May your days be merry and bright....

I'm having so much fun getting ready for the holidays around here! Every year my husband and I try to decide if we want a themed tree or not. We always go back to our traditional tree. It has ornaments from every year I was a child and every year since we've been married. Since my husband doesn't have childhood ornaments, I buy him one each year. And now I have the kids to buy for, too. I love the memories that we relive every year when we pull the ornaments out. There's the year I was totally into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, our trip to Disney World, the year I got engaged. I love the pictures of Connor's first Christmas, and remembering how he was SO into the Wiggles, Mickey Mouse, and now Star Wars. This year I ordered an ornament with their picture right on it. Love it!
Baked cookies with Preschool C last night and took them to Meena and Papa with a Christmas carol. He loved it. We plan to do that with other families soon. It's a good way to get him into the spirit of giving instead of only getting. I love Santa, but I think that sometimes the whole idea of Santa is part of the gimme gimme problem.
We are counting down the days with our little Santa chimney, too. Each day we pull out a "brick" and Santa falls a little further down the chimney. Preschool C reminds me of this first thing every morning.
I have so much to be thankful for this holiday season! In the rush of Christmas parties and plays and events, don't forget to take some time to just BE together and enjoy watching little ones celebrate Christmas!