That is all it takes to go from ordinary to extrodinary.  Looking back on today, a few ordinary things ended up being quite extrodinary. 

Coffee filters are quite ordinary things…never thought much of them, outside of their usual purpose.  I started making a wreath, made from ordinary white coffee filters…it is quite extaordinary, the transformation.  You can learn how to make one of the coffee filter wreaths over at The Nesting Place.  I normally would put a picture here, but I’m less than a quarter of the way done…I had to stop to feed the hungry monkeys.  Maybe tomorrow I can go back in & add the pictures.

Tacos…I made tacos for dinner tonight.  Fast becoming the kids’ 2nd favorite, right behind…you guessed it spaghetti.  Tacos are a seemingly ordinary choice for dinner…I actually can’t believe I’m writing about them, because as I was making them I was thinking ‘I should be taking pictures…just in case I happen to write about them…Snow Day part trois’…but those monkeys were hungry & I was in a hurry, so my apologies for the lack of illustration.  The tacos we make in my family have become kinda legendary…I, of course, have my own little twist ;).  We do the taco meat like any normal family (we use a packet).  We use good ol’ shredded cheese.  The extra comes in with the shells and the lettuce.  We fry our shells, I fry mine ’til they are super crispy…fall into pieces when you take a bite…crispy goodness!  Freshly fried taco shells are extraordinary.  We also top it all off with a ‘salad’…mine usually consists of lettuce (iceberg or romaine), tomatoes, & sometimes some cilantro…all of it chopped fairly fine…it has to sit on the top, you know.  All of this goes in a bowl…we toss it with vinegar (I like the red wine variety, but any will do), salt & pepper, sometimes a squeeze of lime juice, and some oil (again, I like olive oil…but whatever you have will work).  I don’t know which of the two are the key ‘extra’, but I never make mine without both…sometimes my shells are flat (less effort), sometimes perfectly curved…sometimes the salad’s only veggie is lettuce…but it always has the ‘dressing’.  You really should try it sometime.

I saved the best, most extraordinary part of the day for last.  At Sunday school during advent E’s teacher had him decorate a gift box.  She sent instructions to me as to how it should be filled.  I was to record on paper any time I saw E do something extra special…on Christmas morning he was to open it, read them, and me explain what a gift he is.  Well, I didn’t want to leave the other kids out, so I started jotting down little things that I noticed them doing that were extra special.  On Christmas morning we forgot this little box…it was on top of the China cabinet (I didn’t want him to peek).  E noticed it today.  So we sat down, and through tears I read each of them.  They are so extraordinary.  I believe that they genuinely GOT what this little exercise was intended to do…I hugged, kissed, and told each of them what a gift they are.  So an ordinary box, with ordinary pieces of paper, became the most extraordinary part of my day.

Today’s secret revealed…I cry every single time I read The Giving Tree.