Now is it Christmas?

We're having a bit of  holiday confusion at our house. First of all, there were presents and cousin time to go along with our deep fried turkey. Since the 'out-of-towners' who came back home this year, did so over Thanksgiving, we had our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration in one big happy day.

Then surely the arrival of the tree in our living room means Christmas is here, right? My kids sure thought so. I explained that we were just 'getting ready' for Christmas but land sakes, that tree is half dead already and it's STILL not Christmas.

Twinkly lights, lots of them. They look so cozy and pretty but even they don't mean it's Christmas.

And believe it or not there is even a few gifts under the tree. Santa never comes to our house so Mom and Dad have taken over. They may be from yard sales but who cares, they are presents just the same, right?

The cookies are baked. Good thing Mom isn't making us wait till Christmas to eat all of them. We should probably find some neighbors and friends to share them with since none of the presents under the tree look big enough to be a treadmill.

Our mailbox is full of pictures of people we haven't seen since last year's picture. We even managed to get our pictures sent out at the beginning of December this year.

If you didn't get a paper copy, We wish you a 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

  too!

The candles are lit.

We've made sweet treats to thank people that we appreciate.

 {While the school boys wrote cards for their teachers the little ones wanted in on the fun too. I gave Kyra a card to write on and when she was finished she brought it to me. "Who is that for? I asked. "For Joseph," she said, I guess she's been listening to some of the story anyway.}

We're counting down the days with this fun project. A wrapped story for each day in December. Just remember, if you plan to use library books for this you should keep track of due dates. I may or may not have learned that lesson the hard way.

While we wait for Christmas to get here we pass the time by playing with our very own Nativity set.
And every time that sweet little voice says, "Mommy, can I play [with] my Jesus Loves Me?" (a.k.a. Baby Jesus)  my heart melts. 

I love the signs that my children are picking up the real meaning of Christmas. In the van today, one of them said, "Mom, this is the Baby Jesus song we sang at church, the one that says 'REmanual'."

 

 Wishing you and yours a Blessed Holiday!

{and if you happen to read a blog where the writer can't decide whether to write in first or third person, just go with it and try not to let it ruin your holiday spirit!}