Christmas and Stuff

My kids have never really believed in Santa - and we have never pushed the issue.  Somehow they've always known that Santa isn't real.  Whenever they would ask, (which was never very often) we would tell them that mom and dad buy their presents.  Now that they are older (10 &13) they are past that age anyway.  We have told them the basic story of the real St. Nicholas - but somehow over the years Christmas has turned into a ME frenzy.

What we have tried to teach them over the years, is that Christmas isn't about them.  We want our girls to have generous hearts despite our innate selfishness.  I don't think that Christmas is the only time of year, you should promote this idea, but Christmas time is always a good reminder time of year.

For us, Christmas is about Jesus - His birth, and that is what we rememeber and celebrate on Christmas.  I'm not saying that my kids don't get presents - because they do.  They are blessed little girls with lots of grandparents that like to spoil them.  But that needs to be balanced out.  We are blessed to be a blessing, and while we definitely don't have tons - we have more than alot of people.

So this year, we are going to start a new tradition with the girls.  We are going to give them each a set amount of $, and they will get to pick how they want to spend the money (the focus of course being someone else - with some guidance from us).  Brandon and I try to demonstrate this for them through the year - whether it's buying someones meal in line behind us at the drive through, or giving the homeless man on the corner a value meal for lunch.  Our kids have started looking for those little opportunities to give.  That's what I want to focus on this holiday season.  I love that our church also puts the focus on others.  Every November, we have the opportunity to buy gifts for people in our community that wouldn't otherwise be able to.  So that is also something we do as a family.  This year we bought for a 5 year old little boy.  It feels so good to give - and to know that you had a part in making someone else's day a little brighter.

What are some things that you do as a family to teach generosity?

-M

Cranky People & Angry Crowds

What is it about the Holiday season that brings out the worst in people?  I guess the stress of cooking, family visiting, shopping, cleaning etc., all builds up and overwhelms us until we reach a breaking point.

The last few years, I have dreaded this time of year.  I do not like dealing with cranky people or angry crowds - which ironically brought out the worst in me during the "happiest time of the year".

So, I am making a purposed effort to be extra nice to cranky people and to enjoy this time of year with family and friends.

Let me challenge you that when you find yourself getting all holiday bent out of shape, that you find a way to make someone else's day better.. after all, giving always makes the heart happy.

I mean seriously people, if you're gonna get that stressed out over it, then what is the purpose?  Because you are making the rest of us miserable.

New Year

Wow, it's 2012!  I kind of feel like 2011 was a whirlwind.  We had just moved at the end of 2010, and I spent a good part of 2011 adjusting to a new environment, new job, new house etc.  We moved so fast that I didn't really have time to think about much, I knew it was the right thing, it just happened so fast that it took me quite a while to adjust.  Maybe that's why I feel like 2011 flew by. 

Anyway, how was everyone's Christmas and New Year?  We had a great little time off.  We spent some time with family and just relaxed mostly at home.  It was nice not to have to be anywhere and do anything.  I feel rested and ready to conquer 2012. 

So I've not made any resolutions this year, actually I don't really ever make any I guess.  I mean there are always things you say you are going to do or accomplish.  One big goal of mine this year is to run a half marathon.  I've talked about doing it for a couple of years, and I've been running on and off for a couple of years.  But I finally decided to get serious about it.  I woke up one day, told my husband we were gonna run a half marathon.  Surprisingly, he was totally on board - ok, not totally, but mostly on board.  So we have been running 3-4 times a week to get ready.  The race is at the end of March, I'm kind of excited.  I don't really have any expectations because this will be my first race.  I just want to be able to finish and not be the last one over the finish line.  Actually I'd like to run with a 12 minute per mile pace.  Which is actually pretty good for me, since I'm a slow runner.

Let's see, what else has been going on... same stuff mostly.  I feel like I should have tons to say when I haven't blogged in awhile, but I guess I'm just kind of boring like that. 

Would love to hear about some of the things you want to accomplish in 2012.  Anybody else out there planning on running any races??  We can keep eachother cyber company.  :)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

It's December?!

Holy cow!  Where has this year gone?? It is December 1st and that seems crazy to me.  I love Christmastime, I do NOT love the craziness that this season brings.  I always find myself getting stressed out.  I remember last Christmas while I was attempting to decorate our house... we had just moved a few months before to this house that is much, much smaller than our last house.  I have a hard time fitting my stuff, nevermind trying to put Christmas stuff up.  I was really not in the decorating mood last Christmas.  Which is not like me at all, because usually the Friday after Thanksgiving we dig everything out, get a tree and spend the day decorating.

So anyway, I am feeling a bit better about the whole idea this year.  Tomorrow is the day we are planning to go get the tree and start some decorating.  I think part of my problem is that I need some new decorations.  :)

I am planning on keeping it kind of simple, but pretty this year.  I have some new ideas for our tree too.  So I'm starting to get excited about putting it all together.  I love Pinterest for Christmas decor ideas.  There is so much great stuff on there for Christmas, I especially love looking at christmas trees.

I will be sure to post pics of the tree this year - which in case you are wondering will be real.  We have always done a real tree.  Growing up in MA, they have tree farms everywhere and you cut your own tree.  Which was one of our family traditions.  In TX, they have tree farms, but the trees are weird and not the kind of trees that I like.  So we go to Lowes.  Which kind of takes away from the fun of it.  So I think after Christmas this year, we might invest in a really nice artificial tree.

Do you go with real or fake?

Happy Thursday everyone!

Advent Calendars

So who does advent calendars?  I love them so much but I am not very consistent.  I just don't like the grocery store bought advent calendars, so I end up just not doing one.  I am planning on doing one for the girls this year.  They would just love it.   The problem is, I have no idea what I want to do exactly.  I've been on Pinterest alot, and there are so many great ideas.  It's hard to figure out exactly what I want to do.  I would love to see / hear about what ya'll do in your homes for Advent calendars.  I need some inspiration here, and there's not much time left. 

Here are a few that I love from Pinterest

I like the idea of giving an ornament to put on the tree for each day.  What's your favorite?

You can see all of my boards here to find out how to make any of these particular advent calendars.