Christmas Lights

I'm getting all kinds of grief from Craig because I don't want to put up Christmas lights outside. His neighbor friend, Peyton, has them and every time we leave the house or arrive back home he sees them and asks, "Why don't you want lights outside our house, Mama. I want lights outside our house."

There is a dog that lives next door to us that the owner lets out into our yard. We often find evidence of this when we walk around the house that way to go out back...and I warn the kids not to step in it! Last Thursday it was really warm in the evening so the kids and I went out in the dark right before bed to see the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. The trend around here is to have these giant blow-up yard characters like snowmen and Santas. We saw one house that the kids found particularly enchanting (read: Mom found it especially hideous) so we stopped to look, and Craig wanted to go up and touch the giant snowman. I kept telling him "No, you might break it." So he decided he was going to step on the lawn anyway, just to see what I'd say. So, I said a warning, "Craig!" and Anna (thinking she knew what I was warning him about) starting yelling, "Dog poop! Dog poop!" Needless to say they both found this terrifically funny, and I got to hear it all the way home! The joy and wonder of Christmas lights.