Wrapping up winter break

Tomorrow is the last day of winter break which means this was our last night of special activities. Tomorrow night, bedtime routine as usual.

Plan for tonight - one last movie. Max's choice was Santa Paws. We hadn't seen it and knew nothing about it. The movie didn't fail us and I anticipate we'll be watching it each year for many years. Disney has made yet another classic. Disney's plot summary is accurate -

In the tradition of Disney's classic holiday tales comes a heartwarming movie about the power of giving and the true meaning of Christmas. Discover how the legendary friendship of Santa Claus and Santa Paws began in the inspiring original film, The Search For Santa Paws.

When Santa and his new best friend, Paws, discover that the boys and girls of the world have lost the spirit of the season, they take a trip to New York City. But after Santa loses his memory, it's up to Paws, a faithful orphan named Quinn (America's Got Talent's Kaitlyn Maher), her new friend Will (The Game Plan's Madison Pettis) and a wonderful group of magical talking dogs to save St. Nick and show the world what Christmas is really all about.

We all gathered in the lower level and snuggled for about a half hour. After a long day (Graham's birthday party) and his general lack of movie interest, Graham asked - yes ASKED - to go to bed at 8:08. We figured it meant it was time for Pierce as well. Two kids tucked in and back to snugging with Max. The perfect moment in the movie - Santa tries to bring Paws back to life with the magic Christmas crystal but can't and begins to cry. As a tear rolls down his face, Max says, "all it takes is a little love." And truly, Mrs. Claus follows with a line about the love between Santa and Paws. It was priceless - Max and Mrs. Claus' lines combined and the fact that Max understood the love needed.

Max seems to really grasp family and love this holiday season. Christmas Eve saying the most important thing about Christmas is family, today answering that his favorite non-present thing about Christmas was "being with family" when asked by Harrison and now tonight. Maybe it's because of Ray's passing, maybe we've shown it better than usual, maybe he really just loved the season. Whatever the reason, my seven-year old's heart and love is strong.