With 4 days left until Christmas, I thought I would share a little update.

Despite the many Christmas posts, I am not really feeling “Christmassy” this year. It seems like our family is focused on one event and once that is done, we’re on to the next one. Point A to Point B, then on to Point C. We haven’t had two minutes to really appreciate the season, even though we are decked out and have done some holiday activities.

Once Ella’s dance recital was over, the focus shifted to her surgery. She had an ear tube that was stuck. She also was set to have tonsils and adenoids taken out, if they needed to be. The surgery was on Thursday and she did really well! The tonsils got to stay, but the adenoids came out.

If you do “Elf on the Shelf,” you know the kids are not supposed to touch the elf. If they do, it loses its magic and cannot fly back to the North Pole. The morning of her surgery, there was a note from “Santa’ that said that he gave Twinkles (the elf) special powers for that day. She could hold her and take her to the hospital with her. She was thrilled!!

We arrived at 6am and were on our way home by 9:30! It’s crazy how they shove you out of there after surgery! When we got home, we all took a nap, and there was a special surprise that awaited.

You may remember this from last year. One of our neighbors puts out a mailbox for kids in the neighborhood to mail letters to Santa. Each child receives a response. The kids love to go there and drop the letter in the mailbox.

The neighbor messaged me on Facebook and asked if there was a good time to drop off a letter. I told her about the surgery and she said she would drop it off then. After our nap, we woke up and I told the kids, “You will never guess who just texted me!”

They asked who it was and I said “I’m not sure, but it says it is a North Pole number!” I said that there were photos attached. So I opened them in front of them.

Santa himself delivered their letter!!! When they saw the pictures, they both ran to the front door. I opened it and we looked around. He must have got back in the sleigh and went home! They wanted me to look in the mailbox and sure enough, there was his letter. Talk about two giddy kids!!

It looks like they both made the nice list and will be getting what they asked for this year. Thanks, Santa!!

Christmas Rock

This was too cool not to share. In Flint, MI, there is a big square rock. It has been there as long as I have lived in mid-Michigan. I’ve seen a lot of things on it. People have spray painted memorials to loved ones who have passed away. Sometimes it is in honor of the anniversary of their passing. There have been marriage proposals in it. There have been patriotic tributes for events like 9/11. There have been funny paintings and sad paintings.

For Christmas, a local mural artist named Johnny Fletcher did his part to get folks in the Christmas season. The first mural, which was featured on many websites, featured the mean one – the Grinch.

This mural became the talk of the town. A week or so later, he did yet another one. This time it was of a couple of misfits!

The quality of his work is truly amazing. It didn’t take long for folks to ask if they could buy a print of these. I hear he was selling them through his Facebook and personal site. Those would look pretty cool on a wall. However, they look downright amazing on this HUGE rock.

The countdown to Christmas continues … Have a great weekend.