A January Christmas update.  What's wrong with that?  We've been busy.

Brooks had a fun Christmas.  We think it will be the first one he actually remembers so we tried to do things that would create great memories for him.  

He helped his Daddy buy a real tree and was a played a big role in decorating the tree.  He organized the presents and counted them, making sure that everyone had something under the tree.

 Brooks did lots of art projects at school and showed them off each day that we picked him up.  Sometimes, he'd need to show us his projects that were hidden in his backpack even before we left the school parking lot.  He was most proud of the wreath ornament he made us for the tree.  He explained that the project took several days because he had to wait for the paint to dry before he glued on the decorations. The multi-day project was a huge deal and his excitement inspired him to open our present for us.  What a sweetie.

 Brooks had a beautiful, five minute long Christmas program at school.  He got all dressed up, which is out of the norm for him.  He much prefers wind pants and a short-sleeved t-shirt for school. He gets hot and doesn't like to deal with buttons.  But, the day of his performance he was so excited to put on his new sweater and corduroy pants with a belt.  He even took some time in the bathroom to brush his hair and sneak a few squirts of his daddy's cologne.  I suppose when you are a little boy man, hygiene becomes pretty important.  

 We made cookies.  Brooks wrote the list of what we needed to buy at the grocery store and helped with the project from start to finish, including the shopping.  This day was one of his sweeter days and he was so patient with his sister, who served as a mess maker rather than a helper.  

 We took Brooks to The Sound of Music.  He cousin, Kennedy, was in the play (big deal...adult theatre...she's 8) and he was so excited to see her perform.  He only made it to the intermission because it didn't start until after his bedtime, but it was still a magical night.  It was fun to see him all dressed up and feeling like such a big boy.  And, his cousin was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

 We've (I should say GREG and kids) have done lots of skating. This mama doesn't like to be cold.  Not one bit.  The weather was pretty much hot until Christmas, but they still managed to find a few days cold enough to skate.  Brooks picked up right where he left off last year and we still are encouraging him to love skating without pushing any type of organized hockey on him.  We want him to be interested in lots of things and know that if he gets into hockey, that will limit his time for other things that are just as important to our family.  

We also did lots and lots of talking about the real meaning of Christmas and took lots of time to celebrate family, Jesus and our many blessings.  It was a special time of year and seeing it through Brooks' eyes made it even more special.