Weekend is over, &short work week begins!

3 days to Thanksgiving! YEA, its here almost. This is by far my favoritest holiday. I don't know why I love it so much, but I do. I think Christmas is most people's favorites but its not one of mine. ITs to busy, stressful, & so commercialized. I think that is what bothers me the most....the meaning of the holidays have been taken out and we all sorta just fall into the trap of forgetting what its all about because of the hustle and bustle of it all.
This year Aaron and I have decided to turn over a new leaf for a couple of reasons. For one, saving money has become more important then ever for obvious reasons, and for two, our children need to learn appreciation and that material things are fun but they break, get lost, become worn and no fun anymore however values, appreciation, and family is ALWAYS with you and is what makes the holidays what they are. THink about it.....if you had a nice turkey dinner with all the best food you can think of and no family to share it with, then what would you have? You wouldn't have Thanksgiving, it would just be a turkey dinner. What if you had a Christmas tree, decorated to the hill, presents galore, and everything material you could ever dream of having, and NO family to share it with, no family to wake up excited to be with, all you would have is material things laying in front of you. Family makes the holidays what they are, its not the wonderful, yummy, full of calories meal, its not the gifts, and stockings, and Christmas tree, its the family that makes them so special to us.
This is what we want to teach our children. Not only that, but Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you have, your family, the blessings that God has blessed you with, Christmas is about Jesus, and serving others, and thinking of those less fortunate.
Each Christmas Eve I allow my girls to open one present, this present is a Christmas book always about the meaning of Christmas. The next morning, Santa gives them, before they are allowed to look at what he gave them, something to go along with the story we read. Then he leaves them a token to help remind them about that story and the lesson it brought. The first year I did this it was the story about the Chrismtas Orange about a little girl that grew up in an orphange, all they got was a ymmmy orange and they were as happy to get that as they were if they'd gotten a box of toys. Its ALL they got. SO when they woke up the next morning on Christmas Morning, in the living room where they thought they'd have their toys was a plate with orange wedges on it, and a note explaining what they should remember in the story. I didn't realize what an impact this tradition would have on them, or if it even meant anything at all to them but my girls told me last night that this is one thing that means the most to them at Christmas, and it touched me because I think that we as parents can make our kids unappreciative, and materialistic. They actually don't care how many gifts they get, or what you COULDNT give them. We put that stress on ourselves when all that matters to these special spirits is being with us, their family.
THis year Aaorn and I have decided to SIMPLIFY, and bring back more of the important things. TO not stress over what we couldn't get them, or if there is enough presents under the tree. Kids love to get things, you can't change that about anyone, but what really matters to them is family, and when they have that they are secure, happy, and have everything they want. Kids are simple, we are the ones that make it complicated.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share these thought with you all...... and I can't wait to see you all thursday.....