sweet.

it's hard to predict, even after six years of parenting, what gifts are going to be worth the money and which ones aren't.  it seems like every year, one of the kids will have their hearts set on something -- whether it's a certain game or toy or craft -- and then, after their elation of tearing open the wrapping paper to find their heart's desire inside, we never really see much of it again.  (whenever this happens, chris calls it a Kix Experience.  growing up, he became convinced his life was not quite complete without having kix sitting on the cereal shelf of his pantry.  but when his mom finally caved in and bought it, he was sorely disappointed.)  this happens often enough with our kids that we currently have a trunk full of these treasures headed over to goodwill to, hopefully, make some other children truly happy.

on the other hand, there are many, many items we've bought that have shocked us by how loved and used and adored they turned out to be.  this is never more apparent than at christmastime, as we drag out the holiday boxes from storage.  because, without a doubt, the biggest hit in the mann family -- the most loved, most used, and most adored -- is the fisher price nativity set.  did we have any notion of how well received it would be?  no.  it was a last minute decision at target, when i noticed there was only one box left and figured that it must be a good thing to have if they were down to their last set and it was still early november.  it seemed divinely inspired, so i squeezed it into my cart and carried it home.  

and what a treasure that non-researched, unrequested, unknown item would turn out to be!  our loyal readers might remember it from a few years back -- i was so enamored with the thing that i actually wrote about it twice (here and here).  the kids' interest in it hasn't waned one iota, but especially after re-reading those posts, i realize how far their understanding has come.

liam and susanna like to team up to put on "puppet shows" (a misnomer, because, of course, these are not puppets, but figurines.)  they'll crouch down on the rug in the family room underneath the coffee table and instruct their audience (usually eight or ten stuffed animals) to sit on the couch.  and then they'll stage a somewhat rudimentary production of the first christmas -- unscripted, unrehearsed -- but surprisingly chock- full of biblical truth.  for example, in yesterday's production, liam made sure that joseph was lying down because the angel was going to visit him in a dream.  today, mary and joseph had a short discussion about how they were only engaged and now that they were expecting, they knew that they needed to go ahead and get married. 

and tonight, right before bed, susanna positioned the angel gabriel in the sky above the manger for a very important announcement.  in her high-pitched voice, gabriel informed the audience of one (me) that, "the baby has been born!  and he is so great and he is blessed and he will be called M&M - ull!"

M&M-ull.  Emmanuel.  a candy, and our Savior's name.  both are so sweet, in completely different ways.  it is my sweet daughter who already knows the story so well, at the tender age of four.  it was a sweet angel, proclaiming the best news of history.  and it was the sweetest message the world has ever heard.

no matter how you pronounce it.