30 Days of Thanks- Day 27: Decorating the Tree

  "Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas."  ~Calvin Coolidge

Hello again my bloggy friends! I have fallen behind, again, on my posts. Please pray for me. I need it in this area. Consistency has always been a big problem for me. I am consistent in some areas, but in others, well, I stink.

For Day 27 of my 30 Days of Thanks, I am thankful for the time spent with my daughters decorating our Christmas tree each year. We have been doing that together since they were very little. It's a tradition that has been passed on from when I was a child and used to do the same thing with my mom.

I remember how me, my mom, and sometimes my little brother, would go to a local Christmas Tree Farm called O'neal's every year to pick out our tree. He had the best trees there. After we walked around looking for just the perfect one for us, we would get Mr. O'neal to cut it down and load it in the trunk. We would take our perfect little tree home and get it all set up in the stand, and then came the best part, decorating it. We would turn on the Christmas music, which always consisted of my mom's Christmas records. You don't hear that word much anymore; records. I can still hear those same songs today and all those wonderful memories come flooding back.

Here are some of the songs we used to listen to while decorating the tree: Elvis Presley- Blue Christmas, Here Comes Santa Clause, I'll Be Home For Christmas....Andy Williams- White Christmas, The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire), It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.....and of course it wouldn't be complete without Burl Ives singing, Holly Jolly Christmas. Those songs are classics, but they never get old to me. It's funny, but my girls love some of those same Christmas songs that I used to love listening to at this time of the year.

My husband always says my tree looks the same every year. Well, that could be because I put the same ornaments on it every year. Most of the ornaments we have hold sentimental value for me. Some are ones the girls made when they were little, some were given to me as gifts by people I love, some I made, and some are the girls favorites that have to be on the tree each year.

I cherish these times with my girls because I don't know how much longer I will have them here with me at home. Brittany is twenty and Taylor is seventeen. I get choked up and teary-eyed just thinking about the day when they leave home to start their own family. What in the world will I do then? You should probably start praying for me now because I really don't know how I am going to deal with the empty-nest thing when it happens.

What are some Christmas traditions you have for your family? Do you have special events and things you do each year? Cherish those special times with your loved ones my friends. Hold them close to your heart and take every opportunity to tell them you love them. Okay, I really need to get on with the next post since I'm sitting here crying like a baby now.

Until next time my friends, be blessed!

"Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas." ~Dale Evans 

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." ~ Norman Vincent Peale