I am home taking a break from the hospital tonight, and now that I have caught up on the laundry and the dishes, I am catching up on my email and blogging.

Maggie is still in the hospital…she had a rough day today and we are hoping she turns the corner tonight and tomorrow. We’re hoping she’ll get to come home on Sunday.

But tonight I want to write about Christmas and the holidays, and my thoughts on that this year. This year we will be having Ben’s first Christmas with us, as well as Belane’s, which is going to make it all that much more special.

I have been overwhelmed with the thought of the holidays…At first after just getting home from Ethiopia I was so exhausted (emotionally and physically) that I was just not ready for the holidays.

But then we had such a wonderful Thanksgiving and really avoided the holiday stresses and just enjoyed the day with our kids, and that really got me into the holiday mood.

Then Maggie got sick and we have been going through all of that stuff this week, and I have to admit it got me feeling a bit Scroogey again (which is really, really unlike me). But today I started really thinking about it all, and I am excited once more.

This year I have accepted the fact that due to highly limited funds and time, I am not going to have piles of perfectly wrapped presents to send to our family and friends. But I am going to enjoy putting together a few special things we have gotten for our loved ones, and helping the kids with a “Secret Santa” project.

This year I have accepted the fact that I am not going to bake and deliver cookies to half the town, even if lots of people bring us treats. But I am going to enjoy making…and eating...Christmas cookies with the kids. There will be cookie dough and sprinkles and icing and lots of mess…and memories.

This I am going to put the focus on my family…on building holiday traditions and creating memories and cutting out as much of the stress as possible, so we can enjoy the holiday season as much as possible.

I want to sing Christmas songs and watch Christmas movies and decorate our tree and our home. I want to make paper snowflakes and cookies and mail Christmas cards. I want to do it all with Josh and the kids. I want to do the things that my kids will look back and tell their own kids, “When I was little, at Christmas we always…”

I want to hang Christmas lights…not to make our home look perfect for the holiday or to compete with neighbors, but because of the sparkle they make in my kids’ eyes.

I am going to worry less about having everything “perfect”, and spend more time just enjoying the moments.

We will read the scriptures and the story of Jesus’ birth so we can remember the real meaning of the season, and celebrate with that in our hearts.

We will talk about Christmas in Ethiopia, Korea and Vietnam, as well as Kwanza and incorporate aspects of those into our own unique family celebrations.

We will continue with traditions we have done in the past, and start some new ones.

I want to spend time with the people we love, the people who support us and the people who we enjoy being with.

We will focus on love, and family and all of the blessings we have received this year, especially the two who belong to the two new stockings that will be hanging in our house this Christmas Eve.

What better time is there to enjoy a large family with lots of kids, than Christmas??

I truly want to experience the magic of the season, with, and through, my children. And that is something to be excited about.