Christmas is...

Tonight Emma and I were spending time together and I thought we would talk a about Christmas and do a Christmas activity to get in the spirit of it all. I try to plan specific family nights or activities 1-2 nights a week but this week tonight is our only day we will be be home in the evening. Crazy time of year always!!!! It may sound strange to you all that I would set aside specific days for "family nights" when Emma and I are together ALL the time and every night in fact, but I find that it helps really get us focused on doing something special rather than the normal homework, chore, and bedtime crunch. On these nights we get to talk about things, learn about things, write letters, play new games, bake goodies, and enjoy each other. Anyway, I asked Emma to think about some words to finish the sentence Christmas is... Here is what she came up with... singing angels, jolly, fun, Jesus, family, and then she added a few things like decorations. She also came up with this poem all by herself... "Christmas is jolly, Christmas is fun, but the most special thing is spending time with your family and friends." One trait I absolutely love that Emma has always possessed is a passion for life and a great excitement for everything. Even the slightest thing that most children don't care about Emma makes into the best thing that has ever happened. You would think she has found buried treasure half the time for something that you thought was so trivial. If I could only capture a small drop of that passion and bottle it up and sell it the world would be a happier place. So as you can imagine she can't wait for Christmas. We have two countdown chains here at home and after I literally drag her out of bed in the morning the first thing she does is walk to cut a circle off half asleep. Last night for her bedtime story I told her about a little girl that did lots of secret things for all these people and she got so excited that she could hardly contain herself. She wanted to get back up and plan out every secret thing she would do for her people. To finish off tonight we were supposed to make some practice pumpkin breads in festive containers but since I am missing a few ingredients and Emma is not a happy shopper it will have to wait until this weekend. I am glad Emma is here to keep me in the holiday spirit and to help me get in the mood to do Christmassy things. She has such a zest for life and this time of year with everything so hectic it really keeps me going.