that the way he was telling jokes were funny only to himself.

So he decided to tell himself a joke:

"Knock-Knock, Silas"
"Who's there?"
"Cowboys and Trees"
"Cowboys and Trees Who?
"Cowboys go 'blah tree boo ticka ree'" (or some other such nonsense)

And then he erupted into high-pitched forced laughter, apparently having cracked himself up. I hope we haven't started something new here.

When I was seven, my three-year-old brother, Stephen, learned his first joke. The first time he told it, my mom nearly wet herself with laughter, totally encouraging him to tell it again and again. And he did tell it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again... you get the picture.

I grew so tired of that joke and all the attention my darling little brother received from telling his stupid joke again and again, as if he were the Little Emperor and could do no wrong. I resented him for being the favorite of the family and for coming along and stealing my thunder as youngest child.

And so I wonder what it will be like for Silas when another child comes into the family. Having been the middle child, I'm sure I will be sensitive to his feelings of de-thronement, while also reassuring him that he is still a special and loved member of our family. But I also am aware that he desparately NEEDS a sibling and that he will be a wonderful big brother, eventually. (Just as sibling rivalry eventually ceased between Stephen and me and now I can say I am very happy to have him as a younger brother - though it was pretty much constant fighting until I left for college!)

And what was Stephen's first joke?

Q: "Why did the elephant wear diapers to the party?"
A: "Because he didn't want to be a party pooper!"

It's really not that funny, is it.

Super Silas

Aunt Faith was here for a wonderful 5 day visit, during which she gave Silas and beautiful red satin cape, lined with fire trucks and dalmations, complete with a large felt "S". She asked for my permission first before giving it to him, in case he was in an obssessive stage in which in might wish to wear said cape everywhere. I assured her that he wasn't in such a stage, and felt pretty safe with that diagnosis as he has 2 capes already and we haven't had any problems.

But those weren't Super Silas capes. He has worn it all day every day since she gave it to him. One morning, an hour before he is usually out of bed, he stood by my bedside, completely dressed for the day, and asked for his cape. It's hilarious. And Faith keeps reminding me that she asked first.

And it makes him run faster. He has hand motions that begin each run. I love it. Because before long, he will be embarrassed. Before I know it, he'll be too cool. Before I'm ready, he'll have struggled with growing up himself and will decide to put his child's play aside and do more big boy things like sports or video games.

So if he wants to wear his cape to the grocery store, science museum, mall, church and mom's group, I'm okay with that. I will just smile at anyone who notices and make sure they know that the "S" stands for Super Silas.

I want to sell my birthday...

Silas' birthday this year was a little over produced, over stimulated, over booked and over dramatic. He was so excited that he barely slept and by mid-morning was exhausted and cranky. After several melt-downs, we actually contemplated cancelling everything in order to give him a much needed nap. We tried coaxing him into a better attitude by reminding him of all the fun we had planned, to which he responded, "I don't want it to be my birthday anymore. I want to sell my birthday."

Can you sell a birthday on Ebay, I wonder?

Acting like over-indulgent parents, we pressed on and rewarded a LOT of bad behavior with 2 parties. Yes, one at a local party house arcade, followed by a dinner party at our house for family.

Today we have worked on correcting all that went wrong. All of his presents are in Time-Out until further notice. He spent most of the day playing quietly in his room with a box of legos and some library books. And he was DELIGHTFUL. I think he just needed some strong discipline and a little less fan-fare.

Next year, we will keep it simple.

Why the drama?

For some reason I was wondering about sensationalism. Dictionary.com defines it as "subject matter, language, or style producing or designed to produce startling or thrilling impressions or to excite and please vulgar taste."

Vulgar taste. Why do we like things that are crude?Why do we crave drama? Why do we desire to hear the horrid details of someone's life? Why are we consumed by celebrity gossip? Are we that bored that we can't find better things to think about?

The apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Phillipians a list of things that one should think on. He writes:

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice.

And the God of peace will be with you."

Philipians 4:8-10

I imagine his instruction applied to those moments of our leisure time when we are mindlessly channel surfing and stop on some new reality TV show that is meant to appeal to our carnal nature. And we wonder why we have such little peace! We are thinking about all the wrong things.

And OH, BOY, look out if something dramatic happens to us or someone close to us! We are going to shout it from the mountain tops, sharing every tragic detail until our listener feels pain at hearing of our difficulty. So maybe we aren't that obnoxious, but we certainly would like for others to know the depth of our pain. There is such a fine line between sharing our lives with others and gossip, isn't there?

