Sweet Confection Perfection

Every Thursday Dot has Bible study and I get the Deeds. Its always fun. I most always have a plan to do something new, or something different or a new way of doing something old. But CHRISTMAS! There are way too many opportunities, too many choices, too many very important holiday adventures to pack into a couple of hours once a week. Today Dot extended her morning to pray with a friend and have lunch with another. So the Deeds and I had quite a day planned. I so wish I had a camera full of pictures of each stop we made this morning to document how a 3-year-old can turn even the simplist errand into a Christmas event. But somehow lugging the camera around to catch the shot, changes the whole experience. So followers, you'll just have to use your mind's eye for the best parts.

We started the day making candy cane fudge. I don't know if that is the real name, but we were making it, so we got to name it. Stirring boiling candy for 10 minutes doesn't allow much involvement for a preschooler, so we decided to add candy canes and certainly they needed to be crunched into sprinkle size pieces. I am sure Julia Childs has this photo right next to "Candy Crunching Technique" and if she doesn't she should.

With each perfectly placed crumb of candy cane, I am sure this will be the best fudge we have ever made together!

D was working overtime at station 5. "DD, can we go visit Papa at Station 5, because that is where the fireman pole is and I can give the firemen candy canes." Well little man, yes we can. So we left the fudge to cool and headed off to see Papa and the pole. The firemen got their candy canes, the Deeds got to sit in the tiller seat papa did his killer demonstration of pole sliding and we were off to shop for Daddy.

A couple of weeks ago I asked Micah what he wanted to get Daddy for Christmas. "Well, he already has a backpack so I think I would get him a "------"." Oh, that's a good idea. What color would you get him?" "Well, red is his favorite color, so a red one". For heaven's sake, if he knows what he wants to get his daddy and even the color at 3 years old...I'm making it happen, just for the sake of the story. Anyway, we headed to Ross and the Deeds reminded me we needed to take the candy canes in to give to people. I was thinking we would take them to the mall and he could give them to other kids he saw, but mercy, he clearly had an agenda and I was not about to get in the way of his generousity. He was seriously chasing people down at Ross to try to give them a candy cane. I mean, spotting them, running after them, calling to them etc... Now, let me just say, if a blond headed, toddler runs up to you anywhere and offers you a candy cane of any size for any reason, please...TAKE IT and just thank him! Please! I can tell you it causes at least 10 kinds of confusion to a little guy trying to spread some Christmas cheer when he hears "No thank you, I don't eat sugar, I'm a diabetic, I don't like candy canes". Just take it, smile and appreciate the gift. Thankfully, it didn't hurt his feelings or anything, he just looked at them like "I must not be hearing you right because I am offering you sweet heaven here and I think you just turned me down." Anyway, needless to say our quick gift selection took about an hour and the equivalent of a mile of running down holiday shoppers.

We made a couple of other "quick" stops, having left the candy canes in the car. Then we headed to the mall. It has been a very long time, like never that I have gone to the mall without an agenda except to follow a pint sized elf around as he spies and pursues person after person to gift with a peppermint delight. We did have a target audience, grandma's or children but not babies. It was so fun. Seriously, just watching him work was a "joy to my world". Kids loved him, grandmas hugged him and we just took our sweet time wandering down to the play area at the opposite end. We decided ice cream for lunch was a necessary addition to this most festive day. Wandering all the way back to the car with vanilla goodness filling our tummies and covering the lower half of one of our little faces. A couple of napkins and a buckled up car seat later we headed home.

It took very little coaxing to get this tiny elf upstairs and down for a nap. He chose a Christmas story book, complete with little paperdoll type characters. So after reading the book, I told him I'd come back in a few minutes and it would be time to stop playing and lay down to go to sleep. About 10 minutes later I came into the room and found him missing...?? Where in the world? So I walked around the bed and saw...a knee... And then a tuft of blonde hair... and one pillow at a time...I found him.

He loves to hide and wait with anticipation to be found. But today with all the festive responsibilites he was saddled with, this little helper, couldn't stay awake long enough to be found. Sweet perfection...that's what I'd call today. Sweet confection perfection!