Together in Their Happiness

The logistics of over the mountain and through the woods require that we handle Christmas with our nutty little family early most years. Thus, the girls have opened their gifts.

Annnnnnnd exhale.

I'm talking to me. I've been holding my breath for a month now out of concern that the girls would be disappointed because I backed way off with the "fun stuff" shopping this year. Mostly I did it because Mila will get plenty of toys from other people, even as she already has access to more than she could ever play with thanks to hand-me-downs. And then there is Alexis. Alexis had a fantastic list of ideas for me, but the girl has shot up over two inches in the past two months. She needs clothes. Badly. So I passed all of the really good ideas from her list on to other family members and filled in a few of the gaps in her wardrobe. Can getting a new pair of black leggings ever be exciting?

I now know the answer is yes.

Neither girl was disappointed in the least.

Mila just wants to open presents. She doesn't much care what's inside because the act of opening is OMG SO FUN. I'm thinking of collecting all of the ponytail holders that have accumulated in the corners of our house (thanks, cats!), wrapping them up, and letting Mila go to town. She would be all, "Ook! It's a boo one!" and then "Oh! It's a back one!"

She would love every minute of it. I mean, she loved opening a boring Christmas ornament.

It's quantity over quality with that kid.

Except for when you have a Tow Mater hidden in the piles.

Mila drove Tow Mater all around the house for hours, grinning and giggling all along the way. At one point, she had Penny cornered and shaking, which was like the cherry on top because dogs who bark too much deserve to be cornered by a girl and her tow truck, even if it's only for a minute.

Meanwhile, Alexis proved that the way to her heart is Sephora.

The fact that Alexis was THAT happy about a sampler of glittery eyeshadow is just further proof that Miss Sparkle and Shine's love language is glitter. All of the glitter. The girl is on her own path and there is a lot of sparkle over there.

It's pretty fantastic, especially when the other kid is busy throwing trucks at my head and running the dogs over with a giant Tow Mater.

Sabotaging Crazy Mountain

Some very astute people have asked how it's possible to build Crazy Mountain™ with a toddler in the house.

Do you happen to know the answer? Please? It would be swell if you do because then you could tell me and then my next Crazy Mountain might take half as long to build.

For what it's worth, building Crazy Mountain is one of my favorite things. It's real-life Tetris, except that each and every toy has a right place to be and a wrong place to be. There's no swapping a blue squre for a yellow square because they aren't the same. It's all a very deliberate work of art.

It's a work of art that makes my OCD heart so very happy because out of chaos comes organization. Beautiful, beautiful organization.

It's easier to achieve that level of beauty when the toys stay where I put them.

Anyone who had been watching as I stacked toy after toy would have wondered what was wrong with me. I should have banged my head against a wall instead of trying to stack toys because one after another, they grew legs and made their way to the playroom.

I would stack a few packages then Mila would grab the top one and run. I'd follow her to grab whatever she stole, and she would promptly steal something else even as I was trying to put away the first thing. We repeated that pattern a whole bunch of times, right up until reinforcements showed up.

Obviously, my reinforcement was no match for the nutty toddler. My reinforcement was a pretty fantastic distraction, though. Instead of climbing Crazy Mountain in search of Elmo and a picnic basket, Mila was happy climbing her sister and jumping.

And THAT is why I owe Alexis a super awesome Christmas present or two. She's a superhero for giggling her way through getting beat up.

Look What You've Done ... AGAIN.

So, hey! Christmas Crazy! You guys did that thing and you did it up big.

Every year I think "we can't possibly pull this off" and every year you prove me wrong.

I love being wrong every year.

This year you managed to come together to provide toys for over 160 kids who receive services from Center for Victims.

For as much as I wish the number of kids in their programs would go down, each year it has increased. And each year you have somehow found a way to make things work out.

Over 160 kids - kids who have seen violence in ways that kids shouldn't - will wake up Christmas morning with a reminder that there is kindness in this world. Whether one of their loved ones has been murdered, domestic violence has crushed their world, or they've witnessed something awful, they will see the Christmas gifts and know there are people they can depend on.

You've done something amazing.

Thank you so very much.

While every single person who helped make this all come together is a star, there are a few stars I want to call out.

Bonnie.

Ben. He did it again.

Melinda.

Mountaineer Keystone. The Wexford-based company pulled together to take care of 40 kids, and then they went and topped that by throwing $2000 in gift cards to the pile.

That's a lot of gift cards.

And it was delivered to Center for Victims along with a whole lot of toys.

Three car loads, by the way. It took three entire car loads to get it all there.

So, thank you. Thank you to every single one of you because it takes a lot of helping hands to pull this together. Thanks for the privilege to be a part of this magic, and thanks for getting us to $9,900. It's all of the amazing what you manage to do.