Doing Christmas

My friend Mary over at Giving Up On Perfect is doing, or did do...this little Carnival, that I am a little late on, but better late than never, right Mary?  (See...I'm giving up on perfect...he he.) So, I love hearing how other people do Christmas. You can read some stories on how other people are giving up on a perfect Christmas here. 

Anyway, I especially like hearing what those with several children do to make it special, and those challenged with doing Christmas on a tight budget do.    I love hearing stories of those families that take the plunge and do something really meaningful, like take the amount of money they would spend, and give it to those in need.  I think that's really brave and humble, and hard.  We aren't one of those families.  We haven't gotten there.  I think it would be really neat to do when the kids are older and could understand better the true meaning of Christmas and what a gift God has given us through Him.  But not yet.

Now that we have 4 children we have to be even more budget conscience than before.  We started a new tradition, and it may change over the years, but for the past 2 years we've given the children 3 presents each.  My thought was...that young children could understand the concept of the 3 wise men giving baby Jesus 3 gifts, so if 3 gifts were good enough for Jesus, than 3 gifts could be good enough for them.  So we give our Children 3 gifts on Christmas morning.  Santa also brings each of them 1 gift. (That's another issue that I won't get into now...)

I love Christmas stockings, don't you?  My mom was the best at finding neat girlie things to put in them.  My husband's family tradition is to put an orange in them...so we do that too.  This year I decided I wanted to revamp the Stocking stuff...because I usually over do it, and probably will again, but I'm trying.  So stockings this year consist of new undies, socks, lip smackers (for the girls), $5 in dollar store items each, candy cane, special small toy--like a hot wheels for Miles, and this year I'm making them each a Christmas Ornament.  I'd like to give them one each year to take when they get married.  I don't think I made it any simpler, did I?

I miss Christmas with my family back home.  They are having our Christmas party tonight with my cousins and Mimi & PopPop. Christmas Eve has become our own time, which I am loving.  Like my family when I was little, we got new PJ's the night before Christmas...we do that for our children and now we get a new movie, this year it will be "UP" and watch it on Christmas Eve together with popcorn and hot cocoa.

Christmas Morning with a house full of young children is well, there's nothing like it!  We open stockings and presents and make a huge mess, and while I miss going up to my parents and having brunch and lazily laying around their house--full of laughter, cheer...now I make brunch for my family and we have more than enough laughter & cheer to go around.  It's different now, and it's not perfect...but it's good.  Still good.