I'm just going to throw it out there. I'm stupid excited about Christmas this year. And it's not that I don't always love Christmas, but something about this year seems a little different. Maybe it's that our two-year-old, Jack, is finally excited this year. I mean, every time he walks into the house in the evenings to find the tree, already lit by timer, he gasps as if he just saw the tree lighting in New York City. Every time. Or it could be that we've managed to not be so overly booked up with things to do this year that we can actually enjoy what we have chosen to take part in. Don't get me wrong, we're busy, but we're not too busy. Or maybe it's that my relationship with God is that much stronger this year, and Christmastime, more than ever, seems like such a special time. The beginning of a season so amazing—so meaningful.
But whatever it is, it's got me wanting to live in a perpetual state of Christmasness. (Is that a word? I'm thinking, no.) I would like nothing more than to have everything I eat taste like chocolate and peppermint, hear Christmas music everywhere I go, and have to be bundled up from head to toe because of the cold. I am in a constant state of adoration for twinkling lights, road side tree lots and anything, anything that bears the image of certain leg lamp that will forever be a part of my family's Christmas Eve. My dream life—and where I might go in my daydreams at long stoplights—is a world not unlike Love Actually, and there is not one Claymation movie that I have not, nor do not want to see. Again. Like, now.
Rachel recently started off the Christmas season for Caffeine & Concealer by posting her must-haves for Christmas. So, I thought I'd share mine as well. Here are my top three decoration must-haves…
No Christmas in our house would be complete without our favorite ornaments on a real tree. I'm sure you fake tree people have your reasons for doing what you do. And I'm sure they are valid. But here we do real. Real smell, real sap, real needles every-stinking-where. Yeah, it's a mess. Yeah, last year's tree never drank any water and was probably a huge fire hazard by the end of the first week we had it. And yeah, you pay for a new one. Every. Year. But I would not have it any other way. Because there is something so amazing about walking through trees, smelling that smell, and finding the perfect one. Or not so perfect. But ours.
My stocking? From Target, circa 2010. Jack's stocking? From Target, circa 2011. Steven's stocking? It's the huge one on the end. It came from his mom's house, circa 1990-something. That's the best. Something passed down, year to year, from childhood home to grown up house. It's a sweet reminder of Christmases past. And a bear to load. That thing stretches for days! So I generally stuff paper in the bottom. Shhh, don't tell.
It would not be Christmas in our house without our Nativity scene. This is why we celebrate. This is why we have a Christmas. We love Santa. We dance around to songs about elves, and watch movies about a furry Grinch and reindeer that fly. But we worship and praise what the Lord created. We cherish what He did for us that Christmas so long ago. When He sent His son. And this is our reminder. Santa is great. But our God is the reason for it all.
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