"Deer" Friends

For the boys' neighborhood friends this year, we made these cute little candy cane reindeer. They were pretty easy. A box of dollar store candy canes, some pipe cleaners to make antlers, pom-poms for noses, and sticky-back wiggly eyes. On the antlers we hung a little tag that said, "Thanks for being a "deer" friend. Merry Christmas! from, Lincoln/Ivan"

I thought that the kids would get the most fun out of making them. And they did seem to have a good time with it. But what I hadn't counted on was how excited they were to give them away to their friends.

We all bundled up, and I loaded Adelia into the red wagon, and Lincoln and Ivan chose to ride their bikes. And at every house we stopped at the boys were just bouncing with excitement. They chattered non-stop wanting to know whose house we were stopping at next and which reindeer was for which specific friend, and so on. It was really cute.

And the kids they gave them to seemed to be equally as excited to receive these little gifts. And, I realized, or remembered, how much fun it is to be a child at Christmas, when even the littlest things are thrilling, when the giving and the receiving are equally as enjoyable.

Kids are really the ones who have the Christmas spirit, and I'm happy to have three very spirited ones this year. :)