Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. This is the time of year when the blogosphere I inhabit seems to almost come to a stand still. Everyone is busy celebrating with family and not on the computer much at all. I am looking forward to some time catching up with everyone when things slow down here.

Christmas vacation has been so nice. It was important for us to soak up all the love and fun this year since next year Chris will be in Afghanistan working. Mimi helped make chocolate chip cookies with her Daddy. Okay, not too helpful really. She just stayed close to the kitchen waiting to lick the cookie dough out of the bowl. I think Mimi asked a million times if she could lick the bowl.Christmas Eve we set out cookies and a beer for Santa. The carrots were for the reindeer. The guinea pigs helped with the carrots and I helped Santa finish the beer. ;)Before bed Chris read Santa Mouse Where are You to the girls. As you can see Mimi was really getting into it. Miraculously enough everyone slept until seven. My sister Marie told me my nephew Christian was up at four. Ugh.Christmas morning Santa left a nice note. The girls were beyond excited. We each took turns playing Santa and passing around gifts. Maizie was thrilled to get a i pod touch from her Dad. She loves it. He etched a nice note to Maizie into the back of the i pod which was quite clever and sweet.I gave Chris a new robe and a DS. Living in a house with five girls he needs a robe! He loves the DS as he is sitting next to me playing Sims City right now while I blog. Very cute.Emma was beyond thrilled to open her own keyboard. I am hoping the girls will practice their piano here as well as at their mom's house. They are quite talented. I just had to get the girls snugglies. Now they will each have a snugglie for movie night instead of carrying around all the blankets in the house. All were beyond thrilled to open their very own DS. For months Maizie and me have been nice enough to let them play our DS's. Maizie and me were happy to have reclaimed our DS's. Chris gave me Scrabble for mine. My favorite gift from Chris is a very thick and cozy white robe. I love it.I think we were in pj's for two days playing, eating and watching the most beautiful snow fall. Sally worked on her Lego train set. All of the girls have been having a blast Picto Chatting. Emma is especially into picto chatting. I finished knitting another hat. Chris advanced in Halo.Mimi has been into playing with her play doh and all things Sponge Bob.

Today we caught up on laundry, cleaned the house and went out to lunch. Chris and me were going stir crazy. I swear the girls would have stayed in their p.j.'s all weekend if we let them. My mom sent them all some adorable new p.j.'s so I guess I can't blame them. It's nice to be cozy!

Respite Care Begins & Christmas Cookies

Respite Care began this week. We are blessed to have Kate and Hollea working with Maizie. They work with Maizie to learn self care skills like steps to showering, tooth brushing and cooking. I can't wait to see the progress Maizie will make with their help.

On their first few visits I hung around the house while they got to know Maizie and started working on a routine. Thursday night I went to see the movie A Serious Man. I had just arrived in the parking lot when Kate texted that Maizie was having a CVS spell. Typically I would have went right back home. I waited to see how Maizie would recover. Once Kate gave me the okay to see the movie I was relieved. Until then, I was a nervous wreck worrying about Maizie and wondering if I should risk spending the money on a movie ticket. The movie was awesome and Kate did a great job helping Maizie recover.

On Saturday Kate helped us frost Christmas cookies. Mimi and Maizie made the frosting with Kate.Mimi and Maizie's favorite part was licking the frosting off the spoons.Frosting cookies is a good exercise in fine motor skills. I frosted and promptly ate at least four cookies. They were so good.

Mimi had a hard time controlling herself with the sugar sprinkles. This is no surprise considering how much sugar she requests on her Cheerios in the morning. Mmmmmm....sugary.Sally made a cute, kissy snowman. Decorating cookies is lots of fun. A big ol' mess but it is worth it.

Maizie and Me see Twilight, the Movie

Maizie had a great day at school and was in a fantastic mood tonight. I was too. We agreed that we did not want to spend another night at home. I asked Maizie what she wanted to do more than anything. I knew what she would say. When given the choice Maizie will always choose a movie. I knew my challenge would be convincing her to see a movie I wanted to see.

