The after-math

hope that everyone had a very wonderful and blissful Christmas Holiday! It was pretty good here at our house. In fact, it now looks like a tornado or hurricane has hit inside our home! And of course I would share some pictures, so you all could get a good idea of the mass piles of toys and wrappings I am speaking of... BUT... the Compact flash drive slot on my computer has a broken pin in it, which means that any pictures I take, cannot be transferred to the computer for sharing or viewing.

Sorry folks, you'll jsut have to imagine all the beautiful toys, piles of little shooter disks, boxes full of toy wrappings and wire ties.... and of course all the extra dishes now dirty from all the left-overs we had all wekk long.... Ah the joys of the holiday season!

Do you buy your own?

So, I want to know how many people end up buying things for themselves and putting them under the tree... I have a tendency to purchase things for myself during the holiday season, but then feel a bit guilty about it, so I wrap it up and wait until Christmas day to open my "gifts." Although, to seem less obvious about it, I always write on the label

To: Mom

From: Tristan

I don't think TJ has caught on yet;)

Go ahead and take the poll up there on the right, let us know how YOU do your Christmas shopping!

Having the Christmas Spirit

So, this Christmas season, I am attempting to do something different than in the past... this is the first year that I've really felt motivated to be part of the Christmas Season, and all. We've hung all our decorations, and done things that normally I wouldn't do, because "the kids don't know any different." I'm beginning to be afraid that they will start remembering these holidays, and they'll remember that their mom never did anything for them. SO.... My new "thing" is that I have been reading a Christmas story each nite with them as we prepare for bedtime.

Yes, it's true, we cut a ring from our green and red paper garland, and count our days left 'til Christmas, then I gather the girls and we read a story. It's usually me and them, since TJ has usually been at work or out of town. Anyhow, this experience happened last week, and I've been wanting to share it:

It was the same old thing, I think I'm doing something great and grand, and something that I think might mean something to them, but why does it have to be so darn hard? We gathered 'round their bedroom, and I prepared the assigned story for the nite (which comes from a set my mom gave me when I left home). And the girls COULD NOT figure it out. They were running around their room, they wanted to sit on their bed, on the rocking horse, and the bunk bed ladder... anywhere but on the floor and listen. Then Madison needed her chair, and she kept moving it all around her room, I guess to find the right spot... because one would have been better than another? Anyway, after several minutes of the monkeys, I got pretty upset, and grabbed the little plastic chair from her, slammed it on the floor and told her to sit down and be quiet. --I know, so reverent and Spiritual, right? As we prepare to read our Christmas story and try to feel happy about Christmas and all the joy it brings.

The girls sat in total shock, I couldn't even start the story, because I had to gather myself from getting so mad. And so then I read the story. (I'll include the whole story below, if you'd like to read it, but I'll Highlight the part that touched me for retelling purposes.)

I didn't question Timmy, age nine, or his seven-year-old brother, Billy,

about the brown wrapping paper they passed back and forth between

them as we visited each store.

.

.

Every year at Christmas time, our Service Club takes the children from

poor families in our town on a personally conducted shopping tour. I

was assigned Timmy and Billy, whose father was out of work. After

giving them the allotted $4 each we began our trip. At different stores

I made suggestions, but always their answer was a solemn shake of

the head, no. Finally I asked, "Where would you suggest we look?"

.

.

"Could we go to a shoe store, sir?" answered Timmy. "We'd like a pair

of shoes for our Daddy so he can go to work."

.

.

In the shoe store the clerk asked what the wanted. Out came the

brown paper. "We want a pair of work shoes to fit this foot," they said.

Billy explained that it was a pattern of their Daddy's foot. They had

drawn it while he was asleep in a chair.

.

.

The clerk held the paper against a measuring stick, then walked away.

Soon he came with an open box, "Will these do?" he asked.

.

.

Timmy and Billy handled the shoes with great eagerness. "How much

do they cost?" said Billy.

Then Timmy saw the price on the box. "They're $16.95," he said in

dismay, "we only have $8."

.

.

I looked at the clerk and he cleared his throat. "That's the regular

price," he said, "but they're on sale, $3.98, today only."

Then with shoes happily in hand, the boys bought gifts for their

mother and two little sisters. Not once did they think of themselves.

.

.

The day after Christmas the boy's father stopped me on the street.

The new shoes were on his feet, gratitude was in his eyes. "I just

thank Jesus for people who care," he said.

