Breakfast w/ Santa

Well sort of. I guess it's more like pancakes at the school so you can say you went. After waiting in line, no interest in Santa but there was a strong interest in playing on the playground this pretty day. :-)

Puzzling

Life is a puzzle, isn't it? For each you can share personal strategies and experiences to help others think about how to solve theirs, but really there are no rules for exactly how to solve. We approach life however we want but have to be willing to face the consequences, good or bad. Zane tends to solve puzzles more like me, looking for edge and corner pieces first, but he will stop that process if he gets a vision for how a select few pieces go together perfectly. I do too.

Vanessa has always been one in which we need to step back and let her attack in her own way first, being there to support or encourage if she gets hung up or seems to be running in a good direction. She finally turns to us when she's open for advice or suggestions. Sometimes, when we can't chance bad consequences, we have to interject and insist she hear us before moving forward. But even so, she still faces bad consequences sometimes, and then it's important we revisit the hindsight gained from the experience. She's becoming more accepting of that, probably because of the seemingly silly consequences we enforce.

Zane still wants to hold our hand some and is open for suggestions up front, but even so, he tests things and instead of shrugging off the seemingly small things, we have to be there to enforce the consequences. Really the only consistent thing about solving life's puzzle is that there are consequences, right?! So I guess all that is to say that as a parent it is my job to teach them cause and effect and how to handle the celebrations and blows. I can't control the order in which the pieces are placed, nor should I try.

Birthdays

I recently discovered a new word that describes me -- ambivert. I'm neither fully introverted or extroverted -- I carry tendencies for both. I have a hard time with receiving attention. But I've recently accepted that I'm directing an emotion or feeling of rejection on others by guarding myself from attention too much. This is something I do not want my kids to remember about me when I'm long gone. But we're all a work in progress, right?!

The outpouring of birthday  time, wishes and love reminds me that I'm overly blessed. It was also very neat to watch how the kids processed it all. Vanessa likes to make things and gift. Really both kids do, but I can tell Vanessa becomes unsettled when feeling like she's missed or might miss an opportunity. After celebrating with family, we got home and Vanessa ran upstairs to make me a card and to find some things to gift me. Her card had a lovely and sincere note inside. She then gifted me a chew toy she made for Hendrix, made of masking tape and ribbons. She also gifted a burp rag. Then Zane came down with a card he colored and  his cabinet from his bedroom full of goodies. As he shared each item -- a "gift card" (really a rewards card) for Hallmark and a key that came in the mail for a brand new mystery car -- Vanessa ran back upstairs for more.

Vanessa brought back a basket full of more things she wanted me to have. And so they continued taking turns (somewhat competing) to give me all the things that belonged to them that they thought I could use or share with Hendrix.

They were very sweet. I'm so very blessed by the thoughtfulness and connections they made, even though in my head I started to go a little crazy by the mess of gifts spread before me. :-)

Then for Daddy to help them with flowers (although I kind of ruined any surprise by walking into garage). . . my heart is full . . .

And I do believe this is a record breaking poinsettia for me. Adam . . . :-) There are some bonuses to having a birthday close to Christmas -- the party decorations are outstanding. :-)

Is it interesting that on a whim you can start to put something together and then notice that you're missing something, and you're not quite sure how to resolve it, but the perfect something or somethings show up?

The Perfect Tree

 Fred the cat. She's a good ol' cat.

 A praying mantis egg case. How cool is it to find one of those in your Christmas tree?!

I'm thankful these guys did most of the work!

The Head of Heritage Trail

About 5 to 6 months passed expected opening date, Hilliard's new Heritage Trail Park had its formal ribbon cutting ceremony on December 3. It is beautiful and very nice at the center of Old Hilliard. It's across the street from the First Responders Memorial. This next summer we'll be able to walk down and enjoy the splashpad and outdoor concerts and activities there. The kids were extremely excited to check it all out -- so much to explore.

 {Above: checking out our breath in the shining light.)

Zane could have walked home but Vanessa insisted on carrying him. :-)