As you all know I loved the Twilight series. I have been talking about going to Twilight for weeks. No one went out of their way to say, "Oh! I would love to go with you Marla." Joe said he would go with me but it never happened. Considering the extreme cheesiness of this film I am glad it was just me and Maizie.Thankfully there was only one other person there tonight. A guy who did not want to be seen. He wore a hat and a hoodie and sunk down in his chair. I imagine he told his friends he was going to see the James Bond movie. It is quite possible Maizie and I drove him nuts. We were whispering through much of the movie. When I finally admitted to Maizie that I thought Edward was way hot she began hooting and hollering saying, "Ohhhhhhhh! Mom thinks Edward is hot! I am going to tell my teachers and Dad and Grandma and I am going to tell the whole world! Ohhhhhhhh!" We had so much fun.

I totally loved this movie. It certainly followed the book and was very similar to how I pictured the story in my mind. Maizie was excited when I told her there would be another movie with Bella and Edward soon. Her response was, "I can't wait! I am so hyper now for this movie." Too cute!

When we returned home Maizie saw the Christmas cards I purchased for her classmates. Oooops. Before I knew it we were sitting down making a list of everyone at her school at almost nine thirty at night. For each person Maizie began thinking of what that person liked. For one child she said, "He likes my singing Hanna Montana pen so I am going to draw a pen." Maizie explained to me that one little girl can't talk so she signs to her. For her she drew several stars. Another child talks a lot about shapes so she drew a triangle and a square on his card. Her thoughtfulness makes me so happy. I really needed to see Maizie in a great mood tonight. We have had several rough days in a row. Tonight reminded me that even though Maizie has her challenging days she is an amazingly intuitive and fun loving child. Just when I think I am going to crack up we have a night like this and everything feels right.

Let Them Eat Cake!

We celebrated Maizie's birthday with family this week. Maizie's birthday is very close to Christmas. It helps to have the big event celebrated early when things are a tad calmer.

This time of year is one of Maizie's most challenging. We keep the month of December and our Christmas celebration very low key. Even though we go out of our way to reduce stress during this time I am convinced there is something in the air that gets everyone, including Maizie overly excited. Maizie senses this and her ability to cope with life seems to decrease almost overnight.

The biggest stress and chaos inducing factor when we celebrate holidays is food. Maizie loves cake, cookies and all sweets. I made a cute vanilla cake for her birthday gathering. Maizie and Christian loved it. I have managed to resist its sweet charms. Maizie can't stop thinking about it. She wants to eat cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I refused Maizie's "deal" of eating five bites of pancakes followed by a piece of cake for breakfast. Before I knew it Maizie was screaming at me that I am the worst mom in the whole world. She said she would never write me any love notes ever again. (A frequent threat when she is told, "no".) Maizie continued yelling at me.....loudly. My ears are still ringing. She said, "I am going to go upstairs and slam my door!" The slamming of the door does not bother me at all. I am thrilled when Maizie is willing to retreat to her room to calm down. Upon doing so she always slams the door at least three or four times in a row. For dramatic purposes, of course.

This morning though there seemed to be no relief in sight. Maizie wanted a piece of that yummy cake and she was trying everything until I agreed. I let Darwin out and when I came back inside the house was too quiet. I looked where the cake had been and it was gone. Not good.

I found Maizie hiding behind her favorite chair with her arms wrapped tightly around the cake Tupperware. The cake was nice and secure inside. Whew. Granted, all I felt like doing was grabbing the cake and disposing of it in the trash, in a very dramatic fashion!

It seemed to me like I was negotiating a hostage deal to save the birthday cake. Except I would gladly destroy the birthday cake to avoid this situation from happening again.

I pictured myself forcing the cake out of Maizie's arms and rushing it to the trash can, scraping it into the trash triumphantly. Fortunately, I contained my frustration realizing that reacting in that way would no doubt traumatize Maizie for years, ruining one of her favorite things...cake. Argh.Finally, Maizie released the cake and I put it on top of the cupboards in the kitchen. I repeated that she could enjoy a piece of cake with her lunch. Crocodile tears fell and then she requested a soda. I swear, I just woke up a bit ago and I was about to be sent over the edge. I wanted to scream. I think I may have made a sound that resembled a bear growling. Lovely.

It felt like deja vu as Maizie began yelling at me all over again wanting a soda. I thought things were going to get even worse when she stormed into the kitchen insisting she was going to get a soda. I stood there wanting so badly to just go back to bed. I thought about waking Joe up and making him take over but knew Maizie would follow me to my bedroom and yell at me there.

