How Many "First*Things" Can There Be?

(The little girl in the wheelbarrow is me at two!)

The other day I wrote about the little Nativity set my son made in grade school, how it is one of the first things I take out during the holidays, also the carved wood block with the Santa face; then the Star of Bethlehem made by my other son and now I am going to show you three little cloth Santas that my daughter made for me. These are also one of the "First*Things" that I bring out.

My daughter was maybe seven and she wanted to give me a gift. My son's girlfriend bought a piece of fabric with the little Santas printed on it. She was going to "help" my daughter make these for me for Christmas. It was so cute because she did not know how to make them and had to ask me to show her! I told her that it was so sweet of her and I would forget about them as soon as I left the room. . .I did not want to spoil their surprise. Every year when I look at them I fondly remember that day. My daughter is a young woman now and the young girl that was my son's girlfriend is now a married mother of two. We are still close and when I see her it still seems like it had only been yesterday even though twenty years have passed.

I think the gifts we remember the most are the ones given from the heart, they create a memory that can never be taken from you, a heart to heart gift.

How many first things can you bring out at once, I think each special item is a first, because there will never be another one like it. . . so for me I will have many first things to display during the Christmas season.

(This is a better picture of my Star of Bethlehem made by my son Geoff. I moved it from the table

in front of the window to my little desk.

Things around my house are sometimes like the book, FIND WALDO, I will put something someplace

and the day next move it to another spot until I feel I have found the right place for it.

When my husband comes home from work he is sometimes asked to find the changes, he

gets the look on his face like a child that has just been told they

are going to have a pop quiz! He never can guess, now if I were to move his chair or computer that

he would figure out right away!