FOR REALS? A PUPPY!!!

I am so excited that my pen is not even sure what to write!
We had the best Christmas in the whole world!!!       I cannot even think or believe what I actually got for Christmas!!!                       I just have to write every single part down to remember it FOR-E-V-E-R. OH MY!

The thing about writing in my journal is that I am saying stuff that I already know. But I am writing it down anyway, because of the family history...thing. It's really MY JOURNAL, but I already know about me, so I think its like I am writing it for my little children so they will know about these days. Only they are not even born yet and so I don't know their names or else I would write this to their names. But whoever you are going to be, (hmmm..maybe you are twins! Yeah, I think maybe two sets of twins, and then a boy and then a girl and then a boy and then another girl...and...well, wait! Maybe the girl first and then...hmmm...I sorta want 9 children but sometimes 7. I'll have to figure it all out on Saturday or something. I think everybody's names could start with K). Anyway: you kids be nice and share. Maybe you could tear this page out and make copies so everyone can have one because you are not going to believe what I got for Christmas!!!

First, on Christmas Eve, after dad read what Luke said about the real Christmas then I got to open the package that mom (winked about over and over). "Oh my! Thank you! I love these new pajamas!" (But don't even think thats the best surprise yet!) Because the best gift is next!

On Christmas morning, we sat on the stairs while Dad figured out about his new camera. He had us smile at least twelve times before the flash finally worked right, and Mom was smiling the whole time and telling us that it was already daytime in Brasil and so our brother was probably going to call us in an one hour and 22 and 1/2 minutes from now! I was smiling a straight cheeser because I know that's the best way to get the camera part done, (I sorta wished that dad had read his new instructions book another time too), but I was co-operating big time while we all waited for Jayden who really didn't get it about waking up at 5:00 in the morning. But later, when he saw that violet gecko bursting across his new blue and orange snowboard then he was wide awake. I heard a little noise down there. I really did. Okay, so we took the pictures quick and when the grandfather clock donged then we ran down the stairs and looked by the tree. And there under that tree was the best present in the whole country and beyond. There was the barky noise again and the cutest puppy that I ever saw in my whole life! And the puppy had a bright red bow on it and a tag that said: For Hadley K! I jumped up and down and yelled: Is this really my very own puppy for keeps? Momma, is this really my very own puppy? Look at my puppy!!! My very own puppy! Can we really keep this puppy? I felt a little tear come out because Dad said that we could keep it and that it was my Christmas present for reals and I was so happy. I didn't even know that I could have a real puppy for Christmas.

She is so soft and she is golden, the golden kind of retriever that's golden.. She licked my face because she likes me so much and I giggled about that. It feels so tickeleee. Then Jayden wanted to open his other present, but I forgot that there were other presents. So Dad opened his pencil holder and my Mom opened her Koo-pawns and Jayden opened his candy bar and pencil with the football eraser and the whole world was so happy about their gifts. I was the happiest of all! Oh My! Oh My!!!

We talked to my brother in Brasil, he kind of speaks our language still... and I told him all about my present. And he said, "what is your puppy's name?" and I said: "I don't know!" And he said, "You better choose a good name for her and then you can write a letter and tell me what it is!" And then he told me that he loves me. And then it was Jayden's turn to talk. I need a NAME for my new puppy. I need lots and lots of good ideas.

OH NO! Gotta go... my puppy just found another shoe. She is sooooo smart. Probably the smartest dog in the universe. She already knows all about what a shoe is, that's pretty smart for a little puppy and she can find them anywhere! Oops, that one belongs to my dad! Better go....