To my surprise Maizie chose a juice box and stomped back into the living room saying, "Mom! I really don't like you right now! You better not get rid of that cake! I want a piece at lunch time." She then cuddled up with a blanket on her chair and has been quiet ever since.

I sighed real big, proud of Maizie and proud of myself for not totally freaking out. It is only nine and we have the rest of the day to navigate through. Maizie looks exhausted so I am praying she takes a morning nap. I know I will be waking up Joe in a bit so I can take a mid morning nap.

Do you all have challenges around food and the holidays this time of year? I know we do. Soon Joe will be making delicious frosted cookies and snicker doodles. They are not something I am allowed to eat anymore. I am sure Maizie will have similar morning cravings for those cookies. And yet, we still make them together. They are a family tradition.

Holiday Traditions and a Drug House

This weekend was fun and frustrating at the same time. Friday night I decided we were going to get our house ready for Christmas. Out came the ornaments and set around stuff. Maizie, as always was very excited. With each ornament Maizie said, "Did I make this mom? Who made this one? Is this one mine from when I was a baby? When can I be a baby again?" The questions never stopped.

While we were decorating the tree I heard some strange noises in between the houses. I opened the back door to find one of our neighbors trying to break into the electrical box to his apartment. He looked at me and said in his usual drug induced way, "I am just tightening things up back here! That's all." I smiled, nodded and closed the door.

Joe and I discussed that we thought he was going to get electrocuted and then he knocked on the door. Joe answered and he asked if we had a Philip's screwdriver. Joe said, "Sorry, we don't." Needless to say, we do but we don't want to get into the habit of handing out tools to the neighbors for illegal activities.

I peeked through the window blinds to see him pushing a screwdriver into the box and trying to pull the door off. I noticed a large lock had been placed on the bottom of the electrical box. Putting two and two together I realized our neighbor must not have paid the bill and was trying to turn his power back on. He was making some progress but the way he was haphazardly jamming the various tools he had into that box made me nervous.

I held my phone, staring at it and staring back out the window. Finally, I called the police and they had me stay on the line giving a description of our neighbor and waiting till the cop arrived. Once the police came our neighbor took off like a lightning bolt through the back yard and down the alley. The cop followed, flashlight in hand and gun out. Lovely.

I began running from window to window. A sight Maizie has unfortunately witnessed on many occasions. I heard the loud annoying squeak the neighbors door makes every time it is opened or closed and ran to the front. The man had already made it back to the safety of his apartment and the cop was still running in the wrong direction. Argh!

I called the police station back and told them that the guy went back into his apartment. The cop gets the message and came back huffing and puffing, knocking on the front door. It took quite a while for the guys to answer. Once they did I heard one of the men saying, "I swear! It was not me! I just got back from walking down from the liquor store." No doubt he was telling the truth since our neighbors like to begin drinking early in the morning and into the night. In fact, it seems that they don't require any sleep at all.

I heard tempers flaring and reluctantly peeked my head out the door. The cops turned to look at me and pointed to the man they were accusing of trying to break into the electrical box. I shook my head no and they reentered the apartment. They came out with the other guy and I nodded 'yes'. Not happy. Not happy at all. It is bad enough that I have to call the cops a few times a week on our neighbors but now our neighbors knew I had called this time. Not cool.

I have went out of my way to always say hello and treat my annoying and sometimes scary neighbors with the respect they want and I am sure verifying who was who did not please them. I only hoped that they were all too drunk and doped up on crack to remember me.

I went back in the house, reassured Maizie that it was over and we began decorating again. Maizie kept peeking out the front window waiting to see if the guy was going to be arrested. Maizie is all too familiar with the process. Finally she yelled, "There is the cop mom!" I ran back to the window and saw that they were indeed arresting the man. That surprised me.

I heard the cops back at the electrical boxes talking so I went out to see if there was anything new they could tell me about our drug house next door.

One of the cops looked up and said, "Now, if you hear anything else tonight or need anything please don't hesitate to call. We are arresting him but he will be out in a few hours. (I sighed real big.) Also, you may want to call narcotics again."

I explained how many times I have called narcotics and nothing seems to be happening.

The cops explained that there are undercover cops working on the situation in unmarked cars and that it takes a great deal of time. Yes, it certainly must.

