all he wanted to know was what i wanted for christmas this year. and i gave him an earful about how i don’t want any gifts or presents, and that i think we should just do away with the whole gift-giving part of christmas forever because it makes me so uncomfortable anymore.

my husband knows better than to agree with my crazy whims. so he just smiled and never brought the subject up again. i made it very difficult on him without realizing i was doing so. i thought i’d make it easy on him by not having to worry about a gift for me.

of course, we did not do away with the gift-giving. and of course, our boys opened gifts from us and relatives and friends. and of course i bought gifts for my husband. and that made him uncomfortable since he didn’t buy me any gifts.

how selfish of me.

and yet, i was so surprised and blessed and loved what he did for me christmas morning. he didn’t purchase jewelery or clothes or housewares. he spent his time over the past few weeks painting a gorgeous folk art landscape scene. but not just any folk art landscape scene: a personal one. one with our house, our land, our hills and pine trees, and violet (the sheep prominently featured on the header of this blog).  and not just any canvas, but an old piece of barn wood from our old barn. and not just any frame, but an old window frame out of our old barn. naturally antiqued.

he has seen me loving the folk art scenes in antique shops, and amish shops over the past few years. and he took the time to figure out how to draw and paint and he knew what would be perfect for the spot above the dining room mantel that has been void of anything since moving in nearly 6 years ago (click to enlarge):

but he didn’t stop there. he painted a folk art cat on another piece of barn wood. not just any cat, but greymalkin…

and there are plans to paint one of kayle, our orange tabby, so they’ll forever stay together above our piano.

it was the best gift, ever. and i still get goosebumps when i pass by these gorgeous pieces of art everyday.