Feeling Festive!

The stretch from October to December is my favorite time of year.  I love fall and getting caught up in the excitement of the different holidays.  This fall has been especially fun so far, since the girls are 3 1/2 now and are really starting to understand and participate in all the celebrations.  In the last month, they've been to the state fair, been trick-or-treating, helped daddy celebrate his birthday, and visited with both sets of grandparents....I worry that they're going to start expecting life to just be one big party!

I've been trying to do my version of "school" with them a couple of days a week, which mostly consists of learning a new letter, relating it to a Bible verse and/or story, and doing lots of arts and crafts (it's amazing all the things you can make out of a paper plate).  It's never very official or organized, NEVER looks the way it does on Pinterest or other people's beautiful blogs, and seems to go best when I fly by the seat of my pants, but it works for us.  The days can be a little monotonous if we don't break them up with projects sometimes!

This morning my three little turkeys made some turkeys of their own:

(I got the idea here:  http://happyhomefairy.com/2012/11/05/easy-turkey-craft/ )

I have to confess, I have a very hard time not trying to help (read: do the girls' projects for them) so they look "right."  When I worked in a preschool I was told that it was about the process and not the product, but that just doesn't jive with the way my mind works.  I have loosened up a lot....but still working on it.

After the turkeys we went out in the backyard to find some sticks and branches to make this Thankful Tree!

(I got my inspiration here: http://www.simplyvintagegirl.com/blog/index.php/2010/11/27/the-thankful-tree/)

  I'm excited about the way it turned out.  We each named a couple of things that we're thankful for and I wrote them on "leaves" I cut out of scrapbook paper.  For now it's on the mantel but I've been known to move around decorations (and furniture) quite a bit until I'm totally satisfied with their placement.  There's a chance I need to work on being more easily satisfied....

And even though I've always had an unspoken rule about waiting until after Thanksgiving, I think we might put up our Christmas tree tonight!  I have to admit that in years past, I've sometimes felt it hard to get as excited about Christmas as I'd like to.  There are always so many expectations, which are often unmet, which lead to disappointment.....all of the rushing and spending just leave me feeling empty....and I've wasted a lot of time worrying about what I've felt I "should" be doing to make it into something it was never intended to be.  I can see now that my focus has just been in the wrong place.  But last year I read on a Facebook post about someone who was asked if she was ready for Christmas and answered, "I'm always ready to celebrate Jesus!"  And that has resonated with me ever since.  How could I ever be anything less than completely excited to celebrate Christ??  This year, the Lord has worked in my heart in so many ways; I feel like I've grown so much in my walk with him and he continues to enable me to love him more and more.  Christmas just feels different now.  Instead of dreading it, trying to make it into MY perfect holiday experience (and inevitably failing), I'm fighting to to keep my eyes, mind, and heart focused on our perfect Savior.  We are ready to celebrate HIM!