I told the cops that sometimes I have felt bad calling because I know the neighbors are struggling on a number of levels....financially, with severe addictions, etc. I asked them if I could be imagining the drug use? The cops brought up the incident last week where they were called because a man on crack cocaine had beat up a woman he was with. I nodded my head since I had talked to that woman on that night as well. She said this to me when I went out to my car, "I am trying so hard. So hard to be clean and just be a good person. I have been off crack for seven days, I loved this guy and thought he loved me and then he does this to me." I nodded and found myself at a loss for words. I said, "Don't give up. Whatever you do....just keep trying." I quickly went back into the house not waiting for a response.

The cops went on to say, "Just remember that if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck it is probably a duck."

Okay. We just gotta find a way to move out of this house at some point. Our neighborhood is historic and beautiful, there are some really good people here and yet there are some people who are very desperate and don't want to live according to the rules of society. What more can I do? There seems to be nothing. I just get so frustrated and angry. I called the landlord again. He lives in a nice house outside of the down town area and could care less. I make a point of calling him whenever I call the cops. He never answers.

The next night we had my mom over for her birthday. The whole family was here and it was a very nice time. I know my parents worry about us living here. They are glad to have us back in Indiana but are not happy we live in this house next to that house. Yes, buying this house was not the best decision we have ever made. We moved to this modest house when we had no insurance coverage for Maizie. Her medications and hospital stays were being refused and mental coverage was being dropped. Debt was piling quickly and we freaked, scaling way down. So, we are stuck here for right now.

What will Maizie remember of these nights decorating for Christmas? The frequent incidents with our neighbors or the meaning behind every ornament she hangs?

I shake it off and we make the best of our cozy little cottage house.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Maizie woke me up this morning saying, "Mom....mom....Santa came!" When I came to I said, "Did you notice anything else different about this morning?" She smiled real big and said, "Balloons!" She was pretty happy with her room full of balloons. Tonight she made a 'balloon store' and was writing words for various emotions on each balloon. Everything from happy, sad to mad. She then put a sign on her door that said, 'Balloon Store Open Today'. Sometimes the simple and cheap surprises are the best kind.

When Maizie saw Santa she had asked for one thing...the Holiday Barbie. As you can see by her smile she was pretty thrilled Santa remembered. Later she said this, "See Daddy I told you I don't have to "hope". Joe asked what she meant and she said, "I don't have to hope for the Barbie because Santa remembered!" I wonder how long she will continue believing in Santa. There have been a few times I thought Maizie knew we were really Santa. I think she may know and just keeps playing along. Time will tell.

Darwin and Stella were so cute watching Maizie open presents today. You can see some pictures of them here. Be sure and check out Wordless Wednesday of Stella! Maizie and I dressed her up real cute like today. This afternoon we went to my parent's house for dinner. We had such a great time. My little sister Melissa gave the ugly glass cat to my older sister Marie. It is an ongoing tradition to write something special on the cat and pass it on every couple of years. An ongoing cheesy gift of sorts.I love the picture of Mom with Maizie below. Very sweet. My mom gave me the Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass books. They have the original art work in them and are just beautiful. I am so crazy about them. They were printed in 1946. Very cool.


Little Maizie had fun smelling every perfume at Von Maur before deciding to get me my favorite Lolita Lempicka. It smells awesome.

Joe is sleeping in his new comfy chair. He said his most favorite gift was from me. Two cards. Each identical. I bought the same card twice! So, I wrote something special in both of them. An example of my ongoing, post surgery, "brain fog".

Now tomorrow we get back in the swing of things again. I am relieved and yet I always feel a little sad. I hope everyone had a wonderful day today. Merry Christmas!

Maizie was Ten All Day Today!

Tonight we had some friends over for Christmas Eve. We had planned to fill Maizie's room with balloons the night before her birthday but Christian was sleeping on the floor and we figured he would not have appreciated being covered with balloons.

What are friends for? To help you blow up close to one hundred balloons! Pat and I got to laughing a few times and kept spitting out the balloons. The dogs are now officially desensitized to balloons.

We had to haul them all upstairs so we put them on a large blanket, folded in the corners and headed up the stairs. Once in Maizie's room Joe and I let go of one corner and you could hear a "swoosh" sound as the balloons fell to the floor. At one point Maizie woke up and I quickly leaned forward, blocking her view and said, "Oh...go back to sleep sweetie...we are just folding up this blanket." Amazingly enough she just nodded and rolled over and fell right to sleep! Whew! That was lucky!

