Christmas is hard, it feels like a chore sometimes. The opposite of the way it should feel. It's so focused on the 48 hours between December 24-25 and the gathering and baking and shopping and waiting and anticipating...it's always a goal for me to try and slow it down.
I felt that it didn't happen this year, that I just got caught up with work and stuff and didn't spend much time in church and just whoosh was missing the holiday spirit! Sometimes my camera has to remind me that this is not true. I had a casual cookie night with my friends Jenny and Pam.
Jenny is not a baker but this night she learned how to make mint swirl cookies.
Definitely some holiday spirit there.
And we got the tree a little later than usual, December 22nd, but that's ok, right? It's here!
And the brothers worked on it together.
And to make room for the tree, the kitchen table got moved perpendicular to the kitchen island making for tight quarters but in fact, I must recognize how handy it is as a gift wrapping station! And seeing my 11 year old's wobbly wrapped gift and seeing him try to peel the sticky off the bow...fills my heart right up.
And finally and most precious are these bears. I found a terrific deal on cyber-Monday on Build-a-Bear's. I bought a bunch of them for Toys-for-Tots. Then I went to the terrific www.etsy.com site and found a woman who handknits bear sweaters....in England. They arrived today, Christmas Eve. She apologized for the delay, coffee was spilled on some sweaters and she would rush to replace them with the promise that the rest of the sweaters would be shipped quickly. In another lesson to have patience and accept what you cannot change, they did not arrive in time for Toys-for-Tots giveaway this year.
However, it has inspired me to not just focus on the 48 hours in December, but to give these bears out to those in need all year long and to try and keep Christmas in my heart...even in June.
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