Dear Reader:

What fun yesterday was! Honey was the first to stop by to pick up the Apple Tree stand but she had to leave before Mollie and Eloise arrived. Thank goodness we were all able to reconnect later in the day.

Eloise was so excited at the Christmas tree lights and all the shining objects as she toddled unsteadily from ornament to ornament. I wanted to get all the Christmas t-shirts and outfits to the grandchildren so they could wear them before Christmas. We just needed a rendezvous day to exchange.

We decided to beat the crowd and scurry over to Five Loaves for lunch! We made it in before the crowds and the food was delicious as usual. However…little glass Christmas globes had been placed on each table and before either Mollie or I could react Eloise grabbed one and it slipped right out of her little fingers and broke on the floor.

Our waitress and the manager came running to help locate and pick up the slivers of glass as Mollie and I apologized over and over. Oops!…Oh well… accidents happen.

Later when the same manager returned  to our table and squatted down next to me… we grew a little apprehensive…. she was smiling brightly, however, and told us our family had been selected that day to receive a  Happy Holidays  free meal from the Glowfisch family (owners)…in the spirit of Christmas giving.

What a wonderful surprise! Mollie and I just both looked at each other and squealed…we had never won anything (and especially since we were the family that caused all the mess and commotion.) We started giggling like three little girls crowned princesses of the day!

In the book Anne gave me for Christmas ( 52 Little Lessons from a Christmas Carol) one lesson is seeing life through a child’s eyes. It mentions the wonderful ability of Bob Cratchit to let troublesome adult issues go (after being scolded by Scrooge for wanting a day off) and then instead of pouting…quickly reverting to childlike enthusiasm as he goes “snow sliding” with some local youth and once home  joins his children in a game of blindman’s bluff.

In other words Cratchit becomes like a child. The narrator suggests there’s value in looking at the world from a child’s perspective. Scrooge only considers himself an important adult…he has left childish ways behind. “Yet it’s the children, not Scrooge, who get it. They are living life to its fullest. They live with zest as flush as their rose cheeks. “

In  one Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come scene, young Peter Cratchit reads Mark 9:36 to his mother and siblings: “And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them.” And ultimately,  it is where Scrooge will find his redemption…in a little boy…Tiny Tim.

So until tomorrow…Let us strive to enjoy the moments of happiness together with a new understanding ….being adult enough to know the value of looking at our surroundings through a child’s eyes…full of enthusiasm and zest for life.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

When we got back we were playing around in one of the back rooms when we heard Honey…she had returned with the completed apple tree for the centerpiece…the annual event that marks the “official” start of Christmas in my home!!! There should have been trumpets sounding…and what a lovely smell!

Honey also had a bag of goodies for me…wonderful books on planting and a garden journal…along with a homemade pottery angel and other adorable ornaments for the tree. The Christmas tree and planters has never been happier!

 Vickie came bringing goodies and the chubbiest red bird that made me laugh…I told her that this was how I was going to look if I didn’t get off that recliner with my foot up and quit eating all the goodies coming in….Queen Victoria in her later life.