The GIFT

I'm not sure why I started to giggle...but I did. And then I couldn't stop no matter what! And it was not good because I was smack dab in the middle of my school program with my new ruffly Christmas dress on. There were about 20 million people looking at us and the lights were pointy right at us, and we had to stand very still and keep our hands at our sides and I had an itch. And grandpas were flashing their cameras, and grandmas were wiping away little happy tears, and little kids were standing on their parents' laps so they could see us lots better than the upset people behind them. And my teacher was hurrying to one side of the gym and then to the other trying to get the lights just right...and then the principal announced all about us and stuff and then it got real quiet. And all of a sudden, I started to giggle. It was so embarrassing! And the more I thought about that, the more I giggled. Maybe because my hair was pulled too tight up there and then my bow popped right off and onto Jacob's head who was right on the row in front of me. He turned around and the look on his face could have started everything, or maybe because I was the third row up and right on the end of the bleachers and I was just trying not to fall off the program. It was all a very special special evening, like my teacher said, and I tried to cover my mouth, but a great giant ha, ha, ha, came out! Oops!
Anyway, I sneaked a peek at my mom and she was trying to tell me to quit laughing NOW! She put her finger over her lips like: Shhhhh! And my father was tilting his head with his eyebrows up high and his arms folded like: Why, Hadley K, Why? and sorta like there might be no more presents with my number on them when we get back home. They had to dress all nice to come and I think they came to hear me and 49 other kids sing and this laughing stuff was not appropri-up or some word like that. But when I saw them staring with their eyes all talking to me...and when I tried to stop, I started to laugh even more. Did they think I was doing it on purpose? Well, I wasn't! I ducked down behind Jacob just a bit so that my teacher wouldn't squint at me and so I wouldn't ruin the whole Christmas song, and I pinched my arm really hard so I would quit. Oh My...HA...HA...HA! Anyway, we had a very quiet ride home. But there are lots of good things that happened this week too! That's how life is, I think. There are always good things and there are always bad things. A good thing is that our family got our coats on and we went to all our neighbors and sang Christmas songs on their porches. A bad thing was: I accidentally tore a little piece of the wrapping off one of the gifts that I was rearranging. The good thing was: It was a present for my brother and I found some tape really really fast and fixed it before any problems. A bad thing was: my snowman melted his head off. A good thing was: My teacher made a little sleigh for everybody in my class with two candy canes for the slider things! A bad thing was: I giggled during my special program. That made me sad. But a very very good thing is: This week, right now...is Christmas week.

I got a coloring book and markers for Luci. She will be sooooo excited for that. I put a little pink dot by the pages that she should save for me to color. I really like that book.

I made a pencil holder for my dad. We did it at school. All you need is a soup can. My teacher probably had chicken noodle soup for a year because she saved all of those cans in a big box. (I am happy for her that she can have potatoes and hamburger and salad now that it is all done.) Anyway, we just glopped glue all over the can and then you smear it all around...and then this is the part where we go fast. You just take a yarn that has whatever color you want...or whatever color is left if Brad got the color you wanted...and then just wind it around and around and around the can getting higher and higher to the top and then you are done. Well, you still have to wash your hands so you don't stick to your desk. Anyway, my dad will be so excited!

I am giving my mom some little cards. They are called: Coupons...like: Koo-pawns. You just draw a picture of what you will do to help. Like one has dishes on it and when she gives it back to me, then I will help with the dishes. One has a broom on it, so I will sweep the floor. I tried to draw a cleaning the closet one...but there is no way that I could draw all of that stuff and so I did a cloth for dusting instead. At the very end, when I was wrapping them up, I decided to take out the 'clean the bathroom' one. But maybe I should put it back in there. I should. I'll think about that one. Maybe I should. I'll see....

For my brothers, I drew a picture of the Temple for my brother Jeff in Brasil. And for Jayden, I gave him my best pencil with a football eraser and...I also gave him a whole candy bar! For my grandma and grandpas, I drew pictures of my snowman before his head melted off and I wrote: "I love you very much and please hurry and come visit us forever". And I was all excited for Christmas because the best thing is: My Christmas countdown chain is so teensy now that it is hardly there. But that giggling thing in my program really made me feel bad. I just ruined my whole program for my whole school. Mostly, my mom and dad, because nobody else noticed so much, because they were looking at their kids. I let my parents down big time. I just sorta drooped around for a couple of days. I had chocolate milk, but I didn't put marshmellows in it.

