joy from St. Nick

Oh, the delight in this household early this morning... We left our shoes outside of our bedroom doors last night in honor of the custom of St. Nicholas Day. We woke to find our shoes filled with candy, but Dennis had a little something extra. His candy-filled Crocs were resting against a toy Rescue Hero named Roger Houston. Dennis came to wake me up, yelling "you gotta come see this, Mama!" in the most incredulous voice. He's been joyful all day long, carrying his newest treasure wherever we went. He helped to get Uncle Denny ready for Christmas, decorating his tree tonight, sharing a round of Reese's peanut butter trees with him (and me). We had a family supper together tonight, all 3 gathered around our table, Advent wreath candles lit (2 of them now). And we snuggled together on the couch to watch a Christmas special that we'd recorded. Dennis went to bed early. He's exhausted and fell asleep in the car tonight on the way home. He woke up when we arrived and was perky by supper time, but he's got a major cough and doesn't seem to be feeling his best.

Question of the day, asked by Dennis in the car on the way to the lake while we were discussing Lemonade and his siblings: "Mom, do dogs lay eggs?". I feel that it won't be too long before the hard questions come. He tells me that he knows that mommies go to the hospital to have babies cut from their tummies, which is indeed how he got here. Luckily, baby Ian arrived that way as well, so if he should ask, we're covered!