Post Christmas Ramble

With Christmas behind us, I feel like I can just sit down now and catch my breath. The last few weeks have been so very full and busy. With all the baking, shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking...whew, I’d be lying if I said I wasn't a bit exhausted.

We had a wonderful Christmas. And for the girls it was magical. Watching their excitement just made my heart swell. As I listened to their conversation on Christmas morning, I heard Bridget telling her younger sister Claire how Santa’s elves had made their shiny new princess castle, and that Santa had come and placed it under our tree and probably played with it a little before he went to the next house on his list. Claire just listened with a look of utter amazement and awe on her face. They believe so strongly in the magic of Christmas, and I so hope that there are many, many years ahead when they still believe; their innocence and excitement is the most precious thing.

I do want to share with you one of my favorite Christmas presents. It was from Bridget to both Steve and I and she brought it home from school on the last day before the Christmas break and placed it quietly under the tree. While we were having our first family Christmas on the 22nd, she brought it to me and said, “Mommy, you can open this now because today is a Christmas celebration, and you can open presents on any Christmas celebration, so go ahead and open it.”

Look what was inside:

Oh my goodness I just love it! There were tears in my eyes when I saw it, and even more so when Bridget told me that she had been working on it at school for a while - rolling the clay into balls, collecting sticks for the arms when she was outside at recess, and painting her snowman with the help of her reading buddy. I put the little guy on the kitchen windowsill and I will treasure him forever.

With the holidays behind me, I need to take a few moments in the next couple days and regroup on the crafting front. I have too many projects on the go and I need to get a handle on them – in other words, finish what I have started before I am lured into starting new ones. Where am I at, what am I working on, what is in this basket stuffed under the table? Should be fun and I will keep you all posted as I work on finishing up these random projects.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that the magic of Christmas filled your home.