And after a very good and very bad week...I think I know what gift to give Jesus. I want His to be the best present of all! And His will be the hardest to make and do. I decided that even though every day is good and bad...that I will just remember the good parts. I can choose happy instead of sad. I think that's the gift He will like the most from me. My mom says that everybody has bad days. I think it seems like I keep making lots of mistakes more than anybody, but if I quit thinking about my bad days then everything will be better. So this is how my gift will go: if someone asks me about my Christmas program...I can say: "Well, just for a minute there, I sorta got a little giggle in my heart, but mostly, it was a special special evening." Yeah, and I will remember the special part. Something inside of me feels like a smile and so I know that is the gift I should give. WOW! I really am ready now. Merry Christmas Hadley K!

Waiting for Christmas!

Not this week, but the very next one (after this one that we are doing) is when Christmas comes! I can't hardly believe that! I made a paper chain so I could see how many days are left...and every night right after prayers, I take one paper off and rip it into bitty pieces and toss them all up in the air as high as I can and watch them come down like snowflakes! Mom said I should clean up all of those pieces...but I asked her if it is ok since it is a special part of my very own celebration and that I will pick them up RIGHT after Christmas. And I will. She just smiled and sorta sighed and closed the door.

Jumping from paper to paper is fun. Maybe I have invented a famous game or something. Maybe I better think of a name for it very quick. I told my best friend, Luci, to come see my bedroom floor. "Your what?" she blinked. But, was she ever surprised at the three zillion and fifty thousand torn pieces of colored bits of paper all over my room.
"You can only step on the red ones" I told her.
Now Blue!
Now Yellow!
Now Green!

By the time we had jumped on every color a couple of times, we were tired. "Luci, look at my little tiny smallest chain! That means Christmas is coming SOON, very very soon!"

"You really should clean all those papers up." she said.

"Right after Christmas" I told her, "because this is part of my waiting for Christmas stuff that I do."

"What else can we do while we wait for Christmas Luci?" I showed her our tippy tree that is sorta slanty and I showed her the presents and the numbers on them and what I thought could be in every single one. And then we talked about the most Important thing: what gift to give Jesus...because it really is HIM that we are all celebrating about...and we are both still thinking very hard about that. We shook some of the presents a bit more (very gently) and we colored a snowman too. Then Luci's mom called and said it was time for her to come home for dinner. AND, if I think about it, dinner is close to reading and homework and then bedtime again. Yippy skippy! Another piece of chain is about to come off!!!

I was helping my mom with her waiting for Christmas stuff. We cut out some gingerbread men and after I ate two whole men...I had a big inspiration idea. I could take gingerbread cookies to all the grandmas on our street. Sometimes, people give grandmas stuff like oranges and bananas and apples in a basket. I bet they have fifty-five baskets in every room in their houses by now. But if I was a grandma, I would want gingerbread cookies instead. I whispered about my idea to mom. She liked my plan and so we made some special ones for Mrs. Saderson and Nellie and Sister Rugers. We iced the cookies and put raisins for the buttons and butterscotch chips for the eyes and a huge smile of red hots and almonds for shoes. We used frosting for glue! You can't even eat real glue and so this is a very very important good brain storming idea! My mom is amazing! I decorated those boys really really good and then I bundled up in my warmest coat and fuzzy white hat and boots while mom wrapped the cellophaney see through stuff on the gingerbread boys. It was soooooo cold outside. But something inside of me was warm and that happy was there and I could tell that it was.

Mrs. Saderson opened her big brown door and just about laughed all over the room when I showed her my surprise. She put her hands over her mouth and then she laughed again. She told me all about when she was a girl just like me, (but she doesn't look like she was ever a girl just like me) and she told me every thing about her family, and her kids, and showed me pictures of every one of them and told me that they were all really busy and then she told me how she loved gingerbread men for Christmas. And she was still laughing probably, when I got down the street to Nellie's.

I had to knock a lot of times really really loud. Finally Nellie opened her big yellow door. When she saw my surprise, she put her hands on her hips. "Why it has been a long time since I have had a gingerbread man!" she said. And she didn't tell me her whole life, like Mrs. Saderson did, but she walked really really slow into the kitchen and made me some hot chocolate and asked me all about how I had made such a nice surprise and asked me about what my family does for Christmas. She smiled when I went down her steps and she told me to be very careful because the walk was slippery.

