The true meaning of Christmas - a revised posting

I just read this story and it made me tear up so I had to share it with you.

I was feeling a little put out this morning which stemmed mostly from Marley's reaction to the contents of todays Advent Calendar box. It did not contain a toy or stickers or chocolates but a little note from me saying "Let's bake shortbread today!" I thought this would be a fun activity for the girls and I to do. Something Christmassy. Something to do together. Something traditional - my Mum's shortbread is world famous around here! But she pretty much poo-pooed it and I felt totally deflated. Here I was trying to create memories for my kids! Not add to their already insanely large toy collection. Or add to their already insanely large collection of holiday candy. Sometimes I feel they take their things for granted. They take their family for granted. They take life for granted. I guess they are only 5 and 3 ...

I'm starting to ramble and Greg wants to do his annual Closet Purge so I will finish this off by saying that the story at the beginning of this (what was supposed to be a short) post, was found while I was surfing some of my Scrapbooking sites. I had an epiphany this morning while blog surfing that part of the reason I've gotten so into the scrapbooking world and love to view others work is that I love the idea and the process of saving my families memories. (In a more tangible form than the boxes and boxes of slides currently residing in my brothers basement!) The Advent Calendar I did was one way to create and preserve memories for the girls for now and years to come. And I have been seeing many other ideas that may find their way into our traditions (if I ever get enough time!!) If (God forbid) I were to die when my girls were young like my Mum did, it would be nice to know that they would have my memories of them to look at and cherish.


Wow! I'm totally maudlin now!! Read the story and you'll undersand.

Today I am thankful for ...
... sunshine...
... lazy Sunday mornings ...
... memories.