It was one of those what-were-we-thinking moments.

I had to wait until I was 12 to get my ears pierced. It’s a rite of passage. I practically counted down the days until I was allowed to get them pierced.

But, Ashlyn wanted them pierced…now. Months ago, we said no. She asked when. We said when we felt like she was responsible enough to take care of her ears as well as oodles of little earrings she would no doubt accumulate.

When we were deciding what experience gift to give her for Christmas, we decided this would be it. I mean, why wait? She’s pretty responsible. And, there’s no real reason why we have to make her wait. Haven’t read anything that says a girl has to be a certain age. 

Brown paper packages tied up with ribbons

AND a super cute tea kettle to replace the boring silver one I left on the burner too long.

A very generous gift from Gran for our whole family…

But, my favorite gift of all was one that made me cry.

Remember this?

Weeks earlier, as Lydia and I walked Evan and Ashlyn to school, Lydia asked to go with them. The big kids and I laughed and started talking about what their day might be like if Lydia (aka our Chinese Curious George) joined them.

A few days later, Ashlyn won a Bingo game in school and chose the prize of a Mickey Mouse shaped pencil, one she was pretty excited about. But, then she got an idea. So, she asked her teacher if she could trade her already sharpened pencil for something else–a blank book. And, so she gave up her prize and  went to work so she could give us something very special.

Yup, I cried. Of course I did. And, I smiled till my cheeks hurt and gave lots of hugs.

And, though I’m an undeniable apple addict and may get warm fuzzies when I think about my brand new iPad 2 and all the neat cases, apps, and add-ons to try, my little handmade story written using a plain old No. 2 pencil makes my heart skip a beat.

And, hearts skipping beats tops warm fuzzies any day.

the explanation of circumcision.

We are loving our advent e-book Truth in the Tinsel–it’s a great way to engage kids in the Christmas story and take it a step further. There are daily crafts…which we have not done any of. But, our discussions have been good. A few days ago, we focused on Bethlehem and that the word itself means “House of Bread;” we talked about how Jesus is the Bread of Life and what that means. Really significant spiritual conversations with a 9 year old, 7 year old, and 5 year old. And, Lydia, well, guess she’s soaking it all in.

Good stuff.

Today, the focus was on the Temple. Nothing scandalous there, right? We started out by ripping off a link from our paper chain and reading the word on it–Temple. Then, I reminded the kids, “Okay, when I’m reading the Scripture, when you hear the word temple, go ahead and yell ‘TEMPLE.'”

And, I started reading. Luke 2:21-40. Which starts off with Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the temple to be dedicated….[clear throat]….circumcised.

Being the mom who uses all the anatomically correct words, before being asked, I just put out there, “Do you guys know what that means?”

No.

Of course not. Did I need to ask that?

Was that a smirk I detected on my husband as he stood by and watched this all unfold?

Just picture this…me explaining how baby boys have a piece of skin cut off the top of their penis. Ashlyn gagging and hiding her face and yelling, “OH! I’m SO glad I’m not a boy! OH!” Drew, laying down, unable to even look at me, mortified when he realized, yes, we did this to him. Lydia, looking around and yelling in mimicry of Ashlyn with no clue as to why she’s yelling. And, Evan, calm, cool, collected.

“Ooooohhhhh, so it’s just like shrimp. You gotta pull their tales off before you eat ’em.”

How do you redeem that devotion?