Toyland

Since the girls were born it seems like every December 26th I start wishing we had saved our Christmas money to go toward buying a bigger house. We could have easily thrown away every toy the girls had on December 23rd and started over from scratch. I'm not sure they would even miss anything.

Not that I am not thankful for all the wonderful things that people got them. We really are blessed that they have so many people in their lives who care to get them things this time of year. It seems like every time I blinked there was someone else who had thought of them. It means a lot to know that your children are special to other people.

I'm always surprised which toys they really end up playing with the most. They usually are things I wouldn't have even thought of. For example, my brother (you know him as Tugboatcap'n) and his wife got Marley the game "Don't Break the Ice." She will play with it as long as you sit there putting the pieces together for her. She loves it. I never would have guessed.

Laney received eight or nine of the cutest baby dolls I think I have ever seen. I'm not sure if we are preparing her for motherhood or to open her own daycare center. She also got a baby bed and the stroller and carrier to go with those dolls.

It was a wonderful Christmas. I broke with tradition and actually got Lewis three things that he has used and is not planning to take back.

The girls were at peace with each other. I guess there were enough new things for them to be able to share. And we all just enjoyed each other.

I think though that the most memorable thing for me was the ride to my mom's after church on Christmas Day. I told Marley that I loved her and asked her if she loved me. She said she did and that I was her best friend. Lewis then said that he thought he was her best friend. She replied, "You are, you and Mommy and Aney." I said, "You know Marley, we're family, and that's better than being friends." She replied, "Yeah, let's all be friends like Grandma." I hope we can always "be friends like Grandma" if it means we can be as happy and as close as I felt to my husband and my children over this holiday. Maybe if the whole world could feel that way we wouldn't have so many things to worry about.