Alice in a Winter Wonderland

Alice is back, this time in a Winter Wonderland, or at least it finally is starting to feel that way outside.  The temperature plunged to the point that we had icicles outside, something we haven't seen since last winter.  The fire is in the fireplace, and tonight, we were sitting watching another Christmas movie together as we snuggled in front of the fire.  Tonight's flick:  "A Christmas Story."  Madison's sort of seeing all these classic bits for the first time, from the frozen flagpole to the leg lamp to the menacing Santa Claus.  It was fun to watch her react to them, giggling at certain bits like we always do each year.

Daddy has been reading the writings of Jean Shepherd, who wrote all of the different segments that make up "A Christmas Story."  It's a great collection of writings, and a wonderful glimpse into the past.    It's also interesting to see the original stories that the movie is based on, learning a few things along the way.  For example, why a leg lamp?

Madison was an artist today, painting her birds once again on different canvases.  Each one of these will be a gift for the grandparents - and honestly, I really do like these pictures she's painting.  The style is unique and colorful, something I think we could make into a Christmas card maybe next year!

Today, Daddy went to see his old friends up in White County, where we caught up with each other.  These are the friends that go back to high school, which was of course only a few years ago... anyway, they each handed over a lot of money to pass along to Aunt Shain and her family, to help her along this season.  That was nice.

Meanwhile, Mommy and Madison were painting and baking.  In regards to the painting, we had some painters visit today, and now the front of the house has been touched-up a bit.  It looks nice!  These same painters will be back when the weather is warmer, to take care of the rest of the house.  Until then, it looks nice - and will look really nice tomorrow when we hang up the wreathes and Christmas lights.

The nicest moment of the day happened early on though.  Madison earned some gift cards to Target, having had her sermon booklet for KidPak stamped each weekend the last two months.  This morning, she did something generous with her gift cards:  she spent them on somebody else.  She bought a few toys, and donated them to the toy drive that we have going on at KidPak.  It was really sweet watching her walk up and down the aisles, thinking very hard about what she could get, and trying to get the best gift she could.  She decided upon a Monster High doll, and we have no problem with that.  She'll drop it in for a donation in the morning, and we're happy to see her heart in the right place.  She's a good girl, and no doubt will be seeing proof of that in less than a week when Santa comes...!