Time and some random nonsense

The older I get the quicker the time seems to be going by.  I see the girls growing up right before my eyes and want the time to go a bit slower so we can make the most of these years.  I truly feel like these past few years with the girls have been the best of my life and I think there is something magical about seeing the girls grow up and come into their own a bit {really, they are still only 5 and 4 so plenty of time to come into their own}.  Each day I feel a bit of magic.

And I also feel some of the not so magic.  You see, there are the pesky loads of laundry, never ending housework, grocery store runs, cooking, etc.  That stuff is not so magical but still necessary.  I get it done but my house is never in perfect order.  If you stop over - even announced - it's likely that many things will be out of place and there will be dog hair all around.  It's just the way we roll around here and I won't apologize for it at all.  I vacuum every night but our beloved dog still seems to have more hair to spread around the next day and the next day and the next day and we just don't really notice it around this house anymore.  Each night I pick up all our clutter and the next day it is back again.  This is sooooo not a Martha Stewart picture-perfect house.  I've learned to let go of a lot of things now that I'm a mother.  My old house was usually 99% tidy before husband and kids, but it never felt magical.  Our life these days feels magical and that magic includes a well lived in house!

The other day I was listening to a tv show - while completing some non-magical tasks such as unloading the dishwasher or peeling potatoes - and they were saying how it's awful that some people don't even sign their own Christmas cards letting the company that makes them sign them instead.  There is a lot of that type of messaging out there these days.  Trying to make people live up to an ideal.  And I just think this type of messaging is utter nonsense!  Not to mention that it was stated by people who do not have any little kids at home.

Many days I fall into bed utterly exhausted with a back that feels like it worked more than it was meant to work (for all the silly people who ask my how my back doesn't hurt after moving Emma around all day, it does!) but there is always a smile on my face.  Because no matter the season, no matter how busy the day was, I took time to share some special moments with my family.  To do that I sometimes take the "easy way out" -  including sending out cards with carefully selected photos (taken by me) that was pre-signed by a computer and the envelopes pre-addressed.  I didn't include our typical yearly update letter and instead added a sticker to the envelope telling people about this blog so they can get their update here.  I'm totally fine with this short-cut and have no problem with it at all!

Let's stop listening to the wild media messages and reclaim the magic of the season.   Spend time with our family, let our houses be a bit messy, make crafts, read Christmas books, take a drive around town to look at all the lights, go to church to listen to the carolers, visit with others.  This is how I want to spend my time and I want others to do the same.  So, this year if you send us a Christmas card and it is not hand signed with a message to us, I'll be happy to read your card and know you thought of us at Christmas amongst all the other things you had to do including experiencing some holiday magic with your family.



*****And I should now write a disclaimer that Chris thinks I shouldn't watch some shows because they just make me mad.  I think I'll be taking his advice and staying away from such shows for a while.