It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Obnoxious is the only word that could possibly describe me when it comes to Christmas. Oh yes, I'm one of those lunatics that starts listening to Christmas music when Thanksgiving hasn't even made its appearance. There's no doubt that I love Thanksgiving but there's not exactly a bounty of Thanksgiving songs out there on the radio.

My week off at Thanksgiving had me feeling like I was on speed. I was doing my best impression of the Tasmanian Devil. It was exhilarating getting so much accomplished with scrapbooking, finishing the playground, and painting. But decorating for Christmas takes a new level of energy. I'm so excited when I open the first box and then about half-way through it, I think to myself that it's entirely way too much work when we're usually the only ones that see it.

The best part was that Nolan really got into decorating the tree this year. Who cares if he hasn't exactly gotten down spacing out the ornaments and he puts them all on the same branch. I just love how when I unwrapped an ornament that I would hear a squeal followed by, "Oh, I remember that ornament! That one is my favorite!" I had this mom moment where I thought, "Oh my goodness, we're really making memories!"

Nolan actually stayed interested in decorating the tree at least 30 minutes. That's some good stamina for a 5 year old!

 Campbell was interested too. His attention span? Probably 3 minutes...tops.

Stockings were hung by the chimney with care. Target oh Target, why did you stop carrying these stockings? I'm still holding onto to hope that they'll go retro and start selling them again so we can get Campbell a matching one.

 

You remember so much about Christmas as a child. I wish to instill that same magic, that same love for all things good this time of year in my children. It's a lot of pressure!

So in the midst dealing with tangled lights, styrofoam, and sweat, my thoughts of "Why try?" are quickly answered when I see my childrens' faces. My 5 year old's face that already remembers ornaments from the year before, and I see my toddlers eyes light up in perfect synchronization when I turn on the Christmas tree lights. I look at their face and I simply say...THAT'S why.