Christmastime is one of my favorite times of the year in case you hadn't noticed yet. It's a really good excuse to add a bit of sparkle and dazzle to each room in the house.
And a time when brightly colored ornaments are liberally placed in just about any fashion and as many ways as your little heart desires all around the house.
We spruce up the garden with plants that say Christmas without a word being spoken.
And we carry on traditions with our littlest ones that we practiced with their very own parents each year as they were growing up. Geesh, that seems like only a few short years ago.
The older ones help the younger ones and can't wait for the day when they come to Mimi's and Papa's to paint their Christmas wrapping paper. When they see their very own artwork under the tree on Christmas day they know the gift inside is for them.
Ribbons, orbs, berries, feathers, lights, all bedeck the lovely branches as the fresh evergreen scent fills our home with Christmas.
It is the time for family to be together even more often than usual. And the time to remind ourselves how blessed we are.
It is time for baking and shopping and coffee with friends.
With all the sparkle and fuss and the hustle-bustle that accompanies this time of year we are ever mindful of the real reason we have anything at all to celebrate.
The child-friendly nativity is placed low for little hands to arrange and re-arrange as we tell the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus, our Savior.
Christmastime is for 'making the most of our time together' as we view the world through the eyes of the children that light up our world each day.
In utter wonderment of lights and decorations and gifts and cookies and art projects and songs and jingle bells and joy and love and peace in our hearts... we love this time of year.
"Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive."
Robert Lynd (1892-1970), American sociologist.
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Thank you for joining with me as we celebrated the 12 days of Christmas in a Florida Garden. Tomorrow we announce the winner of the book give-away.
