I am reminded of one of our favorite movies, "Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals date at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around." It's important to look for it not just at Christmas, but every day. I had the potential to escalate a situation in line today, but passed. Even though the apparent disregard this individual showed for basic decency and accepted normal rules of how to act, I remembered Proverbs 15:1, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." I really do try to keep this in mind, though far too often I fall short.
Anyway.
One of my obvious blessings is Libby, who came home today with a haul from her Christmas party in class. A couple of the moms when in together for the Christmas party and they had pizza, applesauce and cupcakes for lunch. Libby's teachers made the class reindeer cookies and gave them tote bags with a book, stickers and other assorted cuteness. The goodies from the party moms sent home another treat bag with items such as erasers, pencils, a plastic top, and other assorted treasures. In the words of Libby, "Look at it!" The teachers also sent home several of Libby's art projects, including a wrapped one that is our Christmas present. I canNOT wait to open it!
Libby brought her teachers some little gifts, too. The class went in for a group gift as well, but Libby wanted to do a little something extra. She made pumpkin cranberry scones and put two in a cute mug she picked out, along with a couple of tea bags. Here's how we wrapped them...
And I included a little card from Michael and me, expressing our appreciation for all Libby's teachers have done to make her first year of school SUCH a success! Talk about a gift.
Libby had to go through and show me everything she was bringing home today before we even left school.
This afternoon, Ty and Aunt Lindsi came to play for a little while and they exchanged gifts, too. They sure do know us!
Moving backwards, last night, we took Libby for "a special treat!" We went out to dinner... in the middle of the week... for pizza! At a new place (for us). We'd never been to Marietta Pizza Company, and it had the bonus feature of being located on the Square - which meant lots of pretty Christmas lights and decorations. Libby's favorite was the tree, my favorite was the luminaries all around the walkways and we all loved many of the beautifully decorated homes in downtown Marietta. The pizza was delicious, too.
Then, we took Libby to Life University, where they put up a huge lights display every year. Some friends, the Martins, told us how they take their girls each year. Libby loved it and kept telling us that she wasn't ready to go home, yet.
I brought her a lollipop for dessert to eat in the car. Libby loved it - except that apparently one lollipop was not enough and Libby informed me that "next time, I need two!" She's usually pretty sensible about portions, but I guess the regular rules do go out the window at Christmas!
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