Thoughts on Christmas

Wow, I can harldy believe that Christmas is only 5 short weeks away! Time to haul out the boxes and get decorating!

Yesterday I was able to leave the boys with Dee and get the rest of my shopping completed. It is such a good feeling to be finished the shopping and now I can just concentrate on the gifts that require a bit of handmade love.

I have so many thoughts of Christmas this year. To be so blessed with 2 wonderful little boys fills my heart. To have a husband that is my rock, my best friend and partner in every sense of the word makes me feel so very blessed. I'm not sure why but Christmas brings out those thoughts of appreciation for those in our lives. We should feel that way all year long, not just at Christmas.

This Christmas especially I am missing my Grandpa. I so wish that he could have met my sons. Some days I can still hear his voice, the way that when he said hello it sounded like "yellow". The way that he always cleared his throat. His comfoting arms when he pulled you in for a hug against his soft belly. The talent he had for laying down to "rest his eyes" after a meal and promptly fell sound asleep. "Grandpa cheese" (Velveta) on toast in the mornings with coffee. But most of all I miss the love that radiated from him. There was never a doubt of his feelings for his family.

So many things remind me of Grandpa, and as my dad gets older and is now a grandfather himself, he reminds me of what I saw in my Grandpa Johnson. I know that my boys have as special a Grandpa J as I did...afterall, my dad had a great role model in his dad and inherited his soft heart and comforting presense. This is something to be truly thankful for.

This Christmas, I am going to make sure that those around me know how loved and appreciated they are. Many of my gifts this year are homemade and were chosen with great thought and love for the recipients. I am going to try to get back to the true spirit of Christmas and not let it become so much about the actual gift but the thought that went into it to show our love. I challenge you all to do the same.

Wishing you a blessed and love-filled Christmas season.

XOXO