Sister Rugers said my surprise was the very nicest one she could think of. She even let me hold her cat named Ruby. It is a super soft cat and it likes me alot I think. She said I could come back anytime and hold Ruby again. She wanted me to sing a Christmas song for her and so I tried to remember all the words to 'Away in a Manger'. I got it pretty ok, but she had to help me in a couple of times. She said she learned that song in Primary too. I didn't even know they had Primary way back in those days, whenever they were. But they did. On the way home I thought about those grandmas. Wow! They were little like me (someday way back long ago). And that made me know that someday far from now, I will have little krinklee lines all over my face like them and I will be old too! I had never really thought about that before. What kind of grandma do I want to be when I get krinklee?
I took a red paper strip off my chain that night and ripped it into twenty-two pieces and threw them up as high as I could! I jumped on all the red pieces, and the blue pieces, and the yellow pieces, and the green pieces, and then jumped right into bed. While I waited for my mom or dad to come tuck me in, I thought about my day. Wow! I really will turn into a grandma some day. I really really will. The papers strips come off so fast. And when I am a grandma, I will be so excited for Christmas and I will make paper chains and count off the days (maybe for a whole year or twenty)...and I will jump from color to color (probably in my whole entire house!) because my game is such a great invention that I made. And...when I am a krinkle-ly grandma, maybe someone will bring me a gingerbread man with icing and red-hots, and then I will make them some chocolate milk and I will show them lots of pictures of my family, and I will let them pet my cat. ..and I will ask them what ideas they have for an extra special gift to celebrate Jesus!!!Those are all good waiting for Christmas things to do!
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The Big Fat Weigh In Day

O.K. so yesterday, Ms. Clay with her clipboard announced for us to take a turn on the scales. That sounded fun to me. I had never thought about how much I weighed and so I had a little smile on my face and a little happy in my head. We heard a giant gasp and a moan. I looked around. Cassandra was horrified and Margaret looked like she might pass out. “Do we have to?” Cassandra cried out concern. Ms. Clay looked over her glasses and said that the numbers would be a secret. I looked over at Cassandra. She is the cutest girl in our whole class, probably in the whole galaxy and beyond. Sometimes when you see how pretty she is, you just have to gulp or something. So I couldn’t figure her problem. And then it hit me! She is skinny and so maybe she wouldn’t weigh enough to get an A. She always gets A’s. Spelling, Science, Reading, Math, you can just name it…she is the best at it. Maybe she was sad that she wouldn’t win top honors here. I wasn’t sure exactly how she was feeling, but I was sure hoping that she would weigh enough. Ms. Clay rolled her eyes a bit at Cassandra and Margaret and then looked at the whole class, “If you want to take your shoes off, then you can.”

No! Cassandra I yelled in my own mind, NO! Leave your shoes on or you won’t be the best in your weight! I tore off a piece of paper and was going to hurry and write her a note and explain all about that shoe trick but she had already taken hers off and was walking up to the front in her cute blue polka dotted socks with the bows on them. Wow, right then, looking at those socks…well, I lost track and was just hoping that my socks matched without holes. I leaned over and tied my laces really really tight. It was too late for Cassandra, but my shoes were staying on at all cost.
“Luci, keep your shoes on,” I whispered, (a bit too loud as it turned out), because Ms. Clay called on me next. I marched right to the front and stood up on those big weighy scales with a smile. “67 lbs” Ms. Clay whispered. “67 pounds!” I announced to the whole class. That sounded like a good weight to me. Cassandra made a little miffle laugh and on my way back to my desk, I heard her tell Margaret that she only weighed 59 lbs. Poor thing. Maybe I shouldn’t have bragged about my high score in front of everybody.

And that is exactly right, I shouldn’t have, because my life was about to be ruined. Luci told me at recess that people don’t want to weigh very much. “What? Are you sure they want low scores Luci?” “They do,” she pulled me closer. “That’s why Cassandra laughed at you when you said 67 whopping pounds. I am truly way way way sorry Hadley K that this happened to you.” “What happened to me? Nothing, Luci, that’s what. I didn’t laugh at anybody, so I didn’t have to worry. But I did. I did worry.

