It would be almost impossible to single out everyone who gave us great Christmas gifts this year and to thank them for their thought and generosity.
But I think we need to make an effort for Uncle Tim today.
Yesterday was all about his gifts. He gave James a set of Black and Decker play tools, and they were the toy du jour. Most especially because of the snow-ices.
To explain, James likes to help me shovel the driveway. We get him dressed in his snowpants, his coat, his mittens, his hat and his boots. We got outside, me with my big shovel and he with his little one, and we start in on the task of clearing away the latest snowfall. He usually lasts about three minutes before he's on to bigger and better things.
Like finding snow-ices.
"Daddy, Daddy, I found a snow-ice!"
"A snow ice? Yay! What is it?"
"It's this. It is a snow ice. I found it."
It is a piece of...snowy ice...that broke free as I shoveled the driveway. And for James, it might as well be a solid gold nugget. He collects them and makes neatly organized snow-ice piles next to the garage. Occasionally I'll hand him a piece of actual ice, from a frozen puddle. We do not use ice to make sculptures. It is hurled unceremoniously back into the driveway. We also do not use snowballs. Snowballs we throw at the garage door. Then we declare "What a good noise!"
So anyway, it got harder over the later part of the week to find enough snow-ices for all of James' needs. A good bit of the snow melted outside, and there wasn't as much junk in the driveway. In order to find enough, I had to go into the partially melted and refrozen mound of snow that I'd shoveled up beside the driveway. And to break it free, I had to get out my hammer.
James thought that was great. I even let him take a couple of swings, until this conversation happened.
"James, listen very carefully. We will NOT do that. It is never okay to swing the hammer at Mommy or Daddy's car. Or anyone else's. Cars are not for hammering. Do you understand? Nope, I'm going to take it if you don't listen. Cars are NOT for hammering."
Because of the danger to the car, and the driveway, and my own person, and James' own fingers, I decided maybe I shouldn't let him play with my hammer anymore. And that's when I reminded him about the toolset he got from Uncle Tim.
On Christmas morning, James was thrilled to open a set of 36 play tools from Black and Decker. The hammer, naturally, was the first one he went for. I grinned up at J as he brandished it, and then noticed the crestfallen expression on Daniel and Emily's faces.
"How did we get him the EXACT same present?"
It turns out they hadn't. They got him the 24 pack of play tools from Black and Decker, and although there were a few duplicates (like screwdrivers) the two sets actually complement each other quite nicely. In addition to play screws, nuts, bolts, and saws, James also now owns a pair of safety goggles, hard hat, and tool bag. It's Owen's job to wear the tool bag.
Anyhow, we ended up mining for snow ices with our hammers for a good part of yesterday, not to mention using some of the indoor play tools to "fix the floor" inside.
But that was not our only debt to Uncle Time yesterday...since it was a day off we decided to use the Olive Garden gift certificate he gave to J and I for a nice lunch out. That's right--we had a fancy lunch out at a nicely presented table eating good Italian food with bottles of wine beside us and light jazz playing and our two children with us.
The kids actually did great. James had chocolate milk (which made him very happy) and pizza. He thought the breadsticks were great but didn't care for the risotto bites. I had tortelloni and soup. J had ravioli. The waitress admired how well our little boys were behaving and how polite James was. ("Remember to say thank you.")
We didn't actually get any wine, but if we had we'd have raised a glass to you, Uncle Tim. Thanks for a great meal and a great morning quarrying snow-ices.
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