Gifts Times Two

I have a lot of blessings by being a mom of twins. One of them I LOVE is getting two homemade Christmas presents that they make at school. I don't know if my Christmas would be the same without them. Seriously. I tear up every year when Matthew and Lucas come home with their gifts made at school. Even better is that Derrick and I don't have to share-we each get one! In Preschool is was the traced hand ornament with their picture on it, Kindergarten was a painted coffee mug, and first grade was a wreath made out of their hands with their picture in the middle. This year it is an ornament made out of MiniWheats, molded and mixed together with glue then shaped into a circle. I know for certain that Matthew wasn't excited about making it. That is enough to make me love it even more. I can see him sitting at his desk, while all the other kids are getting messy and molding/mixing, with his hands up as if the teacher was asking him to touch a snake. He does not like things that feel funny, and mini wheats mixed with glue is high on that list. Part of the process was breaking up and crushing the MiniWheats before molding. To avoid touching this, he told me he put it in a bag and sat on it.

In Kindergarten, they were all about hiding the coffee mugs under their beds until Christmas. This year, Matthew wanted me to open it ASAP when he got in the door. I managed to put it off...trying to wait until Christmas, encouraging him to hide it, wait until Daddy gets home...but nothing worked. Finally after dinner, he asked me nicely to open it and so I did. He even included a letter-they're learning about friendly letters in school.

His letter says: "Dear Mommy, I love you. You are the best mom! You are the 'allsomest' (read awesomest) mom ever! Love, Matthew

When Derrick got home, Lucas asked him to open it. Lucas's approach was different. Since it was for the "family" tree, he thought he should help Derrick open it, and the letter inside was "Dear Family....". So cute! Matthew's wrapping paper-a cross with Jesus on it.

And the topper on all of it, is the homemade wrapping paper. I loved how excited and proud they were to give us a gift. It showed their sweet side! The front of his paper bag-a heart, and nice coloring!

Feeling Like Christmas

It's feeling more like Christmas! We had a nice little snow fall Thursday night, and into Friday. That caused a two hour delay for some schools here, including Alder and Marysville. Friday night we invited my parents to go to the zoo lights with us. Oh so fun! Dad, Natalie, Matthew, Lucas, and Mom

We ate at Applebee's before we headed to the zoo. The boys were SO squirmy and impatient while we were waiting..but they were obviously hungry...they can't go 5 minutes without eating lately...or so it seems. They, and Natalie, chowed down on their food, we talked with my parents for awhile, and after a bathroom break we were out the door. We arrived at the zoo around 7:15. It was super crowded. I give credit for how crowded it was to two things-it was a Friday night, AND it was in the upper 30s/low 40s..which is very warm for a night at the zoo lights. This visit was a huge contrast from last year-it was SUPER cold, Matthew was whiny and wouldn't pose, and Lucas wanted to be in every picture. Matthew and Lucas with the peacock.

This time it was "warm", and Matthew posed for almost every photo. This year, all the lights are LED, which made it so much prettier. Derrick had a "God" moment while we were walking in. He was "praying"/thinking to himself that he wished we had some cash with us because hot chocolate sounded good. Well, I was behind him, as always, with the boys, and Matthew stumbled over a piece of paper. I thought it looked like a dollar, and I picked it up. It was $20! I looked around to see if anyone was frantically looking for cash they had dropped, and there wasn't anyone. So, I put it in my pocket. I told Derrick about it. That is when he told me about his "hot chocolate prayer". Too funny! Derrick and I enjoying our hot drinks-provided by God!

We walked around, looked at the lights, had the kids pose for pictures, and Matthew had his first hot chocolate, we had hot lattes and cider, and we all shared a warm pretzel. I think Natalie had the best time..so bundled in her stroller that the poor baby couldn't move! It was a good night!