Halloween...then Thanksgiving....then Christmas

Lucy's been working hard at remembering the order these days, as she seems to be old enough to have this sense of exciting anticipation. However her order is usually "Halloween, then Christmas, then Trick or Treat!" Not bad considering I myself usually forget about Thanksgiving and skip right to Christmas. Also not bad considering she thinks every week is her birthday. Every package that comes in the mail she gets soooo excited "Is this for me for my birthday?". On paper it sounds like we've already created a selfish greedy child. But she truly just gets excited about opening boxes (she doesn't even get upset when it's not for her), and having a party. I guess she IS my daughter, eh?!

So we've got the Tigger costume in hand (Lucy's favorite this year) and anticipating the annual Trick or Treating at Daddy's work. We've been delighting in the beautiful colors of the leaves on the trees near our house, and even doing a few leaf hunts on the few days of sunshine we had this week. This is how I try and incorporate Thanksgiving....all year round. I have never enjoyed the actual holiday. It always seemed pointless to me....over-cooking, over eating, over-sleeping, and all while not being very thankful. So, we just pray our Thanksgiving every day, and get on with my complete and utter delight in everything Christmas!! Of course I believe in the nativity, and Jesus is the Reason, and the simplicity and the seriousness that Emmanuel, God with Us, the Impossible became possible on that "night" that He was born. It is the core of my faith every day of the year. So I hope and believe that He doesn't mind that I also delight in the snowmen (as in my giant snow-people collection) and the cookies and the lights and the joy that comes with the popular culture of christmas. I love decorating and having a "sense" of Christmas...not to mention the MUSIC (from Handel's Messiah, to Winnie-the-Pooh's Christmas CD...that Lucy already has mostly memorized!). I love shopping for stocking stuffers in particular, and since I don't believe any child should open a million presents, I have to fulfill my shopping needs by shopping for Giving Trees and such.

I'm excited this year to add to my shopping list some gifts for baby Asa. The sweet baby I fell in love with in September at the New Day Foster Home. I wish I could bring him home for Christmas. I trust that his nannies and caretakers are loving on him with all they have. But I can feel a little bit a part of his life, and pray over the gifts I send that his family will come to him soon!! Just wanted to share the information about their Christmas Wish Lists in case anyone else out there wanted a child to shop for, or had a little extra this year to give. Or just loved Christmas as much as I do.

To end on a cute Lucy story....I had bought a book for her on Amazon and it was sitting on the table. She picked it up and asked, "Is this book for me?" "Yes". "Xie Xie". That's Thank you in chinese! Unprompted...the fact that she said thank you, let alone in Chinese, made me smile all the way down to my core!!