The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, 
when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”  
-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

It is hard for me to put into words the feelings that I have during Christmas time.  They are warm, happy, and comforting feelings that I just want to hold onto and never let go, except to instill them in my children .  I always put up my tree right after Thanksgiving, turn on the Christmas tunes and fill my home with Christmas smells like cinnamon and cloves. We enjoyed a few holiday activities as a family this year such as the "Zoo Lights" at the National Zoo, shopping for each other at the Dollar Tree, and morning devotionals with stories from our Twelve Days of Christmas binder.  The kids also enjoyed some simple traditions like moving the candy cane closer to the 25th on our little advent calendar and watching Mr. Kreuger's Christmas, and our newest tradition, Ellie our Elf on a Shelf.   One Sunday evening I got really adventurous and spontaneously whipped up some gingerbread icing, dug out some leftover "s'more" graham crackers and whatever candy, pretzels, and fruit snacks I had on hand so my kids could make"ginger-bread houses".  The success was the smiles on their faces as they created their master-pieces, however "shanty" they turned out!  My children tend to parrot my every question, so I found myself answering the question multiple times this season: "Mom, what do you want for Christmas?".  My answer was always the same, "A Happy Home with Happy kids!"  Christmas is about enjoying life through the eyes of a child, and that was my goal this season.