At recess, I looked at Cassandra when she wasn’t looking. She is really really pretty and she only weighs 59 lbs. For the first time in my whole years and days of life…I felt a kind of sad that I didn't know about. I weighed too much and everybody was probably laughing at me. Luci tried to help me at lunch time, “Maybe you shouldn’t eat your hot dog because it is crawling with calories ya know.” “Who are they? What is a Cal and who is a Ree?” I burst out as I took my fork and pushed the hot dog over looking for some awful yucky bugs or worms or something. “No Hadley K, they are super teensy, you can’t even see what the little germs look like, until they are all piled on people and then they look like fat.”

“Well, that does it for me. From now on, I will not eat hot dogs Luci. Thank you for telling me about those fat dogs!” and then I started to laugh and decided to eat my dessert instead. “Wait, Hadkey K, you can't eat your cake either.” “You have so got to be kidding Luci. What doesn’t have those critters in them?” I had never heard about calories and they were going to make life very awful and bad for me. “My aunt said that they’re in everything you eat…” Then Luci looked real close at my lunch tray and every single thing on it and then she must have remembered something her aunt told her because she added: “well maybe, yeah…I think you can have your water.” That moment made me think the world was not round anymore. “Water…are you only kidding me?” I snapped. (But she was only trying to help and so I said sorry.) I really wanted to weigh 59 lbs. and so water it was. Then Luci told me that she would eat my cake and my hot dog and all those icky sticky calories with them. You couldn’t ask for a truer friend.
During Math, I started to get sleepy and the walk home from school felt like walking in stucky mud. When I got home, I could smell dozens of thousands of calories in the kitchen and so I hugged my mother quick and went upstairs and sat on my bed. But soon my head felt heavy and it came down to my right shoulder and then my waist tilted and I must have fallen asleep just sitting there because when I tipped over on my bed I woke up with a start. My stomach was a growling lion and the whole house smelled like delicious calories coming up the stairs to get me. I put my blanket over my nose and mouth so the calories would not sneak in. Then my mother called me for dinner and that means NOW!

During the blessing, I wished my brother would say: “and please bless this food to nourish and strengthen our bodies and please take all of the calories out so we will not turn into elephants.” But he said, “and please bless this food to nourish and strengthen our bodies and give us the energy we need to do what is right.” When he said the Amen part then I asked him to please pass the water. My whole family looked at me and then at the broccoli and then at the water and then at me again, because I love broccoli! Love, love, love, eating those tiny itty bitty trees, but I poured a glass of water and drank it really slow while my brother put a whole truck load of broccoli on his plate. “Honey, please pass the broccoli.” My mother said. Our mom calls us all honey and so we have to sort out which honey she is talking to or about. “I don’t want any,” I sorta whispered. “I just want water this time. I am really really really thirsty today.” My family ate quietly and worried about me. That’s what eating and being quiet means at our house. Otherwise, we would be talking about how many times I jumped the rope at recess, what my grandma said when she called, how my brother did on his test, and junk like that so we all know about each other and stuff. So I should have known that my mom or my dad would come find out about the water thing later on. It was too quiet for anything else.

“But mom,” I said. “You don’t know what it is like to be the only whale in the whole school!” and I started to cry. “I need to go on a diet so I can weigh 59 lbs. I hate calories…why did they have to be invented and why can't we even see the ugly little things anyway!” And I cried louder. My mother about fell off my bed laughing. And then I started to laugh and cry too at what I had said, and then she put her arms around me. “Hadley K, maybe you need to know what a calorie is honey. It is the little blessing in food that gives you energy so that you can swing and slide and jump the rope and think and run and smile. Calories are invisible friends.” Now I was confused about stuff because My mother always tells the truth, and I mean ALWAYS, but Luci’s aunt doesn’t lie. “Honey, the healthy foods that we eat have good calories and the junk food that we eat has empty calories…and those must be the ones that you are talking about! If we don’t have enough good calories, then we will die.” I looked up. “I get it! That’s why they call it a DIE-It, right? I asked. She smiled again and then we had a talk about diets and donuts and broccoli and wheat bread and stuff and I understood every word. Cookies and cake and stuff were for special times like Birthdays and Family Home Evening Treats, and chocolate milk Tuesdays, but good food is for every single 3 times a day. “Come on, honey”, she started out of my room. “I saved you some itty bitty trees.” My Mom is something I tell ya.

