Hands-down Favorite

I've found it.

My hands-down, favorite-est pin on all of Pinterest, that is.

Except, I didn't actually pin it.  But I did read it...and then I remembered it, because I thought it was such a neat idea.

And last night...we did it.


We went through our bed-time routine just like normal...but when the kiddos hit the hay, they each found a "ticket" laying on their pillow (I'd hidden them earlier).  The tickets said something to the effect of:  "This ticket entitles you to a van ride to see all the Christmas lights...RIGHT NOW!"  

Waiting in the kitchen for each of them was a cup of homemade hot chocolate (their favorite!), and a container of freshly-popped popcorn.

The kiddos grabbed their goodies, and we all headed out the Silver Bullet.  As you might imagine, they were just a little giddy at this shocking and fun turn-of-events in their evening!

All 5 kiddos tucked into their seats, ready to ride around and see Christmas lights.
(You can barely see G's head poking out of his seat next to Elisabeth.)

We then drove around for about 45 minutes, taking in all the pretty Christmas decorations and lights.  And for those of you who know how small our town is (or who live in our small town with us) you will know how slowly we drove and how thoroughly we soaked in all the fun.

More than once during the ride, a child piped up from the back: "I'm so glad we got to do this!"  Me too.


The cost of homemade hot chocolate, popcorn and gas: minimal

The value of the memories we made: absolutely priceless