Christmas Review: Mr. Right Got it Right!

Mr. Right grew up celebrating Christmas very differently than I did. I'll never forget our first year together we headed to his parents and I was shocked as his mom brought out gifts for his brother and sister, who were just 9 and 12 at the time, in black garbage bags- UNWRAPPED! Now granted, my family went completely over-board for each Christmas- but I had no idea there could be such a difference in the way families celebrated. With that history in mind, I'd be fibbing if I didn't say I've had a few disappointing Christmas' from Mr. Right. Generally he'll ask me a few weeks before, "What do you want for Christmas" To avoid the past disappointments I'd say- "let's not worry about getting gifts for each other this year" which would be followed by a year where I literally got no presents from him. Then we moved on to choosing a present we both wanted- last year it was a new bed. After ordering the bed, but before delivery, we actually cancelled the order because we read bad reviews about the company (it's a closeout company) online. So what did I get last year- NOTHING. Don't get me wrong- there have been years where Mr. Right made me cry because his gifts were so thoughtful. There was the year my sweet 3 year old looked at me and said, "Jesus is in the attic" I gave her a puzzled look. "Not the real Jesus" she explained, "The glass Jesus" I quickly realized the Lladro Christus statue I'd admired must have been purchased for Christmas and hidden in the attic. Or the year he purchased an old trunk for me and hid a gift in each little compartment. This year, when asked, "What would you like for Christmas" I told him a new table top. We have a 60" square black table with an MDF top that has seen better days. I love the table, but wanted a real wood top- that wouldn't bubble up each time our kids spilled a little water. Mr. Right worked on the table each night and remarkably placed it next to the tree on Christmas Eve. Not a surprise gift, but a handmade one that we will use everyday. Here's the picture I took on Christmas Eve...

(I'll tell more about the sign sitting on it tomorrow) Isn't it amazing- smooth as a babies bottom and ready for paint. I know some of you are cringing- thinking, "Don't do it. Just stain it." We've already looked at pictures of stained tops with black bottoms and it's really not my style- so I'll be painting it soon (I'll show the after shots next week) With my solid oak topped table under the tree I went to bed so grateful for a hard working, handy husband. Imagine my surprise when I woke up to this...
My new table was covered with surprises. I'm not sure if you know that I collect wind up toys- but I do. I display them in jars and they look like bright pieces of candy. Mr. Right had secretly won a lot of wind-up toys at an auction he attended (without me). It's difficult to see in the picture, but he spelled out MOM with them. Next to the toys I found this...
No, it's not a bowl of dead flowers. They're hydrangea plants (my favorite flower) in their dormant stage. I'm not sure if we can get these to live through our Arizona summers- but this spring we should have some beautiful flowers. And finally- a gift I have been looking to find at a garage sale...
A cuisinart food processor! Let's just say it was a very merry Christmas at our house. So what did you get for Christmas. Leave me a comment- can't wait to hear. Love, Kelly.