Christmas Cheer!

Last night I had my holiday concert and now I'm really in the Christmas spirit!  I look forward to playing this concert every year - everyone is always so cheerful and festive!  Peanut even made his stage debut - on the jingle bells!  One of the best parts of the concert is that we all (audience members included) bring a gift to donate to the Ronald McDonald house. :)


I love Christmas so much - for me it truly is the most wonderful time of the year!  Once Halloween hits I am itching to put up my tree and begin wrapping my presents (which I have been meticulously selecting all year long!).

My husband teases me because my closet is disorganized, but my ornaments and Christmas decorations are always meticulously packed and put away every year!

I think I love Christmas so much because all my happiest childhood memories revolve around Christmas.  I have a huge family and it was the one time of year we all got to see each other.  I also loved the fact that no matter what change in my life, our traditions stayed the same.  Every year I could always count on certain things to occur and I found comfort in that.  My mom always had the decorations packed neatly in storage containers and I always loved how each one had it's specific home each year.  My dad and I were in charge of putting up the tree and then we would all put up our ornaments (we all had our own box - I now have over 200!!).  My sister Katie loves to bake and she and my mom would always bake huge amounts of cookies - so delicious!

Then there is our Christmas eve tradition - my sisters and I would open the gifts we got for each other and then put on crazy pj's and have a sleepover!  On Christmas morning, we had to wait upstairs until my mom took our picture on the stairs.  My sister Stacey always has the craziest outfits!

Now?  Well, we still all go to my parents house and wear crazy pj's and have a sleepover (hubby and son included - although we sleep in  a different room now!), but now I am adding my own family traditions.  Having Peanut help me wrap his family's gifts - which next year he will help me make, (although this year he tried to eat the paper and bat the ribbon like a cat :p) watching Frosty the Snowman, playing in our Christmas concert, going to our town's tree lighting while drinking apple cider and taking Peanut to see Santa Claus!

I know it may seem silly, but I find that it's all these little things that make me happy!  I am so grateful for my family and this time of year makes me realize more than ever how lucky I am to have all of them in my life.