Tis the season

As with every year this one seems to have passed too quickly, and I find myself once again lying to my children so that they may be surprised on Christmas Day.

You may remember last year we installed a fridge box in the family room and told them we were babysitting our friend's fridge. They believed this lie so completely that they never even touched the box, which was good because if they'd pushed it hard enough the aquarium inside could have gone crashing to the floor.

This year Supernerd is hard at work building a garden bed in the backyard. But it's not really a garden bed.

It's my fault, really.

Last year I wanted to buy them something big, something bouncy. But we didn't have the funds so we got the aquarium instead.

This year I got a part time job and raised the money myself, so the big bouncy thing has been in three boxes under some old sheets in the garage for a couple of weeks.

With thanks to X-Man's Dad and his Pop as well, Supernerd has dug trenches and installed a retaining wall so that we can have a level space in an otherwise sloping back yard. It's looking awesome and I can't wait until it's my turn to help dig.

Meanwhile we uphold the fiction that we're working on a garden bed. Even when we're alone we still refer to the project as the garden bed. 

I'm so looking forward to their expressions when they see their big bouncy present on Christmas Day, but I'm also looking forward to not having to lie to them about it.