Christmas thoughts....

Thinking (for obvious reasons) a lot about Christmas lately -- I know I said it last  year, but I'm going to say it again this year -- we work really hard to make Christmas about the "reason" and not the "stuff".  No one in our house lacks for anything (although they might beg to differ with you) -- if they need something, they get it (and oftentimes more than they need).  So, we try to focus on why we celebrate Christmas.

I shared with you last year what we were doing with our lists, and I want to share again -- lots of people have asked me recently what that was again, so I feel it's worth bringing out again!  When our kids make their lists, we ask them to group them in these four ways:

Something you want
Something you need
Something to wear
---and---
Something to read.

Simple.  They can make lists within the lists, but those are the four categories (of course Abby's list includes a Kindle under 3 of those categories, thinking that might help her cause!).

For a long time, we tried to stick with three gifts (an unwritten rule, just in case!).  It was hard sometimes when the kids were real little, because many of their gifts weren't valued at much.  We do not really try to spend the exact same on each kid (I would go insane) -- but I do try to make sure that if someone has an extraordinary Christmas one year that they do not the next year.

What are your traditions?  I love this time of year -- everyone is so excited!!!

Finally, I found this the other day and think it's perfect:

May you and your family be blessed through this Holiday season!