Okay, so here’s the deal. I started to notice that when I eat good, then I feel good and after dinner, I wasn’t so tired. Knowing that is way plenty for this girlfriend.

I sorta figured that my dad would talk to me too. And he did. And it really doesn’t even matter a hoot how much we weigh in at or how much somebody else weighs in at. What matters is that I didn’t laugh at anybody or make them feel bad. I got thinking about how Cassandra had laughed at me. That’s a sad thing for her, because her unkindness is in her book now. (But, maybe she will repent and then the angels will tear that page right out!)

Ok, so forget only just plain water and nothing else to eat. Phewwwww! Diets are silly if they are just water. I really really need to tell Luci that we need to forget about calories cause some of them are very A-ok good ones, and that we have to be wise at our age and and think about caterpillars and butterflies and my ant farm and jumping rope and things that are really more important than weighing 59 lbs.

I just knew my dad would help me. And he did. He gave me a poem and said that if I would memorize it all the way to the end…that he would give me a whole dollar! OH MY, WOULD I! So, every night after brushing my teeth and putting on my ‘jamas, right before prayers, I would memorize a couple of lines at a time and add them to the others that I already had stored up there in my brain.

My Mother says she doesn’t care,
About the color of my hair,
Or if my eyes are blue or brown
Or if my nose turns up or down
It really doesn’t matter.

My Mother says she doesn’t care,
If I’m dark or if I’m fair,
If I’m thin or a tiny bit fat,
She doesn’t fret over things like that,
It really doesn’t matter.

But if I’m rude or impolite
And do not try to do what’s right,
If I cheat or tell a lie
Or do mean things to make folks cry
Then that really does matter.

It’s not looks that makes one great,
It’s character that seals your fate.
It’s what’s in your heart you see
That makes or mars your destiny
And that really does matter!

In two or five more days, I will say the whole entire poem clear through to the end for my dad! Then he will hand me a whole crisp dollar bill, then I will give him a big hug; then he will tell me that he is proud of me and that he loves me; then I will tell him that I love him too.

And then he will listen to my prayers and tuck me into bed. Then he’ll tell me that he married my mom because she thinks about others, not just about herself, and that is one of the reasons that she is so beautiful. And then he will bend down and kiss my forehead and whisper “Good-night sweetheart, I hope your dreams are in color”. And The reason I know all of that will happen is because: I know all of that will happen.

P.S.  And it did!!!
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Whose Birthday is it Anyway?

Jayden said something Very important. And I know it is... because I got that feeling inside that says: "IMPORTANT! Stop the whole world and think for a minute." It's like a smile, only an inside smile, that says: "IMPORTANT!" Anyway, that's how I know it is. Well, also because my brother usually talks about soccer or football, or how long the paper route takes, or how mucho hard his homework is, or stuff like his stinky socks, and so when he said the IMPORTANT words, I just had to look at him and see if it really was him. And it really really was.

Well, first we were decorating our beautiful Christmas tree. I LOVE LOVE LOVE CHRISTMAS! I even got to put the star on the very tippest top branches. That is also IMPORTANT because when I think about it, the star was the first to tell everybody what was happening for Christmas and where it was going to be. And it all started in one little manger/stable place, but now days, Christmas is everywhere. Jeff, (my oldest brother) says that it is in Brasil too, but they don't even have snow...and it doesn't even matter...because they have Christmas anyway.

So Jayden saw me by the presents: counting, and shaking (softly, because what if it breaks or something?), and sorting, and rearranging them under the tree. I sorta like to figure things out early for Christmas or Birthdays. That way, I can be happy two times!

