Preparing for the Holidays

I love this time of year. I absolutely love it. Athough it honestly wasn't planned intentionally, I think that it was simply 'meant to be' that two of our babies were born during the week of Christmas further magnifying this glorious time of year for me. Birthday party planning, on top of Christmas, definitely makes this time of the year more hectic (and stinks for poor Drew and Evan who have to go a very long time without getting any new presents:), but it complements the season perfectly. I love Christmas as a time of reflection and a time to take inventory of all things good. To count all of our wonderful blessings. And given that I now associate Christmas with the births of two of my babies, it reminds me of my very best Christmas presents ever.

Speaking of thanks, we had a lovely Thanksgiving. We celebrated with all of our families and even enjoyed Thanksgiving at our house this year (thanks to Dan's mother for preparing everything - I did zero work for this beautiful feast). I just did what I do best - take pictures of everyone's hard work! :)















As the boys get older, I'm extremely interested in making sure that they are aware of how special the holidays are and what they mean to our family. Like every mother in the world, I want to raise children that are appreciative of their belongings and are aware of the benefits that hard work can yield. It is such a balance, I am learning, to give them everything I want them to have, but not give them too much so that they lose the opportunity to experience the joy that accompanies the wait. It is really hard on the parent to say no. I never fully appreciated that before.

In the spirit of emphasizing everything we are grateful for, I asked Drew to tell me what he loved about everyone joining us at our house for Thanksgiving. Drew was full of answers so I wrote them down at everyone's place setting. It is obvious that Drew has a lot of reasons to love his family!



I also tried to be creative by having Drew make Indian hats for our Thanksgiving guests. Didn't turn out so hot. But we had fun (and made a mess) anyway.





The boys were all decked out in their traditional Thanksgiving garb (dressed by Daddy, of course)!

















After Thanksgiving, I immediately switched gears for Christmas. I joined one of my girlfriends in the "Black Friday" shopping frenzy and actually woke up at 4am to hit all of the big sales. We shopped for nearly 9 hours and I got a ton accomplished (and saved some money too)! As it turns out, it was a great idea to join her and I have felt so organized this Christmas season because of the headstart I got on my Christmas shopping. I'm thinking that I might become a regular in this tradition.

It has become party planning central at our house. We all know the sequence of upcoming significant dates: Daddy's birthay on the 12th, Jesus' birthday on the 25th, Drew's birthday on the 26th and Evan's birthday on the 30th. Whew!! What a month!









Although there is much to do to get ready for all of our parties, I'm reminding myself not to let myself get lost in the planning and allow this wonderful time pass too quickly. It is a wondeful month designed to have a quick-pace, but I'm determined to slow that pace down. I want to savor the Christmas decorations in our house and enjoy the anticipation of the boys waiting for Santa to bring bountiful toys. I want to inhale my evergreen candle over and over again to enjoy the benefits that winter brings and capture the loving emotions in the air waiting for Drew's 4th birthday and Evan's precious 1st birthday. For Evan, this will be his first Christmas, and it's going to be special.