The Harrises: There's no snow on the ground and I couldn't be more pleased!

This time last year, it was really cold and the ground was wet and hard from a recent snow. While the snow on Christmas Eve was picturesque, I'm glad they're not predicting one this year! The children are all snug in their beds napping. I should be preparing for our Christmas adventure tomorrow, but I'm taking a break instead.

Young John gets birthdays so I told him a couple of days ago that we were going to celebrate Jesus' birthday on Sunday. "Spiderman is coming?" he asks, thinking back to his friend Holt's birthday party. "No son, Spiderman isn't coming."

After hearing about the three wise men and their presents, John said, "Presents for Jesus' birthday?" Well yes, son. (And I promise that was a real response even though it sounds like a scripted line from a movie or Sunday school lesson!) I neglected to explain that we give him presents on Jesus' birthday, but he'll enjoy the surprise tomorrow morning.

William is in love with the Christmas tree. Yes--we have a Christmas tree. My small group leader saved Christmas when she offered an 4 foot artificial tree that she wasn't using this year. The garland idea was a complete fail--it was ugly and heavy and messy. After it fell to the ground a third time (taking pieces of plaster with it), I threw it out the back door and won't ever purchase real garland again, unless it's hung by some yard boys. I cried and the children wondered what was going on, but we moved on. I picked up the Christmas tree from my friend and let it sit in the van for a few days.

Late one evening when husband John was on call, young John noticed trash bags in the back of the van. I told him it was a Christmas tree and he went nuts. He'd noticed Christmas trees (with LIGHTS Mommy!) all around town and had shown lots of self-control not to touch them, so I realized he could handle it. We took it out of the garbage bags, straightened out the limbs, and began to decorate. Lights! Garland! Ornaments! It was a feast for the eyes and heart to see John and William delight in such a simple thing. Bonus for Mom and Dad--no need to water and there was no mess in take up and put down, and it took 30 minutes to decorate.

Each day, we lose about three or four ornaments. I realized that we should only use unbreakable ornaments so we only hung ones from our childhood. It's fun to see the boys marvel at ornaments made in the 80s. A few times, William has plugged and unplugged the lights and pulled the tree down once (he was walking with his cart holding the light cord), but it's been much more manageable that I thought. The energy I spend encouraging them to "walk away!" and "one-finger touch!" is well worth the joy they have about having a Christmas tree. I just might buy a fake tree during after Christmas sales.