.

.

"And I thank Jesus for your two sons." I replied. "they taught me

more about Christmas in one evening than I had learned in a lifetime."

.

.

When I read those last few lines, I became all choked up, I couldn't even read them. I paused for a long time, Madison finally asked me if I was okay, and if I was crying. (of course I told her no, but it was so sweet.)

It's so amazing that children are so innocent and pure and sweet. They have only good intentions, and there I was being mad at them, mad that we can't hurry and get on with things, so we can get to bed. I'm letting things get to me, and make me frustrated, when none of those things even matter.

Today I realised that without all the extra stress from Christmas, we have the opportunities to step back from the chaotic-ness and slow down, and realize what's important to us. What really matters, and how much love we have for one another.

I'm so grateful for my kids and for the many things I learn from them.

With the Holiday Season...

...comes many, many enjoyments, and sometimes dissappointments. So here's the first thing... I'm addicted to eBay. It's totally true.

You can truly find everything there! And I'm really wondering how you can find brand new things there, for cheaper than the stores are selling them. So I'm *thinking* that the guy in front of me at Wal-mart on Black-Friday, that had 20+ printers in his cart, might not have needed them all for his house, and rather he is re-selling them as some part of eBay thunder. Then again, maybe he has some serious printer operation going on his basement.... one will never know.

Anyway, I'm addicted, I have ordered several things from there already. The best part is that it's harder for TJ to track the expense and know what I bought him, which makes me even a bit more sneaky than usually (I'm not the sneaky one, he is.)

On another note, we had a few Christmas parties tonite, which before hand I was little timid about them both, but at the end of nite, I had a much enjoyable time. Let's just talk about "Giving Trees" for a moment.... I've never thought that I needed or deserved to be on some kind of giving tree. In fact, much to my dismay, I'm not sure I have even ever grabbed a ticket ornament from a giving tree and bought for a child. Not to say that we haven't done our fair share of donating and giving gifts, I've just never gotten to go spend money and give gifts for a name on a tree. Anyway, Tristan's name was added to a tree this year, The Mended Little Hearts group asked for her name for their Christmas party. I thought it was a bit odd, since we and our family are totally fine in that world of financial department, but I obliged and figured I would go along with their little Christmas party.

So at the party, we did the whole dinner, Santa pictures, gift bags, etc. Then it was time to pass out gifts to all the "heart kids". My big girls wanted to move closer to watch, so we did, and we watched for a long time little kids come up and accept gifts. -Big gifts. Lots of gifts. Lots of big gifts. And Tristan's name had not been read. When they were down to very few gifts left, I started thinking that maybe Tristan hadn't been chosen. It's true a part of me was sad because I had already told the girls what was going to happen, and now there were no gifts left for Tristan? Then they call her name and hand us a gift. One, and it's modestly sized, which seems normal. We opened it and much to my surprise it was nearly just what we had asked for, and the girls went NUTS over it. -I was happy.

Then a girl came bringing another slightly larger gift, and my smile grew. It was exactly what "Tristan" had asked for! And then a lady comes DRAGGING another slightly huge gift... I couldn't imagine what it even was! I mean, the first one gift was WAY more than I could ever expect, and then not two but three! All of my girls were flipping over the gifts, and I know that my grin had reached ear to ear. It was such an amazing feeling that even though my family is not very deprived of things, to think that someone went to these lengths for my daughter, whose name was on a tree somewhere.... it brought tears to my eyes. It was more than I ever could have imagined. Somehow it seemed like they were making up for how hard our holidays were last year.

Having gone through this experience, along with my own children donating and buying toys to give to the hospital so kids that spend Christmas in the Pediatric ICU will have a new toy... it's brought a whole new meaning to being able to buy for other little children for Christmas.

Impatience comes easy

I guess I should have a better track record than not posting in almost a month... hhhmm.. sorry.

Anyhow, here's the thing... I am really bad at playing the Big Guy... the thing is, that I'm jsut too excited about the gifts. For instance: the BIG gift came last week already via FedEx, and what was I supposed to do with it so the girls wouldn't see, when they just left it on my porch? I promptly drug it into the garage (drug, because it was quite heavy). Anyway, of course I am SOOO excited to rip into the thing and get it all assembled and put together for Christmas morning. I can't imagine I have to wait 2 more weeks, yikes! I also am so excited about the small things too... like the stocking stuffers... seriously excited!