I envy the innocence of youth!

I envy the innocence of my children. They enjoy the very little things that I tend to overlook this time of year. Daniel loves to look at Christmas lights, and this evening, it was nearly dark by the time we got home at 6:00 from "school". Every house we passed, I heard the "Oh Mommy's", and "Look!", and it was so nice. We passed one house with a nativity scene of only white lights and 'wicker' outline. He said, "oh, that one is so beautiful". He's only 4 years old (on the 16th), and he's remarking on the "beautiful" Christmas decorations. On the radio, a commercial was playing for shipping, and I think the "jingle" is "pack and ship, pack and ship..." to the tune of Jingle Bells. He said, "they don't know how to sing that song. They're wrong! It's jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh much fun, it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh. They don't know it Mommy." I simply agreed, they did not know it, and his version was much nicer.

When we got home, he ran out to play with Hanna and Caleb, who were playing "dinosaur" in the front yard. Caleb was the dinosaur, and he was going to eat the people. Of course, Hanna fell down twice on the driveway, but that drama is a story for another day! When they finally came inside, Daniel made his rounds around the house, stopping as he does these days, at the small side table in the dining room. He said, "these pine corns smell so good! I wish everyone could smell them. I wish Carter, and Brooklyn, and Connor, and Mackenzie could all smell them, they're so good!" Last weekend, on our trip to WalMart, the same trip in which the theft occured from the grocery store, one of our treasures was a bag of scented pine cones, aka pine corns. They are scented with cinnamon. We're waiting until I get the tree up, hopefully tomorrow, to place them in our Christmas tree. As much as I enjoy the smell they add to my dining room, I guess I just put them there and forgot about them. I couldn't help but think this evening, how nice it is that he enjoys them so much. Pine corns that smell like cinnamon.

I suppose, we all just need to take the time, and enjoy the pine corns! We're in such a hurry to get everything done, we forget to take the time out and truly enjoy the "magic" of the season. Enjoying the beauty of the small things, and anticipating the glory of the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's his birthday you know, just ask Daniel, he'll tell you how it's his (Daniel) birthday, and The Nutcracker, and then Christmas is Jesus' birthday! He asked me the other day if Jesus had a Spiderman cake too!