Friday, December 18, 2009

Christmas Time!

My Brother-in-Law posted something on the family website that has got me thinking. The question was "Who in your house is most excited about Christmas?" My first though must be the kids. They have anticipated the gifts under the tree, the Advent House and all the yummy treats and goodies. And just like every other kid in the world they can't wait to open those gifts. I would give them a 9 on the excited scale.

But I would have to say that I am closer to a 11 on that same scale. Why, you might ask? Well I will tell you.

Money is tight, it almost always is, and some years that has gotten me down because we can't give our kids the same things as other kids. No ipods or computer games, no Wii or bikes, we simply can't afford those things. But instead of letting that get us down we turned to the drawing board, no really... The boys love to play with cars so we designed and have made a HUGE car mat for them to play on. Johnathan and I have worked hours on it and we are very close to being finished, but every time I see the little corner of is poking out behind the couch I get excited.

Andie loves clothes, she is a typical girl. She also loves jewelry. I have a friend we several older girls and she was going though their clothes and she gave two huge bags to us. I went though and picked out some wonderful sweaters and other really nice things and every time I see that box under the tree I know she is going to freak out when she opens them. Along with that I got a few necklaces that were hand me downs and I cut them and removed the beads and with them I have made two beautiful necklaces that Andie is going to love, along with some really inventive friendship bracelets.

Jenna is getting a baby doll and I know she is going to love it. I made the baby a blanket and she found it before I could wrap it. She drug it around the house all day before I could sneak it away ofter she went to bed. We also got her a little stroller and I think she is going to have a great time racing that baby around.

Some other things we did were make the boys shirts with dinosaurs on them, a blanket for Tyson, and handmade pillow cases from Santa. Johnathan is working hard on handmade Tithing, savings, spending boxes that are an exact replica of the ones his father made for him and his siblings. They are going to be really beautiful.

The one thing I am most excited about though are the ornaments. Years ago Johnathan's grandmother made crochet Christmas ornaments for him and his siblings. Johnathan has three of them on the tree and he loves them. This year I got his cousin to send me the patterns and I am making each of the kids their own ornament just like Great Grandma Duncan made. They may not understand it this year but in years to come I hope they will be treasured just like Johnathan's are.

So what does this all mean? Well I just wanted to tell you that one: Christmas isn't just for kids, and two: you are only as joyful as you choose to be. I have to say I think this is going to be the best Christmas ever, not because of the amount of money we spent, but because of the amount of love that went into every gift. Merry Christmas to all of those we love and care about, and I hope that Holiday cheer comes in the shape of a heart this year for you too.