Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Only 4 Days!

I can't believe Christmas is just 4 days away! I am so not ready... I still have gifts I need to buy and presents to wrap.

This weekend we did manage to finish up the shopping. Matt went with me and we just knocked it all out. That was a long night! I was so proud of my Mattie. He is usually a terrible shopper. I knew we had to get the kids' stuff finished that night. I was afraid that he would get tired, complain and make it hard to finish but he didn't!! He was actually a huge help... It really is the small things :)

The boys are of course super excited. I am afraifd this will be the last year Will believes in Santa. I can tell he is very skepitcal of the whole thing. He asks very specific questions and I am running out of answers. I guess we will just cross that bridge when we get there. I hate to think he is growing up. It has gone by so fast.

I hope to finish what I have left to do (other than the wrapping) today. I absolutely dread going anyhwere near the mall but it is unavoidable. I have set a deadline for myself. If it is not bought by today, I am not buying it. I have a tendency to just buy and buy right up until the last minute. I am not going to do it this year. I WILL STOP! I will enjoy the days before Christmas instead of rushing around.

I hope ya'll are enjoying the season and not stressing, too much :)

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Thankful...

I got the idea for this post from Lindsey. Thanks Lindsey!

With Christmas right around the corner, it is so easy to focus on what I want. It is far too easy to look at what everyone else is doing and think "I wish..." I wish I had more money to spend on gifts. I wish my house looked like so and so's. I wish... I wish, I wish. I lose the joy that should be in the season.

After reading Lindsey's post this morning, I was reminded of all that I have to be thankful for in my life and of all the reasons I have to be joyful. (And I do have so many) Some of them are deep and thoughtful; others are just things that make me happy each day.

* 2 healthy children
* a loving husband
* a warm house
* a mess in my living room, that says my kids play happily here
* being able to stay home with my boys
* cooking dinner each night and realizing, I pretty much have the life I imagined growing up
* the time Matt and I have together after the boys go to bed
* the piles of laundry that say we have enough to wear
* dirty dishes that say we have enough to eat
* my entire family (every last one of them)
* a hot shower on a cold morning
* caramel macchiato flavored creamer in my coffee each morning
* pulling up to my house and seeing the Christmas lights on the tree through the blinds
* still rocking Ben to sleep each night
* Will asking me to tuck him into bed
* my king bed, flannel sheets and down comforter
* Will's excitement about the true meaning of Christmas

These are just a few of the things I am thankful for and the bring me joy each day. There are many, many more. I hope that as Christmas draws near, you are able to take just a minute and think about all that you have been blessed with.