Christmas is a time of contradictions for me. Each year as it approaches, I hope for all the things that Christmas can be. Hearth and home, warm and cozy, contemplation, celebration, family, friends, good food, happy hearts, truly giving, peaceful feelings, all inspired by the remembrance of the bright hope that one precious baby brought to this earth.
Being the mother around here means that for me there will be an awful lot of work and worry to help get my family to that point. There is so much cleaning, decorating, budgeting, planning, shopping, secret keeping, hiding, not sleeping, etc. to be done that it pushes me to the point of distress every year.
But, when all is said and done, I am never disappointed. Christmas morning comes and I can sit back and feel peace and joy and contentment and gratitude for the gifts we have recieved, for my children, for Robert and the goodness of God in our lives. Here are some of the gifts I most appreciated this year.
1) The Christmas Hotel
We have a tradition of having a family sleepover sometime during the Christmas season. This year we sent the kids downstairs to get things ready and cleaned up so we could move the mattresses out. While they were doing it they went all out and turned our basement into the Christmas Hotel complete with a room key! They even hung mistletoe and made Robert and I kiss before checking us in! It was fun to see them so excited and involved in our tradition this year.
Robert and Sophie with our "room key".
2)SNOW!
Just before Christmas snow started falling and it just kept on falling and falling and falling. It was fun to have such a white Christmas and know that most of the northern United States was having one with us. I loved the pictures in the news of people enjoying the snow.
3) Gable's Christmas Letter
Gable was very worried all Christmas season that he might end up getting coal this year. One day he asked me if I thought Santa would forgive him for some of the naughty things he had done this year. I told him that Santa was like mom or dad or even Heavenly Father and Jesus. That he would forgive us if we say sorry and not do those things again. It was a way to talk about repentance in a way he could understand. So Gable had me write this letter to Santa for him. I think it is classic. I love my little Gable!
4) Crossword puzzles.
Robert and I got hooked on crossword puzzles a few years ago. We usually got our puzzles from the newspaper every day, but I cancelled the paper this fall because we were just too busy to read it. A few days before Christmas I was sick and Robert brought me a stack of puzzles that he had been saving from the newspapers that come to the high school. He was going to wrap them up as a present but decided I could use them while I was resting. I was so surprised! What a heartfelt gift!5) A very cute helper on Christmas Eve.
6) Happy children Christmas Morning.
Gehrig and his guitar.
Emma and her scrapbooking supplies.
Gable's BOY kitchen.
Sophie got a bath toy, but she liked the Lifesaver's wrapper just as well!7) Snow shoes.
4 comments:
Sounds like a great Christmas. The Christmas Hotel is the cutest thing ever! Your kids are so creative and I just love Gable's letter to Santa :)
What a cute post! Glad your back to blogging. Reading all your Christmas fun made me wish for it all over again!
Such a cute family you have. How fun. Christmas can be very hectic. It's nice that you sat back and enjoyed it this year. I too loved the Christmas Hotel and Santa letter. So precious.
That crossword puzzle gift is SOO thoughtful and those snow shoes, I expect to see you sportin them all winter long. I like your Christmas Hotel Idea that is a fun one.
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