S..L..O..W the Holiday Hustle

Wow, where did the last 2 months go?!? The holiday season really is one of my favorite times of year but sharing in the traditions and excitement with our two little girls made it the best yet! Brooke was old enough this year to really get into the Christmas spirit and it made it that much more fun to see the holidays through a child's eyes. This time of year can get so busy with holiday parties with family and friends, baking, cooking, shopping, gift wrapping, sending cards, and the list goes on and on! It can be easy to forget to slow down and enjoy the simple moments like a cup of hot cocoa while you watch the snow fall and read a book to your child, one of my favorite moments for this winter so far. :) One of our favorites this year was Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini. It's a cute story about a Moose who is so busy preparing the perfect Christmas that he forgets to bring home a Christmas tree and how he gets creative to ensure his family has a tree. Click here for a read-aloud version on youTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNZxKNzpmjo

I have found that for our family one of the ways to stay grounded during this time of year is to place value on traditions. One of my favorite Christmas traditions for years has been making cut-out cookies with my Mom, and I got to share this special time with my Mom and daughters this year - it was awesome! It was definitely an afternoon of sugar overload, but so much fun!

Since Travis and I got married we have tried to start at least one new tradition each year from cutting down a Christmas tree to going strawberry picking. This year the tradition we started leading up to Thanksgiving was to share one thing each night at dinner that we are thankful for from that day. At first we started with big things like being thankful for one another, our health, our home, and our garden harvest from the past year. But as the days have gone on we have had to get more thoughtful in what we are thankful for each day, like mine from last night was "being thankful for my baby carrier so I could make dinner and snuggle Lily at the same time" and Travis' was "being thankful for a parent of a student in his class who took time to send him an email sharing her daughter's acceptance to her collegiate program". This exercise has really made us more mindful in appreciating both the big and small things in our lives.