Chocolate Monsters

I made four dollars at work tonight.

I told you it was cold.

This is ridiculous. Tonight someone came up to the bar shaking his head. He sat down, slammed his palms down on the bar top and said "It's too dang cold here! I'm moving to Florida!"

Then we all laughed a lot.

But I know many of you have it much worse than I, so I won't complain about the weather anymore.

I do need your help with something, though. I'm doing only small gifts for the kids this year, and hoping to take the older two on a short trip for some quality time with some of the money I would have spent. Jace is getting a booster seat, which he has been begging for and he is finally mature enough to sit in properly (Evany needs Seth's seat and Seth needs Jace's seat, so it's good timing). Seth is getting big boy underwear and a potty. In other words, I'm buying the kids things that they need anyway and wrapping them up. I'm hoping exciting wrapping paper goes a long way to making them feel like gifts. They'll be getting some other things, but we've dialed back Christmas significantly, which is, I think, as it should be.

The problem is Ava. I can't think of a useful gift for her! I want to make sure it's something she can really use. If you guys have any ideas let me know, please.

I'm exhausted, so it's off to bed for me. Ava stayed up late tonight wanting to hang out and talk. She's just the sweetest girl. I really am beyond blessed to have her as my oldest daughter.

Oh, so Seth and Evany have learned to join forces. Today they managed to get a chocolate cake out of the refrigerator and eat it without any of us realizing it. I could hear them, and I thought they were playing at the coloring table, which is in the kitchen.

Yeah. Not so much. Ava walked into the kitchen and yelled "Oh my goodness! There are two chocolate monsters out here!" I jumped up off the floor where I was sitting with Jace and rushed into the kitchen where Seth was basically simultaneously cracking up laughing and patting himself on the back. Evany just looked slightly bewildered and very much like a chocolate monster, indeed.

These kids.