Sometimes it's the first rays of the sun shining on her face. Somtimes it's the raucous sound of laughter and the shuffle of little feet upstairs. Somtimes it's the peaceful realization that everything that the media would espouse as great or neccessary is so much less than the media would have me believe. Traditionally, the holiday season has been rather difficult for me. Even if I wasn't deployed, or in a strange part of the world, I have worked during Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Valentines day way more times than I'd like to admit. The Lord has shown me his grace and mercy through it all and has given me the greatest blessing a man could ever ask for.
Having said all that. I am extremly excited for the chance to be spend the holidays with the family. Christmas carols, lucious food, tossing around the ol' pigskin and snuggling up on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn. I guess it sounds kind of corny, but the later months of the year really are my favorite time of the year. Gratuitous amounts of comfort food, pick up basketball games, the apex of college football.... The chill of the rainy nights are all part of the beauty that comes with late Autumn/early Winter.
Some people think it is cheesy and I'm not saying that they are wrong, but one of my favorite parts of the holiday season is of course Christmas music! I love the festive sound, and the warmth that many of these old songs bring. Being military I think my favorite is "I'll be home for christmas" (Cliche I know) These songs often portray the unstoppable ideas of love and family and that is somthing that endures in our house regardless of the time of year or material possessions. The festive atmosphere, the decorations, the lights, and of course the warmth of true love and sacrifice put a big ol' smile on my face just about every day of the week.
I'd love to take this opportunity to invite you to come inside, take off your coat and shoes, get comfy and share with us your favorite holiday traditions. What are your favorite holiday memories? What are you favorite holiday songs? Enjoy a heaping bowl of comfort and share with us your favorite part of the holidays. I know it's kind of early, but from us to you, A big ol' happy holidays from Ward and June!!!
Her POV
Céad míle fáilte romhat!
Mmmm - favorite Christmas Carol?
This is both my favorite carol, and my favorite version (yes all things Irish - Nollaig shona duit!).
I agree wholeheartedly with Ward. The things that I prize.. having him here with us this holiday. Having the kids run in to tell us Santa has come, and hopping into the bed with us to open stockings. One of our traditions, when they have finally fallen asleep, and all the gifts are under the tree, sneaking into their room and leaving their stockings at the foot of the beds...so they see on opening their eyes that Santa has been there. It's great fun for us, lying in bed, listening to the excited voices exclaiming over bubbles and chapstick, 'fancy pencils', erasers, candy and other little baubles, before they are ready for the main event.
After the whirlwind of paper and excited voices, cuddling with him on the sofa, over a cup of chai, and watching them settle into a rhythm, where they can really begin to appreciate the bounty. Then sharing a late brunch, and relaxing together, putting together some of the things, playing with others, breaking into one of the board games. All of us together...in the same room...this is heaven. This is the thing I have prayed for, and I thank God for blessings given.
What will be my greatest gift this year? To wake to the sound of the boys voices, and to feel Ward's heat at my back, to hear his breathing as he drifts up out of sleep, to feel his arm drape over my body and pull me close, and whisper against my neck - Merry Christmas, little one....Heaven!
I wish all of you your greatest desire come true. I wish you hope, joy, love and abundant blessings.
Nollaig shona duit. Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit. Sláinte chugat agus bail ó Dhia ort
Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Health to you and the blessings of God on you.
I love the holidays....I mean really who doesn't? My boys are all 6 and under, so they still very much believe. Their excitement this time of year is simply contagious. I do lots of baking Christmas cookies with them...all different kinds...lots of icing and sprinkles :) We make "reindeer food" to throw outside to entice those furry creatures to land the sleigh at our house ;) Like you said, it is time just to sit back and relax...and I guess just be. I love doing crafts with the boys also. Last year, that entailed Ryan and the boys traipsing all over the neighborhood for enough pine cones for us to glitter and glue to make a wreath :) And let us not forget...Twas the Night Before Christmas....this is a rule in our house...it has to be read! Anyway, I have rambled on enough....I get a little excited this time of year :)
ReplyDeleteHere is hoping your family has a blessed holiday season. I am so happy you all get to be together...that truly is what this time of year is all about....
