~Day 359: The Real Meaning of Christmas...

BrookLynn received a white board and markers from Santa. She is always drawing on a board we have that is a half  board, half cork board. So she as excited to get this. She took it upon herself to write this. She was not prompted. This was a proud mommy moment, and it hits the nail in the head. She wrote: "The real meaning of Christmas is spending time with family and the birth of Jesus Christ."

It is a very special day. I'm glad the kids understand this. We took neighbor gifts around last night, and the kids brought that up a couple times today. They thought that was so fun to give things to other people. I'm glad they thought of that. 

I received a special box from my good friend, Carey. The box is full of items that represent Christmas, and the meanings behind them. After the gifts were all opened, we sat together and remembered why we have Christmas.  We each picked an item and talked about the Savior. We haven't always done this and I wanted this year to be different. It was a great start and I'm grateful for the gift from Carey to help us remember the gift of our Savior's birth. 

These are just a few shots from the morning. The kids had fun I think. They woke up early and came out and checked things out before they woke us up. I was a little annoyed. But they swore they didn't open the gifts. But they still cheated. The goofs. They just couldn't wait. 

I know Nick loves to be in my pictures. He had to take a picture of me taking his picture. He gave me a great gift. A large framed picture of my favorite Gilbert Temple photo he took this year. It is so beautiful, and more vibrant in person and will be displayed proudly in our home.  

We received a couple new games today and some Legos sets. We played the games and invited some neighbor kids to play Legos. It was a fun afternoon. 

I took the advice of the chocolate wrapper. It said to take time for myself. I took a nap. A long one, too. It was nice. And the kids did receive 'coal' from Santa. It was just candy coal. But I think he was trying to send them a message. My brother and I received coal in our stockings one year when we were young. That coal is the only thing I remember from that year. I told the kids this, but I don't think they believed me. They were not very surprised they got the coal. I told them I won't be afraid to tell Santa to bring them real coal next year. I hope they improve their attitudes this year. They really are good kids, but sometimes I forget the good things they do. Maybe I need to change my attitude toward them as well. 

I had to get one last hurrah in for the Christmas music. The 12 Pains of Christmas is one of my favorite Christmas songs. I tortured Nick tonight while I played it one last time on my phone. I also played Christmas music on the piano one last time. I love the music of this time of year.  I'm saying goodbye to it until next year. 

I'm grateful for the birth of my Savior and for the love and company of my family. I truly am blessed in my life.