Secret Santa Shop.......

Today at school was the day the kindergartner's could shop at the Secret Santa shop. We were to send in a certain amount of money and the kids could shop for their parents, grandparents, etc. with adult supervision..........can you imagine the chaos!

Oh how cute it was when Jake got in the car this afternoon with his back pack filled with presents that he picked out for mommy, daddy, Nana, Pop, Grammy and Popsie! He couldn't wait to tell me everything he had bought - I kept telling him that it was ok to tell me about the grandparents gifts - but to keep mine a secret - he couldn't stand it - he wanted me to see my "book" with the heart!!!

The gifts were wrapped in blue Christmas bags with a sticker for each person. Jake readily picked mine out and said "look at your book mom - it has a heart on it". So precious and so cute.......so I peeked inside the bag - but that wasn't good enough - I had to take it out!!! So, I did - and he was so excited about the heart that said "mom - I adore you". I made a really big deal out of it and told him we must put it back in the bag so Daddy wouldn't get jealous that I had seen my gift and he hadn't seen his. Jake ran over to the tree and put it in the back.....then he told me that he couldn't wait to see what was in his gifts......kept looking at them in awe.....this is what it is all about. Not the hustle and bustle and stress of the season - it's the gleam in the little kids eyes, the excitement that they feel about Christmas.

I can't wait until Christmas Eve when Jake and I make cookies for Santa and leave out milk too - it's always fun to watch Mark after Jake goes to bed - he really does eat the cookies and drink the milk and he will leave a note thanking Jake for the cookies.....making memories - I love that! Of the few memories I have of my mother - Christmas is one of them. She always loved this time of year and I have so many memories of Christmas.......especially the gallon dill pickles that she would buy me and wrap up as a joke - knowing that I loved pickles - it was my favorite gift!!!

Be blessed. Love to all