I love this time of year, would be better with snow but I'll take it! We finally got our tree the smell throughout our home is incredible. Every year when we get a Christmas tree my mind can't help but wander to my own childhood experiences with it. The smell really takes me back. It used to be covered in those big bulb colored lights you had to clip on the branches. Lots of threaded ornaments that would shimmer in the light and not break ( big plus with kids ), and tinseled carefully by my mom who most Christmases would not allow us to help because we might clump the tinsel and then she'd just have to fix it anyways.
Funnily enough this year hubby and I decided that we would string up the lights together and then I would decorate the tree so he didn't have to hear "your other left" when the kids were putting on ornaments and it seems no matter what you say to them they only decorate one branch lol. Sound familiar Mom? So everyone has their own special ornaments for the Christmas Tree and we though this year Mom would do the 'background decorating' and altogether as a family we would put on our own special ornaments together and then dress the tree with garlands. Our tree is a beautiful Spruce just plush and green and full. Once again it's the smell that's really awesome. Love it!
Now I have all these gifts to wrap and help the kids wrap this week, not that I mind. I really love the pretty paper, yes I said pretty. I'm tough but I'm still a girl you know ( sticks tongue out ). I already helped our 2 year old wrap her presents to her brother and sister. She was thrilled and delighted to put on the tape for Mom. Of course being that she's 2 there are extra pieces of tape here and there but it just adds to the charm don't you think? She put on the green bows by herself which was a very big deal to her. They are beautifully wrapped gifts even for a 2 yr old.
What I'm really enjoying this year is the sparkle in her eyes. She's finally old enough to get that feeling of excitement about the magic of Christmas. She talks about Santa and Jesus coming to visit her and bring her presents and play with toys with her. It's so adorable. I'm really excited to take her out to look at all the lights around the neighborhood this week. We have spotted a huge Santa a few blocks away that will thrill her toes and I can hear the happy squeals now.
The baking for the season is nearly done, unfortunately I didn't get as much help in that department as I had hoped due to a lack of confidence. Not laziness. My kids lack confidence in helping me thinking that they will mess it all up. I have assured them that with me standing there that's pretty hard to do and I think this is based on them both entering the kitchen last week to bake for themselves. Our son baked an apple spice cake for the first time and it turned out beautifully. He was very attentive to everything I said but I not once stepped foot into the kitchen I wanted him to do this on his own. He asked several questions checking the whole time and worried over nothing. Our daughter was very confident in her baking abilities having taken homeec classes and she was baking mint chocolate chip cookies. One problem. She put all of the ingredients into a small mixing bowl instead of a large one, I helped her fix that, but she didn't add the right amount of flour to the batter and they all came out more like candy than cookies. Overconfidence had caused her to lose her caution when she was following the recipe and it didn't turn out how she'd planned.
Sounds more like a life lesson to me. Funny how the simple things in life can teach you the biggest things you need to learn. Patience and tender care give us the opportunity to see little mistakes and correct them quickly, whereas rushing and overconfidence have the opposite effect and we can end up in a miserable situation that is hard to correct or something that cannot be fixed at all.
I'm very grateful for this season and for the Savior's birth. I am grateful that our family has survived yet another crazy year and I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to share my own personal growth out of hardships with all of you this past year. Thankyou for your comments and your support it really means so much to me. Merry Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment