A Letter From Santa

Good List Certificate

Brody was delighted to get a letter from Santa!  To him, it's awesome to see and hear that he is on the good list.  There was a kid a year ago who told Brody he was bad, and he would never get a Christmas present.  Oh, how words can break a kid!  So last year when Santa's letter came in, Brody said, "I'm good.  I'm good.  I'm really good!"  The smile on his face as he reads his letter is priceless.  Pops, who is good friends with Santa, has been making sure Brody would get a letter from him for seven Christmas' now.  To a kid, getting mail is great, but there is nothing better than a mail from Santa.  Brody's favorite part of the letter was how proud Santa was of him for scoring a goal in soccer.

Come with me Coffee if you want to live!

"Come with me coffee if you want to live!"

Oh my sweet Brody!  He makes life interesting.  Some days he can be quite challenging, but he can be very humorous as well.  I write this story tonight so that one day when he is grown I can remind him of his love for the coffee pot.

Our coffee pot broke today, and the only thing going into our coffee cups were tears.  We are a family who enjoys drinking coffee...especially Community Coffee.  So when the coffee pot breaks it is a must to go to the store to replace it that day.  Brody and I picked a new one out at Target.  I thought all was well with the world again.  Until it came time to throw the old one away.  I will give the the play by play of what happened next.

Brody, "What are you going to do with the coffee pot?"

Ryan, "We're going to throw it away."

Brody, "Can't we keep it?"

Cristy, "No."

Brody, "PLEASE DON'T THROW IT AWAY!"

Ryan, "We can't keep things that are broken."

Brody, "Can we just keep it in the attic?"

Ryan, "No, we are not hoarders."

Brody, "BUT PLEASE!"  ***This is when tears begin to flow.

Cristy, "NO!"

Brody, "BUT IT MADE THE BEST COFFEE EVER!"

Ryan & Cristy, "Brody, we cannot keep it."

Brody then grabs the coffee pot as if saving it and says, "COME WITH ME COFFEE IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!"  He runs with all his might while crying to his room. 

I go to his room and explain once again why we do not need to keep the coffee pot.  Brody is sobbing over the coffee pot.  Brody says, "He made the best coffee ever so I'm keeping him forever."

"I'm not letting go!  I'll stay up all night and protect it!"

I would like to tell you fine readers that I had great wisdom and convinced Brody to throw away the coffee pot, but I didn't have anything to say that made sense to him.  He has so kind of emotional attachment to it, and sometimes there are not any words to comfort the heart.  And his heart was broken! The coffee pot is now "living" in Brody's room until another day when he is ready to let go of it.  As with many things in life, it just doesn't make any sense. But you know what?  It's ok that I don't understand it all.  It's fine to smile and laugh. There is no step by step guide to parenting.  Sometimes kids get stressed out by things.  At the end of the day, does it really matter if an old coffee pots "lives" in his room for a few days...or weeks?  It's a battle that I'm fine with him winning.  Cause' hey, I like coffee too. 

Of course one day when I tell him this story, he will then owe me a cup of coffee!  I have earned it!  I will in return buy him one too because I love him for making our lives never have dull moment.  Brody seizes the day everyday!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.  In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.  ~Larry Wilde

It's starting to look like Christmas at the Brice house.  I had some great help decorating from Brody and Nanny.  They both love Christmas, and they make decorating one good holly jolly time.  I've got some sneak peaks of what our home looks like this time of year.

Our front door

Dining room

The red and green tree

Nanny's fun creation

Brody's gingerbread man

Living room tree

Book shelf

Kitchen

My favorite Manger scene from Africa.