Christmas in July 2011

Happy Christmas in July!!

While my family doesn't usually celebrate this little pseudo holiday, it seems like the perfect day to blog about last year's actual Christmas celebrations! You see, I was a little off the ball, under the weather, lazy, huge preggo, exhausted, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah last year and didn't exactly get around to blogging about all the wonderful things we actually did and celebrated. Of course I want to include them and share them with our family! So without further ado...7 months is enough ado, right?...here is Christmas 2010!!!

Gingerbread 'Gunk'

Festival of Light 2010

Santee's Helpers: Uncle Chris & Aunt Kelly

Santee's Helpers: Grama

Santee's Helpers: Grammie

Tree Trimming 2010

Ornament Love

Icing and Sprinkles and Mess! Oh My!

Dear Santee and Reindeer Food

Twas the Night Before Christmas 2010

The Magic of Christmas Morning

Click on what topic you want to read and you will be taken to the post. Yay for crossing this off my list! Now onto Jan, Feb, March, April, May, and June. :/

I know that just about no one wants to already start talking about Christmas, BUT since it seems like we've borrowed our weather from Satan recenly, I'm very much willing to write about the upcoming season. With any luck we will all be blasted away by super frigid air. I have something planned for this holiday season that I want to share now in case anyone else is looking for ways to teach their children about the real meaning of Christmas.

I've written often about my desire to raise children that find joy in giving and doing for others. You can read a little about my thoughts here. Basically, I'm desperate to find any way possible to not raise spoiled rotten, entitled little brats. I don't think any of us set out to make our children that way, but the reality of the world that we live in is that many, children included have a lot of excess. I don't want to take away childhood from my children. I just want to foster a deep love for giving. I want them to eventually look forward to watching their relatives open up a special package, rather than miss it because they are so focused on themselves. I realize they are 3 and we are a long way from that, but here's my plan for this year.

I read online (somewhere) about a woman who had a different service project type of thing for her children to do each day in December. So one day they'd help at the nursing home, the next they spent time serving meals at a soup kitchen, etc. I don't feel that my girls or my family is in a place to do this every day, but we are going to do to a version this holiday season. I'm starting to plan 4 to 5 mini-projects that we can work on a couple days a week during December. I've decided that making and deliving cookies to the elderly will be one project. I think a group of my mommy friends and our kids are going to go caroling at a nursing home as another project. I'm still deciding the last two, but very excited to involve G & L is the season of giving! Purposeful parenting. We are trying.