Merry Christmas 2012

I always try to wrap every single thing Cole gets so it looks like he TOTALLY scored. Kids don't think about what's inside. It's the quantity they notice :) For example, a $1.00 box of candy and a DVD for $5 at Walmart? Two beautifully wrapped gifts! A few weeks before Christmas, Cole told me he wanted a pencil sharpener for Christmas so we made sure Santa knew. His other wishes were a stuffed dog and Ninjago Legos. Funny side story about the sled: A couple days before Christmas, I was getting out of the shower when Cole asked me about something he found on Danny's side of the bed (some random trinket). I knew he'd been snooping around in our room but he totally denied it. I point blank asked him if he'd been looking under our bed (doh!) and he promised he hadn't but like most Moms can, I could sense that he wasn't telling the truth. I told him I needed him to be honest and that I wouldn't be mad if he told me the truth. He broke down crying and confessed to peeking under our bed and that he found a "HUGE blue sled". He felt really bad and I told him if he was a really good helper for the next couple days, he could keep it and we wouldn't return it to the store. It actually turned into a sweet teaching moment about the importance of honesty and Cole has talked about it several times since.

Cole was SO PROUD of himself for picking this out for me. What can I say? It truly is the thought that counts :) I've worn it a few times and it's actually pretty comfy.

I'm not a big fan of full body shots...but this one is too funny not to share.

It's so fun for Cole to share a name with a Lego Ninja! 

It's still weird to me that Cole is reading chapter books. He read one of these in just a day (he wakes up at the crack of dawn every morning and reads with his lamp on before Danny's alarm even goes off).

Good old self timer

This little stocking is a tradition we started this year that I want to keep going. On Christmas Eve before family prayer, we went around and decided that this mini stocking would be for Jesus. We hung it on the tree and talked about something we wanted to give to Jesus this next year. Something intangible that we were willing to change or give up to be more like Him. Something to focus on all year long that we can keep in the forefront of our minds. It was really sweet to listen to Cole explain that he was going to try and be more honest. Danny and I added ours and we wrote them down on slips of paper and put them in the stocking. Next year when we get out our decorations, we'll talk about how we did with our goal and talk about one to make for the next year. I thought about this several times on Christmas Day when I glanced at our tree and I have thought about it every day since. I really hope this is something we can continue doing to keep the Savior the real focus of the Holiday. It was a great Christmas and even though it's been a tough year, it was a really enjoyable day filled with family.