I Pulled Off the Greatest Christmas Surprise of My Life!

Wow. Just WOW.I just pulled it off! Yesterday our doorbell rang and my children opened the door to spy a huge, wrapped Christmas gift on the porch. They opened the box to reveal Daddy crouched inside. There was silence. They didn't know what had happened! Then Matthew broke the silence. "Daddy?" And Sarah said, "Jason!" And then there were hugs all around. Unfortunately, I missed capturing the moment with my camera since I had a baby in each arm. It was beautiful though, I'll tell you that. (And you might get to see it yourself soon! I'll tell you why soon.)
You may have also noticed that I finally broke down and gave the babies their first haircut. And then I almost cried. Their baby hair is gone! They look like little toddlers now... and they are. Nathan started walking last week and Ryan is starting to attempt to stand on his own. Jason is home just in time to witness their first steps.

If you look really carefully you can see another surprise in the picture above. See that camo blur on our mantel above the 6 stockings? That's Flat Daddy. More on him later...

Our house has been bustling with activity all weekend. We've had a frenzy of visitors, equipment, and excitement. Soon, our big surprise will be revealed. For now, I can only offer the following photographic clue...
(Can you see Flat Daddy better now?)

Thank you all so very much for praying for my grandmother. How does an 83-year old woman fall of of a roof and live to tell about it? It was nothing short of a miracle! In fact, my grandmother did not require surgery for her arm, her broken nose, or her shattered orbital bone. She went home from the hospital this weekend and she's recovering at home now. What an incredible blessing! Ironically, the Christmas card she'd mailed to me the day that she fell arrived the following day. Inside, she'd written that she was going up to hang the lights on her roof. We shared a good laugh when I called her to tell her that the card was here and asked how it went when she hung her lights. She has a great sense of humor and she's just an incredible, amazing lady.

If you missed it last week, check out my guest post at Multiples and More. I wrote a bit about my experiences with natural parenting and soon you'll see another article I'm writing about my experiences as a military wife and mother.

If you haven't already, go over and check out my BlogFrog community forum. If you start or reply to a discussion this month, you can help raise money for The Children's Hospital. Come interact with other readers of this blog and help The Children's Hospital at the same time! BlogFrog is sponsoring the "Give the Gift of Community" challenge to its members to inspire blog readers to connect with their peers in communities this holiday season. If my BlogFrog community gets 20 new participants to start or reply to a community discussion, BlogFrog will donate $10 to The Children's Hospital, one of the top 10 hospitals in the country for kids and teens. Don't be shy, hop on over and meet your fellow readers! Happy Holidays!