Freebie Friday

This song is always in my head during this time of year.

 ( I love the Burl Ives version of the song the best and yes, I know it's actually Saturday. ☺)

Click the banner above to vote for Just B. @Top Mommy Blogs! You can vote once a day.

Life, and Hallmark Movies

Sorry for the recent disappearance act. I head back to work next Monday, and have been trying to get myself geared up for that. It's going to be tough.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job. The only problem is, I love my children more and if I had my choice, I would be a SAHM (stay at home mom).

Alas, having not found a magic money tree, I will continue working and I truly am blessed to be working in a great school, and with wonderful coworkers.

Still, the idea of going back is stressing me out. Unfortunately, one of my favorite coping mechanisms when stressed is avoidance. Sooo, in between playing with Little Man and Baby B, I have been living in the land of Hallmark movies. I love Hallmark movies and right now they are already playing Christmas movies! I know they can be a bit cheesy...and they aren't 'realistic'. Hello! Why do you think I like 'em? Life has been hard lately. Escaping for a time, and seeing a happy story play out in two hours while I shut off my mind to my own life is just what the doctor ordered. Even if real life is not like a Hallmark movie.


 (A little side note: This past summer, I had the opportunity to 'live out' a Hallmark movie. A stranger came up to me at a craft festival and said I was 'perfect, gorgeous...just the kind of woman he was looking for.' Yep. Completely freaked me out. But I'll save that story for another day.)

Another bonus in watching that many Christmas movies is that it is helping to prepare me mentally for Christmas. Normally, Christmas is something that I start planning for very early. I've been pinning Christmas ideas for months.  I adore Christmas carols, all of the decorations, finding the perfect gifts for everyone.
Unfortunately, this year is going to be difficult, celebrating without my dad here with us. I feel sick just thinking about it.

Never the less, Saturday I am going to attempt to decorate our house for Christmas. Little Man loves decorating for Christmas, and this will be Baby B's first Christmas with our family. Plus, I know that once I go back to work I won't have the time to truly enjoy the process of decorating. We've already had a few dustings of snow, and this Christmas season is going to go quickly.

Ready or not, I think it's time to dig out those Nat King Cole Christmas CDs.

Click the banner above to vote for Just B. @Top Mommy Blogs! You can vote once a day.

Wanted: New Traditions

For the past year or so, I have been looking for ways to not only simplify our lives in general, but also to help our family to focus on what really matters (aka, not things with plug ins, over even 'things' in general). The accumulation of stuff is such a nice way to anesthetize ourselves to the ups and downs of life.

But, I don't want that for myself or for my kids.

 I chose to cut non-essentials out of my life while I was working on bringing my children home. Now that Little Man and Baby B are both home, I will be adding some technology back into our lives.

Did you know that we don't have internet at our home? (Shockingly, I blog, but I do not personally have internet access. Thank you family members who let me come and borrow your wireless connection.) My phone is not "smart". In fact, it's barely working these days.

We have a broken plug and play, but no video games. Our TV (which is fat, heavy, and does NOT have HD in its model name) gets one channel.  I've always been prided myself in my ability to go without technology.

However, Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be really hard this year and part of me just wants to start buying 'stuff' to fill the void.  I think the key to surviving it will be in making sure things are kept as simple as possible, surrounding ourselves with family, and starting some new traditions (to add to the old) to help reclaim the season from our grief.

This is where I could use your help. I am looking for new ideas for traditions for our family. Nothing extravagant or with too much prep time needed.

What are some SIMPLE ways you celebrate life, focus on thankfulness, and keep your family centered on what is truly important (particularly during Thanksgiving and Christmas)?

Put your ideas in the comments section, on my FB page, or in a private message.

Thanks for your help.

Click the banner above to vote for Just B. @Top Mommy Blogs! You can vote once a day.

Christmas

The thought of what the first Christmas must have been like takes my breath away. What a gift. This song by Chris Rice really captures the wonder of that moment.

Welcome to Our World

 I love Christmas time. Time with family is so precious. A chance to slow down and re-assess what is really important before the start of the new year. A time, hopefully, to slow down enough to thank God for what we have and prepare to walk with Him into the future.

We have had our prerequisite viewing of The Nativity Story, Elf, The Santa Clause, plus all of those adorable claymation Christmas movies from my childhood. I have been listening to Christmas music since Thanksgiving (a certain seven year old has even started to sing along when I am not in the room!) Yesterday, Little Man reminded me that we hadn't done any of our Christmas cookies-so we spent the morning baking three delightful little numbers (Finnish Spice Cookies for Grandma, Sugar Cookies for the kids, and  Pecan Chocolate Angels for me) then headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas Eve.

We were blessed to have my older brother's family and their new baby with us (one week old, and cuuuuuuuuuute!) but sad that my other three siblings and their families were not able to make it. Thank goodness for the webcam.

 This year our family also celebrated Christmas without one very important member-Baby B. It is surreal to have one child here and one child far away. Although we have never met her yet, we miss Baby B already. The Haiti coordinator from our agency assured me that every child at the orphanage is able to celebrate Christmas, and receive their own gifts.

I am sure they are doing a great job, but I want her home. 

Yesterday. 

So we pray, try to stay busy, and send as many care packages as possible until we can go to meet Baby B.

Treasure your family.

Merry Christmas.

 

Christmas Season....Weeeeeee!

I LOVE getting ready for Christmas! I love making and giving presents, Christmas music, getting together with friends and family, baking yummy things, and decorating for the season.

Ahhhh, tradition!

Lucky for me, Little Man feels the same way about this time of year. Last year he watched the Thanksgiving Day parade on TV for the first time...so he had to do that again this year. "It's a tradition" as he told me very seriously during my stuffing prep.

This year, I have been looking at some books for starting some new traditions at our home. One that is on my must buy list is an old classic by Pearl S. Buck. How I ever missed this one for all these years, I do not know but I'm changing that this Christmas.

From the reviews that I have read about the book, it really helps to cut away the commercialism of Christmas and focuses on the giving aspects (rather than the getting part).

Rob wants to get his father something special for Christmas this year -- something that shows how much he really loves him. But it's Christmas Eve, and he doesn't have much money to spend. What could he possibly get? Suddenly, Rob thinks of the best gift of all...