So far, my plan to just enjoy the holiday season is off to a great start!! Everywhere I've gone this week has been so cheerful. If it's okay, I'd like to share some of my holiday experiences from the week with you :)
First, as is true most years, people just seem happier. I see lots of smiles, kindness and laughter. It's so heart warming to go somewhere and see so much holiday cheer right now. On one town's facebook page that I'm a part of, people keep offering gifts to the person who correctly guesses a number....how fun, right?!?! I am also really loving that my new little town has Christmas music playing outside of the shops. No matter how cold it is, I roll my window down each time I drive through "main street" :) Oh, and Red!!! Red, Red, everywhere....my favorite color!!! I love seeing it everywhere I go!!
The kids and I drove around looking at Christmas lights on Monday night...my favorite was what I think is called "lazy lights"....its like a spot light that shines colored dots onto the house. I wish I would have gotten a picture to show --- it was so neat!!
On "Giving Tuesday" I was feeling especially kind and got several of my "acts of kindness" out of the way. I donated money, selected an angel from the local angel tree, and wrote a Christmas card for a recovering soldier. Just as I finished these items, I received a notice that a local charity was looking for volunteers in the coming weeks. Being in the giving spirit and wanting to get started with some volunteering, I signed both myself and my daughter up to help. I'm looking forward to doing that together in a couple weeks!
Speaking of volunteering, yesterday I finally got to help out at Rylee's school. I was looking so forward to it all week long. It turned out to be a really good time! They are learning the letter G this week and talking about Gingerbread Man for the holidays. I got to watch them act out the Gingerbread Man story and then lead a gingerbread matching game in small groups. Preschoolers are so much fun! Rylee made a gingerbread house at school today that she brought home.
Last night I started some Christmas "baking". I made oreo balls -- James' favorite. I used the peppermint oreos for a more festive ingredient. This morning I made some bars that I will be taking with me to a gathering at my in-laws this weekend. I had a few left that wouldn't fit in the container, so I set them on a plate, wondering how I was going to keep from eating them all day. About 3 minutes later, Rylee yelled to me that the UPS truck just pulled in the drive. PERFECT!! I had the kids take the plate of bars to him....he happily accepted :) The poor guy has been to our house at least a dozen times in the past few weeks. Gotta love online shopping...and free shipping!
Our Elf on the Shelf showed up this week. I'm not gonna lie...kinda wish I never would have started this tradition. But, the kids love it. Rylee really truly thinks Elfie is real. She has conversations with the thing! At least Elfie leaves her letters to let Rylee know she was paying attention. It really is adorable to watch Rylee talk to her and makes the holiday seem very magical :) I'm glad to know there is at least one character Rylee isn't scared of, since she hates Santa, Cy, Smokey the bear, etc.
My Christmas story for the magazine came out this week. I've received several compliments on it, including a very nice one from the editor! The topic was ornaments. Five people shared with me the stories about their favorite ornament. As I was getting my ornaments out for my Christmas tree last week I realized I really don't have many ornaments with stories. Almost all of them I bought myself and not for any reason other than I liked them. Of the ornaments that do have stories, here are a few of my favorites:
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| My mother-in-law brought me this from Ireland |
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| Given to me by Rylee last year for Christmas. |
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| Rylee and I painted ornaments together this year and she made this one just for me...in my favorite color. |
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| This doesn't go on my tree, but is Rylee's 1.5 year-old hand print she made at daycare. |
Regarding the Christmas tree, I think I have decided on my absolute favorite Christmas "activity". I love love sitting by the tree at night after the kids have gone to bed. It's calm and quiet in the house and the glow of the lights is so heart warming.
Hope everyone is having a great December so far!!
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