I honestly can't believe that Christmas is just two short days away!! We are super excited that my parents (aka Grammie and Poppy) are here (arrived at 2am this morning and got up with smiling faces to see their only grandchild....and Josiah was very happy to see them!). I have been baking like crazy. Not really sure why, except the fact that I love to bake and share goodies with friends and family. This week I have made mint chocolate chip cookies, snicker doodles, mint crisps, Christmas sugar cookies, brownies and white chocolate snack mix. I currently have a peppermint pound cake in the oven and will make an apple pie later. Then I will be done. I delivered some treats to neighbors and friends yesterday and today. It is fun for me to share sweets with others!!
Since the Christmas season started our family of three has enjoyed some fun memories. We have driven around to see Christmas lights (which we plan to do again with my parents tonight), gone downtown to walk the River Lights, went to the drive thru Nativity, watched Christmas movies, made Advent crafts, listened to LOTS of Christmas music and done a little shopping. I will have to say that Christmas this year is even more fun. Josiah knows more about it and I love seeing his face light up at the different things he experiences. He still isn't completely a fan of Santa and will only wave from a distance. We aren't pushing it because I don't want to scare our child to death and let's face it Christmas is definitely not all about Santa. Every morning Josiah asks for me to put music on after breakfast and he knows exactly what song he wants to hear. His favorite Christmas song is Jessica Simpson's version of "Let It Snow." The minute it comes on he starts dancing!! It is cute. For me, at Christmas I love to give people baked goods. It is something about the time and energy I put into making some special treats to share. Josiah has really enjoyed baking with me this year as well! He is really at a fun age! I've said before that I am not a huge shopper. We didn't buy much this year (as I am sure a lot of people are in the same boat). With our impending move and the disaster we have on our patio that still needs to be fixed, we tried to keep things simple. We will see how simple my sweet husband kept things since his love language is gift giving. I love that he loves to give to others and sometimes I wish I had the same love language. My love language is quality time and acts of service. I love doing things for people to help them and I enjoy just spending time with others. I am so grateful that Josh and I know each other's love languages!! Yesterday and today I have started to feel bad that I may not have gotten him enough for Christmas or even gotten him the "perfect" gift. I made him his favorite cookies :) It is too late now, because I am not going out today to get anything else. I am more of a worrier about the bank account than he is and don't want to over spend on Christmas gifts. I feel like that can be super easy to do once you start seeing other things that you would want to get someone. I have always kind of felt like I am not a very good gift giver...wish I was better, but glad I married someone who is. We definitely balance each other out!!!! He finds great gifts and then we talk about whether or not we should spend the money on them. This year with him in Pathfinder School I ended up having to do most of the shopping on my own...so the few things we bought I hope people like them!!! Josiah's Santa gifts are an Easel (which I am super excited about because I know he will love it...he has recently really started enjoying coloring and painting so I know it will be fun for him). Maybe it is my inner teacher, but I am hoping we will have short "school" sessions at home with it! We also got him the Mickey Mouse Drum he has been wanting. He saw it one day in Walgreens and that is all he talks about when people ask him what he wants from Santa...luckily it was only $9.99 and the day I went they were buy one toy get one free so I picked out a blue (his favorite color) car for him as well. My parents got him (from Santa) a tool set and a big dump truck which he will absolutely LOVE!! I guess maybe I feel like I never want to spoil him too much on Christmas and have him not be appreciative of what he receives..and also forget what Christmas is truly about. The BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST!!
Anyway, with that said our family is ready for Christmas. No more shopping - just enjoying our time together! I refuse to go out to the stores with the crazy shoppers! We are just enjoying our time at home...tonight we are having Chicken Taco Soup, tomorrow (Christmas Eve) I am making Ham with all of the sides before we go to church for our Christmas Eve service and then dessert afterward (Peppermint Cake, Apple Pie and all of the cookies). On Christmas day, I stick with Josh's family tradition and make Italian. We will have salad, chicken parm, spaghetti, asparagus, green beans and bread. Just writing this makes me feel full. I just that is what the season is...eating yummy food!!!
I am beyond grateful to have my husband home again this year for Christmas - that to me is the best gift!! There are so many soldiers away from their families this year, so please keep the soldiers and family members left at home in your prayers!!! We hope and pray that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!! We sure wish we could be with everyone in our family, but knowing that is impossible, we will just send our love to you all!!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!
