Twelve Random Acts of Kindness

I have been quite the slacker in the blog department. I couldn't justify blabbing on a computer when I had school work piling up. Now that it's all done, I'm writing a very long post.

To start, I got a new lens! Jose let me open my Christmas present very early, as soon as UPS dropped it off. He has been talking about it for months. There is good to say about a man who doesn't keep secrets from his wife. He is a great gift giver, but as much as he talks about it, you think you've had the gift for years.

Welcome home my awesome wide angle lens.

With my new shnazzy lens, I had to plan an outing. Just in time for the Winter Garden Christmas Parade. We were right up close to all the goods and my camera got it all. Know why? Because it's wide angle!

A huge difference from my zoom lens. Still adapting, lots to play with.

The perk to best city Christmas parade in the state is having ties. That's my cousin on the right with her dance team. Rock out Eydis!

There's that good feeling you get when you take your first born to see something brand new, like a Christmas parade. And you get all excited. You dress him up in cute clothes, you pack your camera with every lens and filter, you invite the grandparents, you get there early, you find the perfect spot... because this is his first parade. We gotta do it up right.

And it's picture perfect in every way. The parade has fire trucks and big trucks and dancers and horses...

The parade has Mr. Clause and his wife riding on a sleigh behind reindeer (it's the real Santa, you know).

And then you turn around to get a great shot of your kid's face all lit up for the first time seeing this great parade, to find he's gone. Because Amma took him to check out the shops!

Next year, I plan to bring a shield. A big one. The kids in the parade like to belt their patrons with hard candy. Nice gesture, but I brought home a welt or two.

Jack is at a great age. He is figuring things out on his own, making them up as he goes. Becoming his own person with his own big ideas. Like eating macaroni out of a shoe.

I think there is nothing more important than letting your child be creative. Exercise the right brain so it doesn't shrivel when math and science and state exams are enforced and music is pushed aside. Paint the walls, glue pennies to the carpet, draw on Daddy while he's sleeping. As long as everything is Elmer's and Crayola, expand his imagination.

It's Christmas time. And time to deck the halls. No child labor laws were broken during this event, even though it may appear they were.

I want one, I want one! Think pooper scooper, odor eater, chewed up socks, shed hair, chasing behind pup with a grocery bag... okay, I'm good.

Don't you just love my new lens?

Peek

A

Boo

Jack learned a new word: Lucky. He says is over and over. I taught it to him when I bought him his first scratch off lottery ticket. He continued to repeat the word while holding the losing ticket over his head and dancing around the house. True optimist.

We have a new family tradition. I love it. It brings on the feel good, giving Christmas spirit. We're calling it Twelve Random Acts of Kindness. I was inspired by a woman who turned 32 and decided she was going to pay it forward with all of her 32 years of greatness. We chose twelve because it sounds like a good Christmas number, like the twelve days of Christmas. The plan is this: make someone's day. Someone random, a stranger, an acquaintance. Do it twelve times before Christmas.

Random Act Number One: A five dollar gift card to Axum Coffee, the best coffee shop in Winter Garden where we happened to give away our first gift.

Extra plus: Axum Coffee donates 100% of their net profit to greater organizations who word to stop human trafficking and bring water wells to Ethiopia.

Random Act Number Two: We found two cute lovebirds sitting on a swing in front of the downtown Christmas Tree. They were snuggled and cozy. We love snuggle and cozy. They got a card with a scratch off. Hope Jack rubbed off some of his lucky.

Maybe we made someone else's day, but in the end, it made our day. Ten more to come. Cheers!