Proverbs 20:19 says, "A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much."

I guess the point I am trying to make is that we ought to spend less energy getting all the details of an event understood and more time finding the silver lining. We need to be careful about what we watch on TV, what crude things we fill our minds with and instead be content with Silence. And when something moves us deeply, our first reaction should be to lift it before the LORD and ask him to reveal His hand.

And sometimes we should be content to keep things to ourselves.

Knitting Portfolio

I've been wanting to post a few pictures of some of the things I've knitted lately, so here goes:

Here is Silas in the green sweater I knitted back in September. It is quite big on him, but I do think he likes it now. (The boo-boo on his chin is from our recent visit to a water park. He waded out into ankle deep water and dove in! He was NOT happy!)

A couple sets of slippers I made as a gifts.


Baby Hat made for my new nephew, Judah Stephen, who was born yesterday!


This sweater is not quite finished, although I hope to complete it by the end of the week. It is for my niece, Isabella, who turned 5 on Sunday. It is the same pattern that I used for Silas' sweater. I recently came across a pattern for a very cute asymmetrical cardigan and a cute shrug that I'm going to attempt next.

Beach treasures as determined by a preschooler...

This picture is from our trip to Florida in January. I loved watching my little boy discover digging in the sand, exploring the little treasures nature had left for him to discover.

Bad Breath...

Okay, so this isn't something I'm proud of, but I tend to have bad breath. And for as much as I tend to my oral hygiene, I really think it out to be better than it is.

The other day I was listening to Good Morning America Radio (on XM) and happened to catch Dr. Harold Katz discussing bad breath and it's causes. He mentioned sugar being a factor in feeding the sulfur producing bacteria that cause bad breath which live on the back of the tongue and in the sinuses. According to his research, mints and gum contain sweeteners and while they may mask a foul odor temporarily, they really will make matters worse by providing a buffet for the bacteria to feast on and therefore multiply. So the Altoid I had just popped in my mouth was actually doing more harm than good! Great! Now what?!?

Never fear, Dr. Katz has developed a product that will suffocate the bacteria rather than feed them: Therabreath. I went to CVS and purchased the oral rinse product immediately.


I'm not trying to be a mini-commercial for some product, but this stuff WORKS! It even eliminates morning breath! My husband is thrilled (as am I since he is using it too)!

I use only 1 capful once or twice a day, not the recommended 2 capfuls before brushing and after flossing, which in my mind will only help me go through his product faster, thus forcing me to buy it more frequently.

Dr. Katz also mentioned using products that contain essential oils like Tea Tree or Peppermint as they suffocate the bacteria rather than feed them, so I purchased a natural toothpaste at the health food store. It doesn't taste funny at all, so I'm happy to make the switch.

I am a little concerned about the safety of the Therabreath products as I am on a uber-natural quest to right all the wrong in my body, and I don't know how this will fit into the equation. But for now, I am confident that when reading to my dear preschooler, I will have sweet mommy breath and not that of a dragon!

Go Bucks!

Silas asked me to make him this backpack. It was a simple enough pattern and so while travelling to and from visiting family, I whipped it up. He chose the colors, much to the dismay of my dear husband whose family is all from Michigan. (Scarlet and Grey are the school colors of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan's arch rivals).

He has yet to put anything in it or really carry it beyond posing for a picture. He wants me to make him a hat next - and I probably will even though there are no guarentees he will really wear it. I really enjoy the process more than the end result, and apparently, so does Silas.

Conspiracies and prophets

My mom has mentioned a couple of times a book she wanted to read, The Hundred Year Lie: How Food and Medicine Are Destroying Your Health. I picked up a copy at the library the other day and have flipped through it a bit. My dear cynical physician-husband has also flipped through it and has decided it is designed to promote fear and that it is not to be trusted completely. I see his point. The author makes many claims, and attaches a lengthy bibliography, but his sources are not the reliable unbiased types that I am now trained to look for.

While the author's objective is likely to inform his readers of many pitfalls which can be avoided, he is also trying to sell books, and fear sells. "What must I do to protect myself and my loved ones from the evil government and nasty doctors who are sabotaging our future? I better buy this book so I can find out." (Save yourself the $20 and get it from the library.)

