Holidays by a Fire

The last few nights have been bitterly cold, and burning has been allowed by our local Spare the Air authority, so we decided to put our fireplace to use. It is truly amazing how a fire can change a room. Greyson is fascinated by fire and this year, he has the words to describe it. It's been just lovely. The first thing Greyson wanted Roque to do when he got home from work this evening was start the fire. Tonight, I told Greyson that we could read stories and snuggle by the fire before bedtime. He was super excited. We dragged out all our blankets, pillows and loveys into the living room and just lay there, the three of us, by our Christmas tree, hypnotized by this captivating presence in our home. Greyson kept trying to tuck us in "all the way" with our blankets under our chins. That might be the most nurturing act I've ever seen him do. Of course, he also couldn't stop talking the whole time. Man alive, that kid can ramble. Our boy is finally learning to pose for pictures. When we take photos now, we say, "Be glad, Greyson, be glad!" and he gives us this glad face. It's hilarious.

On another note, Santa Claus came by Greyson's preschool today. He came home chatting away about how Santa came and gave him a red present. Roque and I were deeply touched by what was in it. Every child in our school had been given a gorgeous children's Bible, personally inscribed by the church pastor. It is during this time, more than any other, that I am so glad we chose the school we did. I'm glad that Christmas is Christmas at our school. We don't have to be politically correct there and say "Happy Holidays", we can come right out and say "Merry Christmas." In the hallway, there's a big banner on the bulletin board that says, "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" I couldn't ask for more.