Trading Tea for Elephants

The day after Christmas and every room of our house is out of order.  The mess doesn't bother me this time of year.  My home looks like we have just had a crazy party because that is exactly what is going on.  We decorate our home and cook the best food to celebrate this grand event.  We shower our loved ones with gifts, with those who are nice AND those who are naughty.  We sacrifice our time and our money, not because culture demands it but to show love.  Because lavish sacrificial giving to those who do not deserve it is exactly what Christmas is all about. There are so many ways to loose focus this time of year.  Many things claiming to be Christmas but in reality having nothing at all to do with the greatest love story of all time.  Do you know what Christmas is really about?  Have you taken time this holiday season to contemplate the "why" of what you do?  Last night we decorated Gingerbread houses.  We had such a great time together.  Many of these types of c

While my daughter was being formed in the womb of her birth mother, she had a traumatic brain injury.  Well, at least, that is what we think happened.  Every doctor we have seen has told us we will never really know.  I don't like that.  I like to know everything.  I like to pick apart every medical mystery until I arrive at a conclusive answer.  But I am learning to rest in the unknown. She spent the first three years of her life with a gaping hole in the roof of her mouth.  Cleft palate, they call it.  Three years.  I look at my little two year old and try to imagine.  It is difficult to even begin that thought process and going down that trail for much more than a few seconds is too much for my heart.   Then at the age of three, she entered the hospital to have her palate rebuilt.  This is one of her first memories.  She remembers getting up in the middle of the night and leaving for the hospital.  This should not be a child's first memory.  Every professional says that

My daughter came home from school today and informed me that she is now the only child in her class without a Christmas Tree.  I started to feel some mom guilt coming on and then I looked at my watch and realized something.  It is only December 3rd.  There have been some years where the tree enters the day after Thanksgiving but so many more when the tree arrives much later.  I love all that goes into "Tree" day and everything else about this month.  I also know something about myself.  I easily get swept up in the perceived "must do" list and forget to just enjoy what this month is really about in the first place.  I can become crazy mommy trying to force traditions that turn into nightmares.... or I can slow down, let some things go, and actually build some wonderful memories with my family. I thought I would share a few Advent ideas for real families.  And by real families, I mean, laundry mountain - dirty toliet - dusty floor - encrusted kitchen table - don