Twas the Night Before Christmas....

Being away from family on Christmas has always been difficult for me. I've never really been a fan. But this year was different.

We sat at the Christmas Eve service, all four of us together. We listened to the Christmas story, sang carols, and cuddled up close to each other. Tim and I just sat there, a boy on each lap, looking deeply into each other's eyes and taking in the moment. We watched, lovingly, as our boys held hands and exchanged smiles and then looked up at us with adoration. All was calm, all was bright.

I will remember this Christmas Eve for the rest of my life. Because this was the Christmas that I realized I'm not away from my family on Christmas. I am surrounded by them.

Crafty Christmas

If you're like me, you love getting Holiday Greeting cards. I love hearing about my friends and seeing pictures of their beautiful families. But by the end of the holiday season, my house is cluttered with them.

So I came up with a solution to de-clutter my house while being able to enjoy all the great greeting cards I got. I took some holiday ribbon, and taped each card to it and made a long string of cards. Then I hung it on my wall. It looks very festive and it feels like I am surrounded by family and friends!

Speaking of Holiday Greeting cards, this year I sent out a LOT of cards, but I still found myself stuck with a bunch of them. So I came up with an idea. I decided to make a family Christmas ornament with our leftover Christmas cards. First I created a frame out of cardstock paper. Then I decopaged it to thick cardboard. Then I cut out our picture out of 2 of our christmas cards and stuck them to the frame. I added some snowflake cutouts and a matching festive ribbon and BINGO- the Warkentin family 2009 Christmas ornament. I am planning on adding 2009 to it when I take it off the tree this year.
I decided that I am going to do it every year with leftover Christmas cards so that one day, when the kids are grown, I can have a tree of nothing but these ornaments so that I can look back on the legacy of our family. I love it.

Naughty List Nominee

Dear California Department of Motor Vehicles:

It has been 6 weeks since I have sent in my application for a new Driver's License. I can't buy alcohol, or cold medicine, or even spray paint. I'm not sure why I would want spray paint, but hey I might someday.

I realize that with budget cuts and fulough days that perhaps you might be a bit backed up. But 6 weeks? Come on people.

Therefor it is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that I have contacted Santa and you are officially on the naughty list this year. And if I don't receive my driver's license by the new year, you are going to be on the 2010 list as well! So get those little DMV elves crackin' people... you only have 2 weeks left!

Actual Erin Thoughts - December 10th 2009

*Christmas baking intimidates me, and I will only try it if someone does it with me.

* I find Home Alone to be the movie I quote most throughout the year. So next time I randomly come up to you and say, "Keep the change you filthy animal" you will know what I am referring to.

*Whenever I think of a turtledove I always envision a tortiose with wings.

*I love eggnog, but I have no idea why anyone would put rum in it. It seems like it would ruin a perfectly good cup of eggnog.

*Sometimes I wonder if Jesus really was 2 years old when the wisemen came. Because I'm pretty sure if he was he would have thrown that myrrh on the floor and then ran away from those big crazy men with scary beards. At least that's what my 2-year-old would do.

*I wish I had Buddy the Elf's metabolism. Putting syrup on everything sounds fabulous.

*I don't watch Christmas in Rockerfeller Center anymore because Jane Krakowski hosts it, and I can't stand that lady.

*The worst White Elephant gift I received was a half-used tube of foot fungus cream.

*Even though Kenny G is lame, it just isn't Christmas until I've heard his album.

*When I was a kid singing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen I used to sing the line: "In Bethlehem in jewelry this blessed angel came."
And I wondered if Jesus could afford to be born with jewelry on then how come he couldn't find a place to stay?

Christmas Movies? Bah humbug

I was browsing through Christmas movies the other day and came to an interesting conclusion about them. Most Christmas movies have to do with a father (or mother) who has become so consumed with work that they have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. Mostly, it means they ignore their kids and neglect their wife.

Usually the movie starts out with the dad making a promise he doesn't keep, or worrying about the "big meeting" he just has to do well in. Then there is usually an adorable, heartbroken kid who spends half the movie pouting and saying something like "but daddy, you promised."

Of course, the end of these movies always end on Christmas day with dad hugging the kids and mom looking on thoughtfully at her now attentive husband. I find myself morbidly curious what the day after Christmas looks like at their house. As they put away the decorations, and nuke the leftover turkey has the Christmas euphoria worn off? Has dad really turned over a new leaf or does just he wake up with a wicked Christmas hangover and a briefcase full of work that has to be done?

Is it really possible that there are so many neglectful parents that there is literally a Christmas movie stereotype about them? I find it hard to believe. I also am wildly curious what it is about Christmas that creates the need for change. Is it really that they need to find the true meaning of Christmas, or that they just need to make their family a priority?

I mean, I'm all for Christmas movies but I am looking for something more than just a recycled Dicken's Christmas Carol premise.