I think the blue present is for me...but mom knows about my figuring things out and so she numbers the presents now. If present # 4 is for me then maybe it's some skates! Or maybe a doll or a horse book, or a farm set, or a princess bracelet and a jumprope! It could be real paints or it might be a puppy! Yeah, oh my! I hope that's it. Except, I couldn't see any holes to put the food in...so probably not... don't get those hopes up Hadley K. Better luck next year on the puppy stuff. Some day I'll get a present with breathing holes on top.


There are a zillion and 23 things it could be. I have to figure this out. Or maybe the #4 present means its for my dad? Oh. He gets boring stuff that stays in the garage and he only plays with it when our car breaks and dies deader-than-a-doorknob and won't bring us back home from the store. Too bad the wrapping is so pretty for that kind of tool stuff. But dad will like it anyway, so its ok!

The soft red package is for my mom. Because it says it is and dad doesn't write numbers on presents. It is probably a robe. Maybe he forgot that he already got her one last time...and the last time before that...but she always acts so surprised like: "Oh My! A new robe!" I should have told dad to get her a pony. I can't believe that I forgot to hurry and tell him before it was too late. Better luck next year on the Pony stuff.

I know what's in Jeff's present. It's a ball. I don't know what kind it is. Probably soccer, or maybe a football, or a baseball...no it's too big for that...well, unless it is all wrapped up in funny papers a thousand times so he wouldn't know. It kinda shakes like a basketball. Yeah. I think so. Unless # 3 means for dad. Oh, I see...it's a basketball for dad...way to fake it mom! She is a genuis! Or maybe that one is mine and it is a jewelry box...with a twirly doll inside the music! Oh, I hope it isn't clothes...that would really waste a whole present. Who wants clothes for Christmas if you can get real good stuff like stickers and glue and tape and a real watercolor set? You have to wear clothes anyway, so get them for another day...at least that's what I think.

So, I was trying to figure it all out ahead, and that is exactly when Jayden said something very IMPORTANT. First he looked at me in the middle of all the presents, and then he sorta rolled his eyes; (I think it was when I almost knocked the whole Christmas tree over trying to reach the purplie present at the back), and then he said, "Hadley, what are you so busy about?

WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS IT ANYWAY?" and then he put his gloves on and went out to roll the snowman's head even bigger in the freeeeezzzzzy cold. And I just stared at the door after he shut it. But in my mind, I was thinking about his words. WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS IT ANYWAY? That is the most IMPORTANT thing my brother ever said in his whole life.I started thinking...alot. Because when I have my own Birthday...all the presents are for me. And When I go to Luci's Birthday...then all the presents are for her. And then I got thinking about Christmas cuz' it's a Birthday too. BUT everybody gets presents except Him and this really is HIS Birthday that we are celebrationing! And now He grew up and we were thinking about His Birthday, but we forgot about HIM. OH NO! What is the whole wide county world thinking? I got so sad for a while. And Then... I remembered something. Jesus loves everyone so much, that He probably wants to give away presents on His Birthday. But, I will NOT open my presents in front of Him unless He gets a present too! THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING FOR ME!  I just KNEW those words were IMPORTANT and... THEY ARE! I am going to get him a very special present for His very own Birthday. 
I am getting Him an extra extra super special present. I AM.

BUT...What can I give Him?

He owns the whole world. He can have anything in the whole galaxy. HE IS A REAL KING; HE IS THE KING OF ALL THE OTHER KINGS  NO MATTER WHERE THEY LIVE. And I only have one dollar and 34 cents and only 16 days and 7 or 12 1/2  hours probably-  left til' it's already Christmas...

We have Christmas songs and the Grinch movie, and our beautiful tree, and a snowman, and presents with pretty bows, and cute little sparkly glittery ornaments, and gingerbread men, and peanut brittle, and candy canes, and hot chocolate with marshmellows, and a humongous stack of cards to send to lots of people so they can cover their fridges all up, and lots of wrapping paper, and the blinky lights on our house, but I am NOT READY YET! I have to really really think about this. It has to be the best present of all. I need some IMPORTANT ideas.

What special present can I give Him?  What are you giving HIM?
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