It's now December 11th and our house doesn't have one Christmas decoration. No not one.
I was thinking about this today and suddenly my heart began to hurt, mostly for James. I am good at a lot of things but one of them is not spending money on anything that we don't "need", and Christmas decorations have unfortunately fallen into this category. I joke with Ryan that I was brought up in the depression era because I am so tight with my spending, which is generally good, but at times like this I see the darker side of this trait.
When I was growing up my Mom always made the house feel homey and full of Christmas, no matter our financial situation. Today my sweet sister is so much like Mom so her house feels warm and cozy. When I look around our home however, it feels a bit cold and empty.
So I feel like I need a little Christmas and I need it now! I want my kids to grow up like I did, in a home full of Christmas and love. With this said I have a challenge for any of you who might be reading this. Let me know of any traditions or ways that you decorate to make the season feel like Christmas to you and your family. Every year I bake cookies for the neighbors, which is something that our kids will one day do with me, but I need some ideas for the home. Please help!
nativity is a must. kids get into all the creatures and people and it is just so easy to talk about jesus with it around.
pictures from previous years' christmas times framed.
we do the same for our neighbors - i bake and buy some festive baggies, and as in the case of having kids, i load up the stroller and they come with me for delivery day. we also hand deliver our christmas cards at that time...which brings me to...
christmas cards! this is the best best best way to not only share jesus with everyone in your life and also a tidbit on your family but also to remember each year what you are thankful for and what the milestones were in your lives. i throw them in a scrapbook (literally throw them, no painful scrapbooking) and now we are on #8! it's so fun to look back and read them and remember what happened each year in our family.
christmas dates. me and jason. me and the girls.
christmas giving. we like to find a unique way each year to give away our service and finances. this year the girls (unknowingly) helped me shop for a college girl for a care package and also a foster girl we support. we then went home and created sweet care packages, looking christmasy and mailed them off. also we do tribute cards for people who don't really want anything for christmas.
i'm leaving you such a long post!!
And to me the cool thing about homemade decorations is that you don't need to stress about them or rush them. They'll come along inevitably and you'll end up with a collection of them over time - especially when your kids get to be school-age!