Candy Train

Windy day today. One of the large Christmas trees in front of the church blew over, and that thing was very heavy! We were under a severe weather alert for wind, and although someone said it was "good kite" weather, I'd tend to disagree: if you held on to a kite, it'd probably take you flying in the air until you landed in South Carolina!

Madison came to church tonight and had a good time again. In fact, you can see here that she built her own train. How creative is that? The body is a lifesaver package, the wheels are peppermints, the smokestack is a Hershey's kiss, and the place where the engineer sits is a caramel candy piece and a small chocolate bar. I'm surprised this train made it home!

It was cold again, though not the bitter cold we had the last few days. We're dreaming of a White Christmas around here - if we could only drop the temperature another six degrees last night, we would have had buckets of snow. In fact, further north there have been blizzard conditions already. I think we'll see a little of that snow this winter - I hope so, because we can't wait to see Madison tromp around in it!

In the front yard, one of our wise men blew over. I think it was Balthazar. Madison saw this from inside and said, "oh no!" When she was able to make it outside, she quickly helped the fallen king to his feet so he could pay his respects to the baby Jesus. But that's when Madison noticed the stable was a little untidy. All this wind had blown a large amount of leaves in there. So she immediately got inside and started cleaning up the place. Mary was no help, she just kneeled there with a vacant look on her face - so Madison did all the work, and in no time the Nativity Scene was spotless.

Daddy was really blessed at work today - he fell a pretty good distance in the dark, and landed funny. Yet he's still able to walk around, only slightly bruised. Seriously, I could broken several bones - and yet I was able to keep going. We'll see what tomorrow brings...I think I might be a bit sore.

The wind still howls outside, but we're all snug and warm inside. Madison is already asleep - it was late when we got home and it didn't take long for her to drift off to sleep. Mommy and Daddy will be right behind her. Tonight we're snuggling in bed and watching cheesy 80's Christmas specials! That's been fun this year: Mommy has all these VHS tapes with stuff that's just not on DVD yet. Stuff like "The Night They Saved Christmas," or "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," or "The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold," or even "Smoky Mountain Christmas." Every year we catch the classics, like "The Santa Clause," "The Grinch," "Miracle on 34th Street," or even "The Polar Express."

But movies like "Santa Claus vs. The Martians" are a lot of fun too! Just be sure to lower your expectations a tiny bit at the door...