Gratituesday: Presents and Presence

Last night was the night that Phil and I chose to wrap gifts together. We get out all the gifts, and all the gift-wrapping supplies, pour ourselves a glass of wine, put Elf on the TV (please tell me you've all seen Elf) , and get to work. It's always a fun little date night.

"We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup."

This year I was lusting after these two gadgets:

But alas, it was good old fashioned scissors and tape for us. And it worked just fine!





When we wrap presents for the kids, we number them in what order we want them to open them. I know it's a little OCD of me, but it ensures that someone doesn't open underwear right after someone else opens a new Leapster. So to keep things fair (at least while they are still little) they all open similar presents in order. We start with the smallest presents and work our way up to the biggest and best.





We also don't do the whole name-tag thing on the kids gifts. We just write on the present with a Sharpee who it's for. That way they don't question if it's from Mom & Dad or "Santa".





Speaking of Santa, we have always been on the fence about telling our kids about Santa, and not wanting to lie to them. We emphasize that Christmas is Jesus' birthday, and we talk to them about St. Nick. They know that the Santa's they see in the mall are just helpers and not real. But without wanting to squash their dreams, we just try to talk around Santa.

John-Paul, who's in first grade, recently got sent to the Principal's office for telling kids that Santa wasn't real. I think he was telling them that the Santa that was about to come to their school wasn't real (as we had told him). Anyway, while I do not think he should have been in trouble for saying it, I completely understand that other kids shouldn't find out the truth from a boy in their class. Hmmmm, we're still not sure how to handle the whole thing. Any suggestions?

Back to the point of this post.....I am grateful today for so many things:

~A husband who helps with all the household stuff, like wrapping presents. And enjoys spending time together, no matter what we do.

~Children who are so.excited. about what is to come!

~Presents to give to said children.

~God's love shown by sending His only son to be born unto us, teach us, and redeem us all.

What are you thankful for??