~Lucy
Ours are 10 & 7, Lucy and we are staunchly keeping all Santa nay-sayers away from them. I think children don't have magic for long enough anymore, and Ward & I make a conscious decision to keep the world magical for them. We have a couple of great big old bull pines not far from the house that have HUGE pinecones, and we love to make things with them. Cookies has been a thing of mine forever! I love baking, and I was thrilled to find an old-timey Echo cookie press on eBay so the boys could share in that tradition, turning the press and making beautiful cookies!
DeleteWhat's reindoor food? We usually leave carrots next to Santa's cookies, lol.
@ Lucy Lou - Thank you so much! The excitement and joy of the holidays is a wonderous thing is it not?
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you and your famly as well!
Yay! I am excited to see a post about Christmas :D :D I love love love the holidays. My kids are still so little that they don't really 'get' the whole Santa Claus deal, but I'm ok with it for now, as I get such great joy laying everything out for them to come down and find in the morning. There is nothing like Christmas Carols playing while I wrap gifts, put up the tree and then sit, with a cup of Hot Chocolate, snuggled in with Husband watching Charlie Brown or The Grinch. It's a special kind of calm for me, around Christmas. So many get all caught up in the rushing, finding the perfect gifts, being frazzled and running all the time... I don't experience that. I feel way more at peace, this time of year. I don't know why that is. Maybe it's the sense of family, that for us is all the more prominent and important this time of year... While we make a point of our family always being important, it seems to really envelop us at Christmas time. Warm hugs, and laughing, hot cocoa, watching in excitement when someone you love opens their gift from you... Ugh. I wish it could be Christmas all the time LOL
ReplyDeleteI am happy you'll be home safe and sound this year Ward, and will get to experience all the joys that are this time of year with June and your boys. :)
Now I have a serious case of the warm fuzzies. <3 Love it!! :)
Oh, I LOVE the Grinch, HLA, but the original animated one...and the Grinch's heart grew two sizes that day! It's not Christmas without it or Charlie Brown's little tree. We will have peace abounding, having been blessed. But I will be remembering all those who cannot be with their families.
DeleteHisLilAngel - There is an excitement about the holidays, and it is a wonder to spend it with family and to experience the love and joy of being there with the ones you love. Thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteOh yes i dont mind admitting im a big kid at this time of the year, i think my excitement equals the childrens lol, its the element of getting the family together, having fun and eating lots of food..oh i do love the food!
ReplyDeletex
@tori - Smiles, having fun and loving each other is what we do best (immitates saw guy) Oh yes...there will be food!
ReplyDeleteI love making the food! I make enough for 10 armies! And seeing as how Ward and I are both children of the South, pecans abound :-P
DeleteThis is my all time favorite holiday. I come from a very large family. Our celebration includes 35 immediate family members on Christmas Eve. We all arrive at my parents dressed festively.Each of us children bring 2-3 appetizers and maybe a desert or two. We prep the food than make our way down to the family room to exchange gifts including a possible and heartfelt moment of thanks. After we eat we all sit around the tree singing Christmas Carols (sans a few of the teen boys. lol)and maybe watching the youngest children act out the nativity. Most of our kids are getting too old, but they may humor the 2-3 young ones who wish to continue the tradition. Everyone moves from room to room talking and cleaning up as the evening winds down.
ReplyDeleteWhen we return to our house all four of us get a new pair of PJs for Christmas Eve. Then we head out for midnight Mass.
Christmas morning begins another set of traditions.....
