No Ordinary Night

I could write more eloquently about tonight, but I'm so tired, and it's late.  

The kids were off school today (snow day, but mostly dreary sleet).  The girls were pretty good all day.  E especially (she's been a little ornery lately).

We had a plan to decorate our Christmas tree tonight.  I didn't want tonight to be a late night for the kids going to bed, but dinner ran late and the kids needed a bath.  Anyway, we started to trim the tree--normally after a bath, we don't put E's shoes back on.  But we had to, b/c otherwise trimming the tree would have been really really difficult.

So we did.

And we all put on ornaments.  

All four of us.

At the same time.  

Moving around, occasionally bumping (very infrequent), but I was very aware of how much stopping and starting it takes.  

And still it went, for close to a half an hour, all four of us trimming the tree.  It still feels like a dream.  

We never held Elena's hand, or picked her up, or moved an obstacle out of her way.  

Sounds like an ordinary way to decorate a Christmas tree, right?  Not for us...tonight was extraordinary.  I'm teary just thinking about it...I want to save it forever.