I continually seek godly wisdom on health, and sometimes that comes from secular sources. But sometimes I feel paralyzed to eat anything for fear of doing damage. This book makes me question the organic foods that I have been enjoying as even they have been compromised. Everything is potentially harmful!

And this brings me to the word of the LORD:
God instructed Isaiah not to walk in the way of the people saying,

"You are not to say, 'It is a conspiracy!' In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.

It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. Then He shall become your sanctuary..."

Stop for a moment and drink that in. Isn't that powerful. God will be our sanctuary, our protection, or hiding place. I am grateful to be one of His children, to be able to enter under his care. He still speaks today, even through and ancient prophet.

Tranquility

I'm instituting (again) a limit on TV time for preschool Silas. I don't know how it happens, but things start to slide and the next thing I know he has full access to TV all the time. Not that I think TV is all bad, it's just that he becomes a very different little boy - one that whines and very rarely obeys right away.

Today is Sunday, and on Sunday's I like for the whole family to nap. Daddy is working nights, so he was already in bed. Silas was tuckered out from a big breakfast at Bob Evans and church, but first he wanted to watch some TV. I allowed him to "spend" all 3 of his TV tickets (30 minutes each), and after his videos were over, he also took a nap.

By evening I was beginning to waver. Daddy left for work at 6:30 and I wanted so badly to turn the TV on and spend the evening lazily vegging out on the couch. Since Silas took a nap, I had about 3 hours post-dinner to occupy before he realistically would go to bed. I wanted to pass the time with my little boy in a fun and creative way, and as I paused to plan my next move, inspiration came moment by moment.

We painted, we danced, and then I got the best idea of the evening: I was inspired to have a little tea party. Yes, little boys can enjoy tea time just as much as little girls. I found an Asian style tea pot and cups that I have never used, but have always really loved and an exotic tea that was gifted to me by Faith but was always too special for just any occasion. And we sat and we sipped. We dunked tea biscuits. We talked. We laughed. And it ended with a sweet little kiss.

Did I really want to play and be creative? Not really, but I'm glad I did, and we had a lovely evening.

Endocrine Disruptors...

We eat mostly all organic meats and dairy to avoid hormones given to animals. I peel or diligently wash all conventional produce to remove residual pesticides. No trans fats. No high fructose corn syrup. I am careful about carbohydrates cooked about 250 degrees to limit my intake of acrylamide.

But I haven't looked much at my beauty routine, until recently. With just a little research, I've become aware of the many environmental factors that affect our reproductive system. I hope to make some changes to my own beauty routine to restore God's intended harmony.

Age management doctors are using bioidentical hormones given to patients in cream form applied to the skin to regulate hormone-loss due to aging. The face is one of the best places for absorbtion because of the many capillaries on the face, the same capillaries that cause us to blush. I have known this for about a year, but didn't make a connection to my own hormone issues before.

This week I began investigating organic body care items, lotions in particular, to evaluate the benefits over conventional products. What I found has really got me thinking.I have been using sunblock year round for several years now and a very basic moisturizer at night. I thought those were good things but now realize while these are good for the appearance of my skin they are perhaps bad for my body overall. And it seems some scientist agree.

The World Wildlife Fund has documented many instances of reproductive abnormalities increasing in nature. They attribute this rise to the many toxins that various industries release into the wild. They call these toxins "endocrine disruptors" as they interfer with the delicate balance of hormones in the body, known as the endocrine system.

I am still doing research. I wish I had a time machine as I feel like someday so many of the things we think of as "safe" will be labeled toxic. Remember Queen Elizabeth and her lead based face paint?

Some websites to explore:
Danger: What In The World Are You Putting On Your Skin
Human Exposure to Plastics
Does the dose makes the poison?

Idle words...

What would Jesus say if he stubbed his toe?

That was the question that came up today at mom's group. It's funny, but it's also important in our everyday lives as we are supposed to be like Christ, and yet we so often stumble when it comes to what we say in the moment of aggravation and frustration.

Frustration seems to be a part of everyday life, no matter how spiritual we are. Like when the kitchen floor has just been mopped and your son spills milk every where. Or when you haven't slept 8 straight hours in a row since the birth of your preschooler and you have less patience than you ought. When the barrel of your life is bumped or tips over, what you're filled with will spill out. So what spilled out of Jesus?

