One of the greatest joys in life is walking in the door of your house to the sound of your two-year-old yelling "mama, mama, mama" as he runs to the door and hugs your legs or whatever part of you he can get to.

Another pleasure in life is watching your daughter, who claims to be shy, lead her Girl Scout friends, whom she barely knows, in a rousing rendition of We Wish You a Merry Christmas while they accept donations at the local community Christmas light display. She was also the one who began cheerily wishing each visitor a Merry Christmas as they drove away. I'm not sure what brings on the shyness because she wasn't having a problem with it tonight.

As for the difference in children, Jeremy is the quiet one who pays very close attention to detail. He was unable to sleep because first he was excited about the note he made for his teacher. However, he soon became very upset because he messed up on the front page -- He wrote she was the best teacher ever. He couldn't explain why this was a problem. I can only assume he did not want to offend his previous teachers.

The best Jack story I can come up with is the cute way he has of sharing with me on most Fridays that he gets the next two days off. He is definitely ready for the working world.