Holidays

Ahhh, how the holidays always seem to creep up on me. It seems like it takes forever for them to get even close and then about a week or two out, then the time just starts flying by! I love the holidays, I love the lights, I love seeing joy on people's faces (ok, so most people aren't smiling while they are shopping unless they just got the last item on a really good sale!), I love the music, I love the old movies, I love the smell of all the baked goods, I just love the season! I love how since we moved up to the frozen tundra, that it's actually cold with the threat of snow during the holidays and allows us to build REAL fires in the fireplace. I love having the urge to bake cookies - so they're the Pillsbury pre-rolled sheets - who cares!, we still use cookie-cutters to cut out shapes! I absolutely LOVE the shopping! I love looking at everything to figure out what my kids REALLY want, I love the hunt for the best deal and I love finding things locally that don't require me to order them online and pay shipping! I love taking the kids to see santa clause - ok, so Katie thinks he's a child-molester and screams bloody-murder when she gets within 2 feet of him - it's still fun! Ok, I don't love: the long check-out lines, everyone driving from one store to the next as fast as they possibly can like they are road-rage-a-holics, trying to find a parking space (even with my handicap tag it's still a battle with all the elderly people who live here hogging them all!), store personnel who run and hide at the first hint of you asking them a question, the 10 pounds on each thigh that will be added from all those baked goods I love!

I love being able to remind my kids that in all of this chaos we are celebrating the birthday of Jesus and to never lose sight or perspective of what this holiday truly means amidst all the hustle and bustle of buying and giving gifts. For His birth, life, death and resurrection, we give thanks.