My children love it when daddy is away, and since this doesn't happen often, it is a real treat when he does.  It isn't that they don't love their daddy, in fact, they adore him.  But, when Dad is away, the kids and I pile up in one room - we used to all sleep together, but now that Sarah is in bed with me, I feel like 2 half grown boys with a baby and momma in bed is enough.  So the other night, we flipped a coin and Garrett won who would sleep with momma the first night.  Coy made a pile of blankets on the floor and slept there. 

We spent at least an hour talking about what we could give Daddy for Christmas.  The boys came up with some really sweet ideas:

• Molasses cookies, wrapped in tin foil with a red ribbon
• A new dress shirt
• A new tie
• I plan to have them make him a little booklet complete with drawings and their own writings about why they love daddy, and their favorite things to do with him! 

I can't wait to present him with his gifts Christmas morning and watch the tears well up in his eyes - he is a bit of a sap when it comes to things like this.  The first Christmas we had Coy, I found this poem about a daddy taking his child fishing and has it printed on an 8x10 picture of Calvin and Coy fishing for catfish with the pond in the background.  He must have cried and laughed for 10 minutes over that.  This photo has become one of our most cherished ones!

Blessings,

Hope