When I was a child, I would cry Christmas night when it was all over realizing that I had a whole year to wait once again for that special day. I love the simpleness that can be Christmas. But I am not going to lie, I love the decorations, the music, the trees, the special hand picked gifts for my children, the cookies, the lights, and the mounting excitement. I am so excited to share my passion and love for Christmas with my children. I love the traditions that we have created with our own little family - a mix of our childhood traditions and some new ones all our own.
I really long for this month of December to be filled with cherished moments and happy memories. Some,I am sure, will find their way to my blog in the form of words and photos, and some I will tuck privately away into my heart. Every year I strive to do as much as I can ahead of the month of December, so that we can really enjoy the whole month and not stress, and not get caught up in the hustle and bustle. I was really good with getting all of my Christmas shopping done. I was done by the end of the summer - that is a first for me! But I have not started the wrapping. I am hoping to do it slowly each evening while watching Christmas movies with my honey. I still have some of my craft projects to complete, but I am hoping they will be more fun than stress.
For Cadi's first or second Christmas, I had a crazy idea to make a different Christmas cookie (or two - sometimes even three!) every day in December and freeze them. I ended up with over 30 different kinds of Christmas cookies. That was dozens and dozens. It was fun, but it was stressful. I have not done that crazy baking for a few years now, and I certainly don't want to go that extreme again. However, I would like to make one or two different kinds of cookies each week this December. I have yet to choose which recipes will make the cut. I have so many favorites. And yes, I know I talk up our natural eating ways, but folks - it's Christmas! {wink} I cannot wait for Cadi and I to don our Christmas aprons, turn up the Christmas music, and make a mess in the kitchen. I hope to share some of our favorite recipes here - for memory sake and in case anyone is interested in cookie recipes.
I have a lot of fun things planned for school for the month of December, too. I hope to snap some photos and share. The past few days I have been busy doing some fall cleaning and organizing. (Jim has been a HUGE help! He is truly the organizer in the family.) I really like to decorate my house only after it is deep cleaned. Then I only have touch up during the weeks leading up to Christmas and can hopefully really enjoy the Christmas season. We hope to decorate our home for Christmas tomorrow. We would normally already have our decorations up, as well as our tree, which we have traditionally gotten the day after Thanksgiving. However, last year we realized that Scotty has severe allergies, and one of the things he is allergic to is Christmas trees. After doing much research, we learned that artificial trees are even worse for him, as when stored they collect dust mites and mold. We were told the best thing for him would be to have a fresh tree in our home no longer than two weeks. He is actually allergic to the mold that grows on the tree while sitting in a home, and not to the actual tree - or so we think. So that is our goal. It will be a bit sad to have a tree for such a little amount of time, but I sure do love my boy more than a Christmas tree! So tomorrow we pull out the decorations and later on we will get a tree.
I was a bit late on the draw with getting our photos for Christmas. So we had a quick shoot on Sunday. It was chilly outside, Scotty was tired and hungry and Cadi was silly. They were not the greatest shots, but it is nice to have that done! The one we finally chose for our card is the one on my header. It is not what I typically would send out, but it depicts our family well. Here is another impromptu shot of my kiddos. Maybe I will share a few more of our photos later.
And speaking of photos - I had two shoots last week! I am still editing through the photos. I worked with some really cute kiddos!
Well, my bed is calling. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. (It's looking slim here in New York this year though! {boo})
Are you excited about Christmas? Why or why not?
Addis Ababa Time