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.

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.” And just because we were feeling very Christmasy, I told the kids to prepare themselves…

“For…

Christmas peppermint hot cocoa!! “

*squealing and running*

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.

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

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

“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.

Merry 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!