This Christmas

I love Christmas.  Or let me put it this way.  I used to love Christmas.  The last couple of years I have had a serious love-hate relationship with it.  I feel like we do everything halfway and just run, run, run.  I have really let it bother me in the past, but not this year!! I have accepted that is the way December is and just to embrace it. I am also learning to say no and that just doesn't work for my family of 5.   Also, I am working on changing my mindset.  Christmas isn't the day or the couple of days.  It is the season.  We are celebrating Christmas everyday.

Because of all of that and the fact that we are desperately trying to teach our kids that Christmas isn't about them or gifts, we came up with the idea of 25 days of giving and kindness.  The kiddos are really on board and excited about it.  We strive to do something for others everyday.  We are 8 days in and Sara Beth is charting it on a calendar (girl after my own heart!!)  They aren't big things or expensive things.  They are just thoughtful, purposeful things. I hope that we carry this on every year.

Here is Leigh making some grits so that we can give them away.

And as usual, we are trying to do all the fun Christmasy things around town.  Last Friday we started with The Belhaven Singing Christmas Tree. Sam didn't stay wrapped in a blanket very long! Leigh realized half way through that there were people standing up there singing.  I have no idea what she thought it was!

 We stopped by cups and got the kids their first ever hot chocolate!  They thought it was cool, but didn't really drink it!  I think they decided they would just stick to white milk!

Saturday we went to the Madison Christmas parade.  It was so fun and the weather was PERFECT!!!

I thought this bus was really cute.

Sitting on the curb

 Santa and Mrs. Claus were supposed to be the highlight, but for my crew it was the horses.  Sam threw a fit because he couldn't go touch them!  Gray went with us because Zeb and Andrew were working!

After naps, it was time to finally put up the tree.  I say finally because we normally put it up the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Since we were out of town, we are just now getting around to it.  We had the hardest time deciding where to put it.  We ended up moving some of the toys out of the playroom and putting a gate on the playroom door.  It is the only place a gate will fit and we just felt like it was a necessity this year!

The first ornaments on the tree are always the new ones we get them.

Sam sat in his highchair and ate a snack through most of it.  He would reach for an ornament and say "ball" and throw it.  I kind of agree--that is what they look like!

Aren't his diapers cute!  My sister told me about them--they are from SAMS!