Actually, it IS all about the presents.

I've been doing a little rushing around the last two weeks, buying gifts for the kids and other family members. Not too much, though, I've been doing pretty well this year about pacing myself and planning ahead and all that.

As I was rushing and enjoying thinking about each person and trying out different ideas in my head and thinking about what they like, etc, I had this guilty feeling hovering around my heart. We hear so much every year about how Christmas is not about the presents-- don't focus on the commercialism, your kids don't really need all that crap anyway. You know, right? And I began to suspect that we may have gone a bit overboard. :guilty face: We usually buy each kid one major gift and a couple of little things that are more on the "need" than "want" side of things. But this year, after we'd already bought Judah a train set, we came across a castle/knights/horses/medieval weapons set that was IRRESISTIBLE. He's obssesed with knights and castles this year and any time you ask him what he wants for Christmas, he (without fail) says "A recipe to make a castle!"

Anyway. There I was again last night, shopping and feeling slightly guilty and commercial, but still somehow enjoying it all! Bad, bad! But then, this morning in the shower (because i do a lot of my daily deep-thinking in the shower because it's the only place i can have five consecutive minutes of privacy. sometimes. on a good day) I realized, hey wait a minute. Christmas IS about the gifts! What was I thinking? The whole holiday is celebrating the most precious gift ever given-- the Son of God made Flesh! Why shouldn't we go overboard? Why shouldn't we give extravagantly, sacrificing of our resources to give joy to our family and friends? Isn't that what God did in the gift of Christ? He came that we might have Joy-- ABUNDANT joy! The kind of joy I'm anticipating from Judah when he sees this castle! Absolute mind-blowing excitement and thrill.

Granted, the joy of Christ is in a whole different league from Judah's excitement over a train set, but there's a parallel, I think. Especially for children, who haven't yet learned about the Deeper Joys. They start with gifts given out of love and for the simple purpose of their unbridled enjoyment and the grow up into the Gift of Christ. They learn about the love through God from the love of the parents. And Gift Giving is one of the five Love Languages, remember?

So I've tossed out my guilt over commercialism and decided to claim for myself the joy of extravagant gift-giving! Don't you wish I picked YOU in the Round Robin this year??? ;)

Within reason. I mean, I'm not selling the car to make money for gifts, or anything. And I'm still only buying stocking stuffers for you guys, so don't get TOO excited... you know who you are ;)

Oh yes... THIS feels familiar.

Since we've been in Florida people repeatedly ask us if we miss the weather in Va. My answer: not at all. I miss manymany things about my old home, but certainly not the weather.

In the summer in Va, depending on how far north you are, it can get every bit as hot and humid as it was here in Orlando this year. And in addition, we never had air conditioning anywhere we lived. In Florida, we have air conditioning AND a pool. Nope. I don't miss our Virginia summers.

In Hburg we had our first snow every year within a week of Thanksgiving. Maybe not much, probably just a few flurries, but snow, nonetheless. And EVERY YEAR all the longtime locals would walk around shaking their heads and going, "Can't believe it's snowing already! It never snows this early 'round here." EVERY YEAR. For nine years. And I bet at least two people are going to respond to this post by saying, "What are you TALKING about? It never snows that early here!"

In Florida, we went swimming the day before Thanksgiving. Not for very long, granted, and it was certainly cold, but still... Actually, to be perfectly honest, I didn't get in above my knees, but the kids swam for twenty minutes! So no, I don't miss Virginia winters.

But then this morning we woke up from a night of lows in the twenties, J turned on the heat before leaving for work (first time we've used it) and I made the kids cocoa for breakfast. Something about the combination of smells-- the hot cocoa, the just-turned-on-heat, the cooooold air swooshing in the door as he left for work... Suddenly I realized I was feeling just a little nostalgic, if not quite exactly for the weather we're missing, at least for that familiar feeling of being cozied up inside, out of the elements, safe and warm against the Winter.

The Forshey Rose Bowl 2009

(or why our children will never understand the game of football)


"Fvvveeetbaaaall???"



Judah packs quite a punch-- not even Daddy can withstand the force of his tackle!



He can throw, too! And Sofi demonstrates that she has fully inherited her mother's tactics for conflict avoidance.



So she just decides to invent a new game, more suited to her skills.





And then, of course, you have to come in after a while and warm up with some...

Works For Me Wednesday: Frugal, Earth-Friendly Gifts

I have discovered two websites this Christmas that are helping me change the way I think about Christmas gifts. I'm trying to focus more on the act of giving, and less on the shopping and the money spent and the quantity of gifts per person. I'd like to share them with you during this Christmas of deep economic turmoil in the hopes that you can also benefit from them.

