As I approached our house on Wednesday night, I thought that I was lost. I was greeted by hundreds of twinkling lights, a sign that said, “Honk if you believe,” and, among other things, a host of giggling elves (teenage girls and their church youth group leaders). We had been “elfed.” I’ve never seen Ariana so excited!

The gist of the story is that the girls in our church youth group split up into three teams, each seeing how extravagantly they could decorate the front yard of a member of the bishopric. Quantity not quality was the goal. I’m proud to say that our yard won top honors, and in the dark, it looked very festive. Thankfully, they came and cleaned it up the next afternoon before our home owners’ association sent us a nasty-gram because, as one girl said, it looked very “ghetto” in the light of day.

For a couple of weeks, the theme song around our house could have been, “Oh, Christmas Tree.” But instead of the joyful refrains normally heard this time of year, we were singing in mournful tones.

As a consequence for Guppy’s lackluster performance at swim team, our Christmas tree was still in storage, and I must admit that I was surprised by the lack of support I received from Bryan. He went so far as to basically suggest that I was holding Christmas hostage because I was an overbearing swim mom who needed do a few laps in a chilly pool. Even my own mother who is the queen of TOUGH LOVE tactics was feeling sorry for Ariana. But everyone knows that one of the most important rules of parenting is to follow through when dishing out discipline. Right?

Thankfully, Ariana put together a string of good workouts last week, and we were able to usher in the Christmas season. We even started a new tradition–making Grandma Daniels’ custard (Bryan’s favorite) and eating it after the tree is up.

p.s. I really do need to chill out about the swim team thing. More on that later.

He Coulda said something.

He really Shoulda said something.

And he says that he Woulda said something if it just hadn’t been so funny.

In my haste to get Vivi ready so that we could head out the door to dinner, I forgot something.

And although Bryan was well aware of the situation, I didn’t realize it until it was too late.  Needless to say, I kept my feet hidden under the restaurant table throughout the meal.

Clumsily, she climbs up onto the chair.

I carefully gather up little wisps of white blond hair into tiny tails.

She sits so still, waiting for the magic words.

“All done!”

Her head pops up and, gazing into the mirror, she exclaims “Pretty Hair! Pretty Hair!”

I pinch myself and realize that this is real. I am a mom of a sweet baby doll who loves me to play with her hair.