It seems to me that the words we are releasing in a moment of tension are idle words. What does the Bible say about idle words. A quick search on Biblegateway.com reveals the words of Isaiah 58:13-14 :

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's
holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

So there is a reward to "not doing as you please or speaking idle words." We all like rewards. And this reward is a good one - You will find joy in the Lord. That's pretty cool. We all want JOY, but God promises we will FIND joy.

But did Jesus give us an example to live by, afterall, he was "God with skin on". Searching "Jesus frustrated" or "Jesus annoyed" doesn't give us anything. I'll keep working on this and let you know soon.

D-Clutter Me!

I am on a mission! It is so refreshing to comb through the clutter and live a more organized life! I picked up Peter Walsh’s new book It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life With Less Stuff from the library and I am so inspired!

(By the way, if you are not a library enthusiast, consider using the library instead of purchasing books. I’m sure the major book sellers would cringe, but I have read so many wonderful books that I would never have spent the money on. And I’m even convincing my book lover husband to explore the library before buying. We still buy some books, but not as many and we really enjoy reading lots of cool stuff for free! Not to mention - less stuff to store around the house!)

I am not a hoarder by nature, but I did inherit some hoarding tendencies. I still have dried roses that my husband gave me when we were dating – some almost 13 years old! And they aren’t just buried in the basement either. No, there is a serving bowl full in one of my kitchen cabinets, right behind mugs and coffee filters, stuff I use everyday. Here is 13 year old trash eating up prime storage space, all because I am emotionally attached to them. Or rather I was attached to them. I plan to pitch them as soon as I complete this post!

But it’s the lazy clutter that gets me most: the stuff that I had intended to do something with but just set down somewhere for the time being. Suddenly it begins to accumulate, and then it becomes a part of the landscape and I don’t see it anymore. I know I’m not alone here but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to work on it. So I’m on a mission to go around and look at what I’m ignoring and deal with it. It is taking a long time, but I hope that by spring, I’ll be a new woman!

(And I stopped and threw out those roses already! I feel so liberated!)

Silas and Mommy...

I love my little boy. He is such a blessing. The preschool Silas is by far my favorite so far. I don't want to wish him older, but I do enjoy each new accomplishment so much.

(This delightful smile was coerced by telling him NOT to smile. If only he was eager to please. Still, this is one of my favorite pictures to date.)

A healthy perspective for the holidays

The holidays are over and life is slowly returning to normal. Almost all the Christmas decorations are put away and most of Silas's new toys have been assembled.

Everyone seems to ask, "How was your holiday?", to which I reply, "Very nice, thank you. How was yours?" But if we really were to lift the veil, I would stop and say, "It was wonderful. Truly pleasant. One of the better ones so far." Isn't that nice. That the truth is actually better than the pat answer?

Back in November, I felt my inner Scrooge coming out for his season of gloom, and I decided I wasn't going to give in this year. I realized that the gift giving on the season is what seems to get me the most. Finding the "perfect gift" for everyone who has everything. And deep down, I really don't want to. I don't want to add to the clutter of the already overstuffed. I don't want to try to impress the hard to impress.

And that's when I realized the root of my unhappiness: I was trying to impress my loved ones and be congratulated for another success. This is very different from giving someone a gift to show them how much I love them. One is focused on me, the other on them.

With a very slight shift in perspective, my holiday shopping days were no longer harried and frustrating. I still did lots of research to find good gifts, but I didn't fantasize about the moment when I would swell with pride after seeing the gift opened. Instead, I thought of my love for that person, praying for them to be blessed. It is such a small thing, but it made such a difference.

And so I would say my holiday was lovely and simple. Not that I wasn't at the mall every other day. Not that I didn't stay up late wrapping, cleaning, cooking. Believe me, I did.

Yet somehow, it still seemed simple.

And blessed.

Christmas 2007

We had a lovely Christmas day, rather calm considering years past. We really kept it simple this year and it was so nice. Silas was thrilled to have multiple presents to open, but we made his pile very obvious to keep the "is there any more" questions limited. He got a few cheap presents in his stocking from Santa, but I don't think it mattered too much to him this year. We read loads of books about St. Nicholas leading up to the holiday, so I think the excitment of Santa was toned down for him. I don't want to be legalistic, but I also don't want to lie to my child, so we're taking the "let's pretend" approach. I think it's fun to pretend Santa brings gifts, but I don't necessarily think you have to all out lie in order to have that fun. It's a year-by-year evolution for us; I'm sure more will develop next year.