Now we just have to pray that no balloons pop in the middle of the night. That would be bad. We wondered if this would scare Maizie in some way but all agreed she is wild about balloons and will probably get a kick out of it! I hope we are right!

Right before bed Maizie said, "I can't believe I was ten all day today!" Too cute!

Cookies, Church and Medical I.D.

Last night we decided to continue our sugar cookie Christmas tradition. Christian enjoyed helping Joe push the roller. I think the kids enjoyed mixing up the colors the best. Give them some white frosting and food coloring and I think they would be entertained for hours!


This morning at church my nephew Daniel performed a trombone solo. He was so nervous. It did not help that like a typical thirteen year old he forgot his sheet music and Grandpa had to drive all the way back to their house to get it. Once he began playing though he did very well. I hope that he continues to volunteer to play. It made church much more exciting!

Remember how we were trying to get Maizie to sit through a service, or even better just sit in the room for a few minutes? She kept telling us, "I will do it when I am ten!" Well, today she officially turned ten and she sat through the service! I am still in a state of shock.

Maizie did great except for when Pastor Peter got a little animated and she leaned over and said, "I don't like him yelling! I gotta get outta here!" Maizie and I sat outside for just a few minutes and then we went back in for Daniel's closing song. Even still, this is huge progress! I so enjoyed sitting next to her!

On the way home Maizie was filling out a worksheet in a Hello Kitty journal. It asked for her address and phone number. I said, "Maizie...you try and remember. I think you know it!" We have been working on it for almost two years now! She had a couple of the numbers reversed and needed me to sound out the start of the street name. Possibly, on another day she would have been able to come up with the info correctly? I would like to think so. Add in major stress and I doubt she would remember her full name. The other day when she had a blood test the nurse said, "What is your full name honey?" I waited...and waited. Finally Maizie said, "Marie". Ahhhhhh!

What do you do for children who just can't seem to memorize their personal information? We used to have a medical I.D. bracelet we purchased from Lauren's Hope. It was very stylish and had all the important information on it. Maizie hated it. She did not like the feel of the bracelet. Money well spent. Argh. This site has newer ideas than when we bought from them a few years ago so maybe we will try putting it on a tennis shoe or the velcro ones. Maizie seems interested so that is a good start.

I am sure there is some obvious thing I could be doing in this area but I just can't think of anything other than these tags.

Autistic Boy's Christmas Light Spectacular!

We were watching CNN today when we saw a segment on a boy in San Diego about Maizie's age. His name is Brandon Schimka. The photo above was taken from an article on the family you can read HERE.

Brandon and his father create a spectacular light display during the Christmas holiday. The photos they showed looked amazing!

I love that the father and son work on this together, a mega project! Very inspiring! Brandon is fascinated with lights. Maizie is too. She is always asking why we don't have any lights up like our friends and neighbors down the street. I am sure if she was able to visit Brandon's amazing display we would never hear the end of it.

This is another positive example of an autistic child and his family doing something to reach out to others. What a great way to send a message and learn together.

Wordless Wednesday Merry Christmas Edition

Christmas Memories

I was tagged by Mother of Many at Autism-A Blog on the Spectrum.

"When people say 'Christmas' you immediately think..." I can't wait for Christmas!

"Favourite Christmas memory..."Bringing Maizie home from the hospital on Christmas Eve! Even though her adoption was very difficult this night was special.

"Favourite Christmas song/carol..."Let It Snow! I enjoy being snow bound, eating popcorn and all that lovey stuff.

"Favourite Christmas movie..." The Bells of Saint Mary "Favourite Christmas character..." Mr. Magoo "Favourite Christmas ornament/object..." This nun that belonged to my Grandmother Mercedes Fauchier.
"Plans for this Christmas..." This year we will go to church, have a few friends over for Christmas Eve, eat lots of food and play games. The next morning we will open presents from Santa and then go to my parent's house for dinner. We try to keep it low key.

"Is Christmas your favourite holiday?" I do love Christmas but I think I like my birthday more.

I am going to tagMelissa (maybe this will get her back in the mood to blog:)

Maizie

Dakota Blue Eyes

Angie

Decorating the Tree......Maizie Can Finally Sleep Knowing it's Done!