Freecycle is a site along the lines of Craig's List-- basically people post classified ads and buyers respond and pick up the item. It's divided by county or region and you have to join the Yahoo Group in order to participate. There are moderators, so no worries about inappropriate items or listings. Here's the awesome thing. It's all free! That's right. People are posting items that they are giving away-- first come, first serve basis. It's awesome. Think of all the stuff you could get rid of! Stuff that you can't quite bring yourself to throw out, because there's still some use left in it. For instance, a lovely older woman came and got all our left-over dog supplies (worm meds, flea treatment, upholstery cleaner, etc.). AND, this year (drumroll please) we managed to be online at just the right moment as a woman from a ritzy upperclass part of town posted her sons' pre-Christmas toy closet clean-out stash! We cleaned up, people. Not only did we get Judah's Christmas gifts, we saved some out for his birthday! This is a sample of the few things we haven't wrapped yet. What you don't see is a gift bag full of matchbox cars and one full of knights and dragon figurines. I highly recommend you check it out.

The other site, Paperback Swap is one I've mentioned before, but a deal like this bears repeating. It's almost like an online neighbor with exactly your taste in books. You give him your books and he gives you his! The way it works.... You post books on your profile that you are looking to get rid of. They have a database of ISBN numbers that pulls up a cover photo, so you don't even have to worry about uploading pics of the book. When a member requests a book that you've posted, you print out a pre-addressed label, wrap the book and ship it out (average shipping cost for me has been right around $2). When the member receives the book, they comment and you are awarded a PBS "point" that allows you to request a book from another member. You begin your membership by posting ten books to receive some initial points (I think you might get three points to start with?). Here's one of Judah's Christmas books; as you can see, in mint condition.





As an added bonus, both of these methods of gathering gifts for my kids include recycling, in some way, products that have already been purchased and enjoyed by others. Things that might otherwise get tossed in the trash, or shoved to the back of the shelf and forgotten about.

To read some other hints and tips-- seasonal and otherwise-- check out Works For Me Wednesday at the Rocks In My Dryer blog.

PS. I'm not including any info or pics of Sofi's gifts because I simply don't trust the little bugger not to find out about it. She takes after her daddy...

The 2008 Christmas Tree Chronicles

Every year we drive over to Singer's Glen to the Heartland Christmas tree farm.

Somewhere hidden among the pines is a rare tree that bears fresh candy canes-- the best you've ever tasted!

Ah-ha! We have discovered it!

The reason I didn't film the whole trip back to the car is that they rescued us half-way back with an ATV and a trailer.

In the old creamery, there's another magic tree. This one grows ornaments for children to pick and take home.

And then, after a few false starts...

We got our Christmas card picture taken on the old sleigh!

Christmas Carnage

It was a quiet, peaceful winter evening in the quaint Southern town.



Shoppers wandered happily through the center square...



... calling out the occasional friendly greeting to their neighbors.



Little did they know what waited in store for their happy town.



I will spare you scenes of the attack, but view below the Christmas Carnage that met the eyes of passing strangers the next morning!

OH! The horrors!

Christmas is coming...

For the first time this year we are finally doing something we've wanted to do every year since Sofi was born. That is, celebrate Advent. We finally did it. We made a wreath, we researched the whole concept and all the various traditions surrounding it-- even ones in *gasp* different denominations! And it's really changed the whole Christmas experience for me in an amazing way.

Let me enlighten you. I am one of those people who goes hog-wild on a project, whips myself into a frenzy and then collapses from total exhaustion at the end. Moderation is just not one of my strong points. That is what I have J for. He has moderation. I have inspiration. So. Every Christmas, as soon as Thanksgiving is respectably behind us (like by one or two days), I start dragging out the Christmas Stuff. The lights, the wreaths, the greenery, the music, the movies, the food, planning parties, buying presents... And I go on this Christmas binge for, like, two weeks. So that puts us just barely into Dec, right? And then I totally burn out. I'm sick of it all! And it's still three more weeks till the actual day! Stupid, right?

But this year, because our whole celebration of Christmas is centered around Advent, all of a sudden, I find myself paced. Slowed down. Regulated. Wow! A whole new world has opened up to me. Now I have moderation forced upon me! And it is sweet, sweet. I find myself anticipating each new week as we light the next candle, read the next Scripture passage, contemplate a new aspect of Christ's gift to Man. Hope, Peace, Joy, Love. Each week we are adding something to our decorations. The tree is up, the lights are up, but no ornaments, nothing outside the house, no food, some presents are purchased, but none are wrapped. That will come, in time. I can wait. I'm enjoying the journey this year.

We. as a family, are walking slowly toward Bethlehem to Worship Christ, the Newborn King.