Dear Reader:

Last Christmas, Marcia sent a box of “fake” snowballs (from New Hampshire) for us poor southerners who rarely see snow or a white Christmas. The grandchildren went wild…as well as the adults…it just made the Christmas Eve gathering!

Four snowballs turned up behind sofa cushions or under the sofas for months after the party…so I decided this year to add on to the fun…not cute like Marcia’s with little faces on them…but still…big and white…and thank goodness soft!

Hopefully, weather permitting, this year… since we are doing a Christmas Eve brunch…following my Christmas Eve story at the regular morning service… the grandchildren can go outside and have the snowball fight in my front yard. Get all that energy out to go home and take a long nap for mom and dad.

I want the grandchildren to remember Christmas Eve at Boo Boo’s as fun, crazy, and messy…just the way Christmas should be. Quinn Caldwell in his Advent Devotional titled, All I Really Want, explains this sentiment quite well when he says:

“I mean this is CHRISTMAS we’re talking about, people! CHRISTMAS! The day that unto us a child was born? The day that made all of heaven sing in wonderment and joy…the day the Creator of the cosmos entered history and changed it forever!!! 

This calls for tinsel…and projects made in first grade with gobs of hardened glue and glitter. It calls for colored lights- big colored lights, ideally with water bubbling in them. It calls for blinking stars, construction paper chains and singing ornaments.

Christmas is not a day for restraint…I’m not saying you have to decorate but if you are going to do anyway…you best make it look like a party. After all it IS a birthday party! Bring out the children’s ornaments. 

When God decided to decorate for Christmas, God hung an enormous star in the heavens, not a string of demure white lights. No doubt the neighbors were appalled, but it sure did draw a crowd. 

So put on some music, loud and start decorating…it is time to party and praise God’s Holy name!

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So until tomorrow…We all know, deep down, that no matter how hard we try…Christmas will be messy…just like life…wonderful life. So instead of dreaming of the perfect soap opera or Hallmark Christmas just start throwing snowballs…the real ones or the southern kind and let Christmas be loud, boisterous, and crazy. Crazy in love with a little baby in a manger!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I found two items left over from past Christmases when my children were little…both by Tommy. It made me stop and remember when…

Remembering the cowboy Christmas from my past with my cousins…I am  the cowgirl in the front with the plaid shirt loading my pistol.

Tomorrow I will take you on a tour of the house…I love decorating for Christmas…and yes I do use white lights and I love things pretty…but I do agree with Caldwell that a pretty house without people, noise, and craziness is a museum…not a home.

The cold is settling in….it is definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas…even little Maggie had to wear her new red Christmas sweater when Vickie and her son (who is visiting) John went for a walk yesterday!

Speaking of crazy Christmases…I found these blinking Christmas tree glasses and thought they would be fun for the grandchildren only to discover when I got them home that they were for adults only….so I decided to keep one to have fun Christmas Eve and gave the other pair to Gin-g to be a hit with her grandchildren.

So when Gin-g stopped by yesterday afternoon she came bearing gifts. I gave her her present and the fun Christmas Tree glasses…kids shouldn’t have all the fun! Thank you Gin-g for all the goodies!

I  called Anne yesterday morning and told her I was making soup and grilled cheese sandwiches…to come on over and eat…which she did and her gifts were from her wonderful talents…including one with “Three Trees”…We both miss Armand Gamache and the Louise Penny detective series. Hurry up Penny and write another book!