Store Nights and Holidays

I said I was determined to blog more, and then about four hours after making that proclamation I was the proud recipient of a stomach bug, and you know what they say about "best laid plans"...

Wednesday night the kids had store night at AWANA. AWANA is a program at our church that I never knew existed until a few years ago. I love it. It rewards the kids for learning scripture. (They also have recreation time and a small group counsel time). They earn "AWANA bucks" (think Monopoly money) and can spend it at store night which takes place about once every 6 weeks or so. One room in the church is set up like a store and they can spend their money on anything they want. It didn't take long for our kids to realize they could spend that money to buy us gifts, and it surprises me every single time they bring something home for me. It makes me thoroughly excited to find out what they decided I needed most!!

Hunter has been known to buy me jewelry that says "BFF" and makeup brushes. Brianna likes to buy me body spray and nail polish. They both frequently give me hand lotion, and I think their favorite thing is when they find funky socks they can buy for me! This past Wednesday they were both jumping up and down to give them their surprises. Brianna bought me a package of Valentine's Tootsie Rolls (one of my favorite candies!) and a very cool new pair of Valentine's socks! Then Hunter started laughing and handed over his gifts for me - more candy and another (different) pair of Valentine's socks! They know me so well!

Sometimes they will grab a jump rope for a friend at church who isn't in AWANA, or some coloring books or crayons for one of their friends in the toddler class. I can count on Hunter to come home with some type of Lego or Transformer toy, and Bri will always come home with some self-care item. This week it was a cooling eye-mask you can keep in the refrigerator. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to alleviate the bags under your eyes, but I love that she loves it.

They fill our stockings at Christmas with these items. They're so excited for us to open the stockings on Christmas morning and see what surprises they were able to get us. It's such a simple thing but it makes me so happy to see them so happy. I remember the thrill I got when I was a little kid and I could find some way to surprise my parents. My mom's best friend, Gail, started taking me shopping when I was probably 11 or 12 years old. I didn't think it was fair for mom and dad to have empty stockings on Christmas morning, so we'd go out together and get things to put in their stockings. I don't even remember the type of items I'd get, but if I had to guess it would look a lot like hand lotion... candy... funny socks... trinkets. It's so funny how you can see yourself in your kids sometimes.

It makes me smile when I know it IS possible for them to look outside of themselves every so often. These are the little things I don't want to forget about my kiddos. Sometimes the "big" stuff can take over - the athletic tournaments, the big test at the end of the school year, the major vacations - but this is the stuff that makes my heart happy just on an average day.