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Monday, December 15, 2008

Time, the best gift of all







On Saturday afternoon/evening we finally got some family time! It's rare for us so it's quite a treat. We took the kids to Q-Mart to see Santa and for us to walk around and later get a tree. Leanna told Santa she wants a guitar, then later when we came by again she ran up to Santa to tell him she forgot to add that she also wants an American Girl doll (and luckily she didn't notice that it was a different Santa than the one she sat next to earlier). Justin wouldn't talk to Santa because he's so shy anymore, but one of his siblings told Santa that he wants a toy gun , and Timothy, predictably, wants a car. Jacob just wanted off Santa's lap!
They had a teenager taking the pictures, and he was very nice, but he wasted precious time before Jacob got too scared to sit, worrying about the face Timothy was making. He took three pictures, trying to catch all of them looking and smiling, which I thought was generous.
We ate at a place with an overhead toy train and I asked if they could turn it on. Jacob loved it, and kept pointing at it as it went round above our heads. An elderly gentleman sat in a booth next to us and got a kick out of Jacob so he kept pointing to the train with Jacob. Jacob would look over at the man and the man would point up. Jacob would look up and start pointing too, and the man would start laughing. The waitresses were really nice about "all those kids", and I was happy to hear nice comments on our family size. It's great for the kids to hear good things about it for a change.
Justin and Timothy walked around holding Daddy's hand, which I could tell Justin particularly liked. Tom won Leanna a stuffed animal from one of those machines and bought her two rocks for her collection, even though he hates to spend money on a rock. (it was $2.00, and she's still very into rocks and collecting them.) We were on a quest to find Tom's peanut butter cups.....so many stores have changed since the last time we were there. We got a tree afterwards, and then went to Tony's for a late (free) supper. By the time we got home we were exhausted. I talked to Tom about the kids, particularly the boys, not just wanting but needing time with him. I think he sometimes forgets that spending time with his children is not something frivolous, but just as important as providing for their material needs. And Justin especially seems to crave time with his Dad, so I was beyond thrilled when Tom decided to let Justin saw the branches off the bottom of the tree. Justin got to use a tool! And do something with his Daddy. He LOVED it!
He was so intent on the sawing that he didn't notice me taking pictures (in a very dark room with very bright flash). Later that night when I remarked that I was so tired I wished I had gone to sleep earlier, Justin said "Well you could go to sleep, and Leanna and Timothy and Jacob.....but not me and Daddy! We had work to do!"

1 comment:

Sue said...

These pictures of Tom with Justin are precious. I can see how much Justing loves being with his daddy.