When we got home from the hospital yesterday, we were greeted by a box of things from my in-laws, and inside were two hand-made cards from my nieces.
This was done by Sophia, an astonishing child of many gifts who tickles me every time I talk to her.
And this was done by Savannah, who has a heart of gold and is a gem of a young lady.
Both girls have shared their art with me in the past and they're both extraordinarily talented. To have received their cards means the world to me.
Which goes to show that it's not the size or expense of the gift that matters at all, but the amount of soul you put into it.
I encourage you to take from Sophia's and Savannah's examples, and do something personal for someone this Christmas. You might touch someone in a very memorable way.
A little tired, I'm writing a quick Christmas post for the day. I brought my wife home from the hospital today. She had a procedure done. Everything's cool, and so my post tonight centers on one thing:
Christmas is about grabbing those you love and wrapping yourself up in the warmth and joy of them and loving them as much as you can right back.
Here's a time-wasting Christmas game for you. It's about decorating a tree and sorting out ornaments. I highly recommend it to PR, who was stalwart in getting the fam a new tree this year. This will help you practice.
While the 3 Kings get most of the credit for bearing gifts and traverse afar, it was the 3 Princesses who did the packing, arranged for the camels, got the map (really King, you're going to rely on a star? What are your plans for the daytime?) and of course, shopped for the baby.
Ain't that the truth. If it was up to the guy, baby Jesus would have received a squirt gun and a lottery ticket purchased from the corner convenience store in the early morning of the blessed day.
Tamara is the most Christmas-ful person I know. I came home one day and our home was tastefully overflowing with wreaths and lights and stockings and the smell of pine. Here's our Christmas tree:
Which is about the happiest Christmas tree that I've ever seen.
I've never really been a holiday person, but a startling transformation took place this year. I think I absorbed Tamara's transcendent joy about the holidays. I'm now excited about Christmas.
I've resolved to browse around the web each day until Christmas and find the happiest, funniest blog posts about Christmas that I can. It's my geeky way of being festive.
So the first post I highlight belongs to my friend, Annette, in her Christmas Q & A. She says, in question #5:
5. When do you put your decorations up? Around Thanksgiving. By "around" I mean at the earliest possible time after Halloween.
The rest of it is just as snappy. She gets the prize for Miss Christmas Congeniality... as you'll see in her answer to question #21.