God Bless you, Minelle! I am selfish with Christmas. I prefer it to be just Ward and I and the boys. I open the house on Thanksgiving, but Christmas...just for us :)
DeleteChristmas has always been a special holiday for me and I always tried to make it a very magical time for for my boys no matter what was happening in our lives. But Christmas has become so commercial, that I never wanted them to forget in whose honor we celebrated. So one tradition I started when they were very young was a special Birthday cake that was served on Christmas morning along with hot spiced cider. If they woke before we did (and they always did, lol) they were allowed to open their stockings and nothing else. Once we were all up, we sang happy birthday to the baby Jesus, cut the cake and had cake and cider while we opened our gifts. The cake is more like a "coffee cake" with nuts and spices and my gang all love it. Even though my oldest is giving me fits with his current 'beliefs', he still wanted me to send him the recipe for the cake and cider so he can continue the tradition of eating cake and drinking cider while opening gifts, with his daughters.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, I wasn't fond of Christmas because I spent all day in the kitchen with all the woman of the family cooking and then cleaning up. And of course, the 'good china' was used which all had to be carefully hand washed and dried. It was fun to spend time with my mom, aunts and grandmothers but not so fun just working all day. :(
So I started my own Christmas tradition. I do not cook on Christmas day. I prepare a lot of food in the days prior and then Christmas day, it is all put in the oven, in crock pots, and on ice. We have the super sturdy paper plates (if someone really objects, they can use one of my every day plates. LOL) Everyone can arrive (and leave) whenever is convenient for their schedule. It is one big open house/buffet. Eat what you want, when you want, how much you want. They can go back for seconds, thirds, etc. Leave and come back later for more. Yes Ward, there is plenty of food - usually the oven is full, at least 3 crock pots are full and then the table has all of the cold food on ice. And there is usually more waiting in the refrigerator to refill. It made it much easier as my boys grew up and had girlfriends who wanted them to spend time with their families also - no trying to coordinate dinners, etc. Family, friends, my ex in-laws, the boys girlfriends and their families, any of my co-workers who can't make it home for the holidays, etc. It is all about fellowship and all are welcome. Family, friends, fellowship, and food - that is Christmas at my house. :D
Blessings,
Cat
I love that, Cat! When I was little I started singing Happy Birthday, Jesus, before I opened anything, and they thought I was infirm, lol. You have a beautiful tradition, and something we could easily incorporate into our morning.
DeleteI'm the same way with the cooking! I do all kinds of baking leading up to Christmas, and other than that, have things that are simple, since I do have that teeny, tiny bit of Italian (about 1/4 - Grammy came from Sicily) I make a huge lasagne, and some other salads and things, crockpot would be a great idea, maybe we'll do that. Ward just introduced me to crock pots - he's a master :) Same as you, I'd rather spend Christmas WITH them, than cooking.
Thanks for sharing your favorite part of the holidays with us. I'm so happy you'll both get to be together and spend a time with your family.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite tradition? When I was younger, my family would go to a snowy city for New Year's and it was always lots of fun. We'd usually go to the same restaurants and do the same activities each year because we're creatures of habit and it just wasn't "right" if we changed it!
I'm having a bit of difficulty this year because Cael won't be with me for the holidays, but I'm sure I'll enjoy my days off work as well as all the pretty lights and decorations :)
Awww, Riley, I'm sorry you won't get to be with Cael, I understand all too well. I'm here if you need to talk (email above right :) )I love snow at Christmas. It makes it just perfect!
Delete@ Minelle Labraun - Sounds like a beautiful time of sharing and enjoying with family!
ReplyDelete@ Cat - Sounds like you have the feasting down to a science, more time and enjoyment with family is a good thing!
@ Riley - So sorry to hear that it's a little more difficult for you! Hope you enjoy your time off!
Ward not deploying, and your family getting to spend the holidays together makes me so happy for the two of you!! Military life can be incredibly hard on everyone, but it can also be rewarding. I know I am thankful for every holiday Steven is able to be home for.
ReplyDeleteI can't thank you both enough for your service!
May God bless you and your family,
Emma
Thanks so much, Emma. I am so happy. It will be a wonderful Christmas, and is all I could ever ask for :) Hope yours is full of as much joy!
DeleteWard and June - I really enjoyed reading this post. Often times I get overwhelmed and before reading your blog today I was sitting here feeling out of sorts. Your posts reminded me of what is important -family, home, God- and gave me a comforted feeling of "you can do it"! Thanks. I Love you guys ~Liz
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Liz. We're glad you found something positive to take from it :) You can do it, you know that old chestnut - He won't give you more than you can handle, sometimes seems not so, but it really is. And we've got our partners & our friends. If I can do anything, even just listen, email me :)
Delete@ Steven and Emma - We are so very thankful for the opportunity to share love, family and fellowship this holiday season, it is truley exciting.
ReplyDelete@lizfortoday - Thank you so much for reading, we love inspiring people, if we can ever help you out or anwser any questions, don't be afraid to ask!