There's an Elf in the House

If you've been around here long, you know that my baby is nearly grown.  Now a senior, he'll be 18 at the first of the year and soon out of the nest.  This momma bird is not quite ready to let her guy fly so she sometimes clings on with both feathers.  Especially when it comes to the lasts of his childhood.

As this Christmas is his final one as a kid, I decided to do something special to celebrate it, with a little help from an elf.

I've known for a few weeks I wanted to bring in an elf to help us count down the days to Christmas.  Somehow it is a tradition we never began, maybe because Noah was older when they came out.  And while most who do this have younger kids, I thought it might bring some extra joy for my towering teen.

However, when I noticed the price tag of Santa's tiny helper, I almost ended up the naughty list for the choice words that wanted to escape my mouth!  Yikes, I can stuff a few stockings with that kind of dough.  But, after a few searches, I was able to find a much more frugal - and in my opinion, cuter option.

Introducing...Blitz!

I can't wait to share with you all the funny ways he'll be surprising Noah this season.  And I'm excited to add this to our family's Christmas memories.

Here's the letter he brought this morning.

What are some of your treasured traditions for the holidays?

Thanksgiving JOY

Christmas seems to start earlier every year.  While stores are focused on sales and quick to replace pumpkins with pine trees, people also appear to be yearning for the season a little sooner.  Maybe because Christmas is a favorite holiday of many, but maybe also because people need more joy.

On the road, the hodgepodge of the holidays hits you with each passing mile.  Ghosts, pumpkins, harvest wreaths, inflattable Santas and giant penguins are scattered from house to house.

Thanksgiving, a celebration of gratitude for our blessings, has nearly been replaced by the countdown to the ultimate shopping day.  Families no longer linger over pie and coffee but are out the door and off to the mall, while the dishes soak.

When I was a little girl, the wait for Christmas seemed unending.  Now that I'm older, time passes much more quickly.  One can sit and almost watch it slip away.  No matter how much you will it to slow, there is no stopping the ticking of the clock or ending of another day.

It's already the middle of November.  

The busyness of the holidays are among us and, before you know it, another year will be gone. 

Choosing to pause in gratitude is how I welcome the season.  Focusing on thanksgiving each day keeps me from getting swept up in the chaos that can become christmas.

Recognizing my blessings is the best tradition I can think of to celebrate the birth of my Savior.

Because, to me, Thanksgiving isn't just a day - not even just a month -but something I hope to encompass every day of the year.

Gratitude = JOY 

In the search for the perfect season, slowing down in Thanksgiving might just be the unexpected gift people are looking for - and one that can never be found in the store.

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for JOY to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

    come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his[a];

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with Thanksgiving

    and his courts with praise;

    give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

    his faithfulness continues through all generations.