I can't believe how fast the time is flying these past few weeks. I had to blow off another book club meeting and was unable to even get past chapter 3 of the book, 'The Painter from Shanghai". I loved the book from the first paragraph, but I was too busy to stay focused on a book. I've been crafting and prepping for the holidays, spending time with friends and family and working. However, I thought I would share one quick story and some pictures. The forest picture was taken about 10 miles from our house where we hunted and cut down our own Christmas tree.
My daughter was the victim of some teasing at school and was told by the "mean boys" that she was bad and that Santa wasn't going to bring her anything for Christmas. She believed them, but not her parents. Then, she received a letter in the mail from Santa Claus. She began to believe that he would visit. She was sad again when she said, "Santa isn't going to visit me because I don't need anything from him." I was proud of this. She realized she had had everything she needed, but on the other hand I wanted to cheer her up. "Maybe he'll bring something you haven't thought of and surprise you." She liked that idea alot, but as the month progressed she decided she wanted a train from Santa. She drew a picture and wanted to mail it to Santa. She based the picture on one of her favorite books about Tootle the Train. So, Santa delivered an electric train fully installed under the tree for Christmas morning. She loved it and squealed, etc. She was happy Santa ate the cookies she had made and that Rudolph ate the apple she left for him. Then....a couple days later she was in the bathtub lost in deep thought. She then says to me, "How come Santa didn't bring me a wooden train set?" Ah, guess she'll have to learn to be more specific next time. 
