It's Christmastime!!

I love, love, love Christmastime! I think I've passed on the excitement to Jackson as well. He asked about the Christmas decorates before Thanksgiving and he was thrilled when it was actually time to dig them out! He has very high hopes in regards to decorations both inside and outside though house. We normall only put up a tree, stockings, and a nativity but if his Christmas excitement keeps up-- then we might have to get a little more festive. But seriously, it makes me happy to see him with so much Christmas spirit!

And let me introduce you to our neighbors... This house lights up the whole block every year. All the previous years, we've oohed and aahhed over the pretty lights. But THIS year, every time we drive by Jackson just says, "See that?! That is exactly what I want our house to look!" Yeah right, kid.

And now that Thanksgiving is officially over, I can share the pics of the kids and Santa from when we visited Bass Pro a few weeks ago. 

We talk a little about Santa, but we haven't ever really focused a lot about him. As we approached Santa at the store, I simply told Jackson to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. Before I know it, Jackson has interrupted another family's photo op to talk about Bumble Bee and Optimus. ;)

There is a lot of discussion in families about believing/not believing in Santa. Derek and I have talked about this and are still figuring out how we want to do things. But one thing is for sure, instead of making Santa a judge of good and bad to threaten good behavior, I want to use Santa to teach about grace. God's grace. This lays the perfect foundation for kids to understand that God's gift of Salvation is not earned, but is a gift that we can choose to accept. So instead of conversations like, "Santa's watching.... You better behave!", I want have conversations like, "That might not have been a good decision, but Santa may still bring you a present anyway because gifts aren't things you earn, they are given because people love you." 

I have a list of things that I want to do over the next month to celebrate my favorite time of year! Some are just fun traditions, but most are about teaching the kids to focus on others! I hope I can make most of them happen. {I know myself too well to think I'll accomplish them all!}The one benefit of having the internet down for a couple of days this week is that I got my Christmas card and newsletter all complete... and it's not even December yet! It's amazing how productive I can be without the distraction of the internet!!