For two weeks I have been hearing this, "Look Momma! They have their Christmas lights up! Where is our tree?!" And many other variations of the same idea. In other words, "Mom! Get up off your butt and get the tree out and decorated!"

So, tonight we finally brought out the tree and decorated it. Maizie loves this tradition. She is all about decorations. We will drive by the tackiest homes with lights and big blow up Christmas decorations and she says, "Look! Why don't we do that?" The child who hates lights and over stimulation is at the same time drawn to it in all of its tacky glory.

This ornament was my Grandmother Mercedes on my dad's side. My parents used to have quite a few of them. Mercedes collected them. I am lucky enough to have two of them. Once I looked for more on the Internet but had no luck. The only thing written on it is 'Ardult' and 'Japan'. Maybe one of these days I will come across some more of these beauties.

Maizie and I had lots of fun dressing Stella up tonight in her Santa costume. Maizie could not stop laughing. I think I am going to use the picture for our family Christmas card. I want so badly to post it! I am pretty happy with it. But, if I post it my family will see it and when they open the card it will go like this, "Oh...yeah...we saw that picture all ready." I rather they sound all excited like! Kinda like this, "Ohhhhhhh! That is so adorable! I am going to put this card where everyone will see it! That Marla.....so creative."

Hee! Hee! If I can keep these photos under wraps it will be a miracle. Okay, so to satisfy my photo urge I am going to post just a portion of the photo.

Silly Slap Happy Clip, Christmas and Gifts

If you scan down a bit...on the right side bar there is a video from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Joe and I watch this show every week. We love it. This particular scene kept us laughing so hard my belly hurt. I don't know what it was about the continued slapping? I was tearing up. Possibly we are just hard up for fun but this show always delivers the laughs. Granted, it is not for those individuals who are easily offended.On another note...I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done! I know. I know. I am a bit crazy when it comes to early shopping. I start in the Spring and by November I have everyone except a certain few done.

Of course there is the last minute purchase for Maizie. She always comes up with some wish for Santa that she just can't stop writing on her Christmas list. This year it seems to be the Holiday Barbie. It may change though so I am not going to be running to buy it any time soon. I don't even know what the heck it is but I guess I will be in search of it.

Last year it was the Little Mermaid Barbie. We spent like thirty bucks on this dumb barbie that Maizie insisted could swim in the water. After many long and anguished conversations we broke down, removed the batteries and allowed her to take it in the tub. Ariel has never sang since. Maizie cried for what seemed like hours once she realized we were right and the barbie really would break if it went in the water. Maizie will repeat this lesson to us and Christian using her real serious, teacherly tone. It goes like this, "Christian...you can't put some toys in the tub! If the toy has batteries it will never work again." Christian's reply is, "Whatever."

Once Christmas passed and Maizie's wish for the Singing Ariel Barbie had been satisfied I got a call from my friend Susie. Guess what?! She found this great Singing Ariel Barbie on sale at Sears for just five bucks! (or something close to that) You mean to tell me I spent almost thirty bucks on an annoying Ariel barbie that was broken within a day and she bought the same one for five bucks?! Well.....duh. That is just the way the holiday works.

I remember my Dad going out on Christmas Eve to search for a stuffed kangaroo for my little sister Melissa's gift. Out of the blue she began repeating, "kanga". She sang about it and talked endlessly about her longing for her kanga. I think my dad was gone for hours looking for the darn thing. To this day however we all talk fondly of this gift that my dad searched for at the last minute.

I am sure everyone can think of similar stories. I don't think it is so much the gift as it is knowing that the person you love is searching for this special thing....just for you. What gift have you searched high and low for to give to a special person in your life? Is there a gift you remember appreciating more than any other?

I have so many I would not know where to begin. My Dad made me an ant farm once. We worked on it together and for me that is an awesome memory. Of course the poor ants were not so thrilled. I released them all in the middle of the winter. I don't even remember why.

My Mom searched for days for my favorite children's book I just happened to mention, called The Family Minus. I tell ya, I cried like a baby when I opened that gift. It was not so much the book as it was the memory of her reading me that particular book. Of course it was touching that she was listening to me blabbing on and on about some children's book one day and then surprised me with it for Christmas! Every now and then I take out that book and read it. I love it. I like to think it is the very same book I had as a child.

Please tell me your favorite gift story!