Holiday Time

I love the holidays. I love the way places smell during the holidays. I love people's attitudes during the holidays. I love the parties. Oooooh how I love the parties. I love the memories I can make with my little man during the holidays. I love the food. I love the way Isaiah walks through the house singing Holiday songs and dancing. It's like he can feel it in the air. Watching him approach this holiday season this year made me think to myself...why doesn't he feel like this every day of the year? Why don't I feel like this through out the entire year?

I think it's silly that we put so much effort and time into two months out of the year when we should go about our lives as if every day was a special day and time to share love and laughter. I also think it's rediculous that for Thanksgiving the past three years my family gathered around the table looking through sale papers and planned out their Black Friday shopping list instead of enjoying the company that they had around them....And they wonder why all I did was crack smart ass jokes and napped :) I love them all and I'm not judging by any means but this is exactly what I don't like about the holiday season. It should be about being with those you love the most and making memories with people that you want to remember forever. Not about the gifts. Or the money. Or the great deal you can get on a flat screen that you really don't need in your bedroom. Or Santa Clause...that one makes me gag the most. For crying out loud what's wrong with me telling my child that the reason he has all these new gifts is because his family worked really hard all year round to get him those things NOT because a fat man with a beard decided to fly around the world to deliver gifts to all the children. Is it wrong that I just want him to know the truth. I would like him to know that not everyone is as blessed as he is and that there are indeed kids around the world that will not recieve any food on this day much less brand new toys.

What I am thankful for this holiday season is my family and friends. I know it's what everyone says at this time of the year but this year is different for me. I am looking forward to sharing stories and catching up on the previous year's journeys with friends that are coming in from out of town -Kera, Caleb, Grant, Colin , Brett- a few others that I'm missing. I love getting together with great friends like these because they are the friends that you don't see for a year or so and you only talk to them maybe a couple of times a year but when you get together it's like you've never been apart. I am also blessed with an amazing family, most importantly my son. His little holiday cheer this year has made me realize that I should have a happy and joyful enviroment for him throughout the entire year not just when we are decorating the tree or the house. Funny how one moment in time, like today when he was putting his Snoopy ornament on the tree while singing Jingle Bells, gives you inspiration to live a better life. Funny how a three foot tall version of myself just in a male's body can give me inspiration to live a better life. Most importantly this holiday season I am thankful for contentment. I am thankful for believing in myself. I am thankful for standing up for my own thoughts and beliefs. I am thankful for my dreams and my goals for the following year. I am thankful to be a mother. I am thankful for MYSELF :)