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Merry and Bright

Never before have Andrew and I bought a tree this early.  Normally, I can’t even hear Christmas music prior to somewhere in the December twenties.

But kids.  Wide eyed, special-moments loving kids, they bring out the Christmas lover in you.  “Cis-mas-tee?” they whisper, filled with wonder, excitement and joy.

“Anta!?” Elijah asks in awe each time we see a round man in red, like he can’t even believe his luck in this moment.

“Yeah!” I find my excitement matching his, like “Yeah! There he IS!” feeling like my luck was as good as his.

We recently got down our one lone plastic box, green and red, and dug out the Christmasy contents.  The boys got to work pulling the lights around, and Maria carefully touched each ornament, asking about their story, while Bing sang his heart out and the fire crackled.

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Maria carefully placed each of the ornaments on the tree.  “Mama, look at this one!” she’d say, drawing my attention to a memory that would have been overlooked, “This was mine when I was 5.”IMG_0774IMG_0772 And just because we were feeling very Christmasy, I told the kids to prepare themselves…

“For…

Christmas peppermint hot cocoa!! “

*squealing and running*IMG_0641

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Last year for Christmas, Elijah had only been home for one month.  He was still small, serious, leery, drawn inside of himself, could handle only a small amount of activity or cheer.

But this year.  He is in the spirit  😉  And it is contagious.

IMG_0687IMG_0677IMG_0667IMG_0663 “Mom, you gotta get me this recipe!  So good!”

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The cocoa was a hit, the tree was decorated, memories stored.

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“And tomorrow night!” we told them in a whisper voice, drawing them in, “We are going to read you a special Christmas story!” we told them, as I tried to think of one.

I was getting ahead of myself I was  so in the Christmas spirit,  “And…it will be…The Night Before Christmas!” as I tried to remember if we had a copy.

“What?” Maria said, not really hearing the book title I chose.  “The bible?”

Andrew and I looked at each other and laughed, “Oh, yeah, I guess that is a better idea…”  We have that one.

And she smiled, nodding.

IMG_0629Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Friends!

What are some fun holiday traditions you do with your family that you can pass on to us?  We only have a few basics, that we love, but would love to hear more!

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  • Skirrl December 6, 2013, 7:48 pm

    I love your blog. In his red jammies, Elijah looks like a mini-Santa Claus…or maybe one of Santa’s elves? 🙂

  • Kerry December 7, 2013, 8:56 am

    So wonderful. I know I keep saying it, but I just adore this family. Thank you for sharing your moments.

  • Miriam December 9, 2013, 10:08 am

    I love Maria’s enthusiasm for listening to a Bible story! 🙂 I don’t have children yet but I look forward to creating Christmas traditions with my own family one day.

  • stephanja December 17, 2013, 8:52 pm

    I have been thinking about making a tradition of giving the kids new (or new to them) pajamas as an early present on christmas eve that they can wear that night. They need new pjs at least once a year and they will look cute christmas morning in their pictures (since the normal pjs get quite a beating in this house lol). Also its like so cute to see my kids get new clothes especially comfy, themed pjs..they feel like a million bucks and always get so into character! lol