Overcome With The Christmas Spirit

Have you ever seen a bruised ear? It's nasty. Liam has one. He also has a couple of scabs on his cheek. All from getting a little too close to Sarah. It's not his fault...those dual-seat grocery carts are usually the scene of Sarah's rage, and he is trapped there beside her with nowhere to run.
But today was different. We went on a "good elf" mission this morning, dropping off toys for charity, buying some groceries for the preschool's food bank drive. I was trying to impress on the kids that this is the spirit of Christmas. Did it sink in? Who knows....but this afternoon Sarah was all about the hugs and kisses. Big time. I can't blame Liam for being gun-shy when Sarah comes running at him. He's suffered some substantial wounds at her hands. But I also don't want to discourage her positive affections, so I enthusiastically proclaimed: "Sarah's got the Christmas Spirit!" Hugs? Kisses? High fives? Christmas Spirit! Hooray! But Liam was as skeptical as Sarah was determined. So here's what the Christmas Spirit looked like around our house*...


* We were baking cookies when Sarah got the urge to hug at all cost. I was trying to change them out of their dough-y clothes when this shirtless tackle - I mean, hug - took place.
I see a little self-defence move coming on here...