Mariposa Kisses (aka Dianne's Blog)

We picture Christmas in all of its elegance with rich colors and textures. We also assume that our homes will reflect the pristine beauty from the Crate&Barrel or Pier One catalogs. And while I love the delicate ornaments flooding those stores, my tree is 80% loaded with home-made kid ornaments instead. I guess I could decorate two trees, dividing the imperfect from the flawless, but that's so not me. I prefer my kids' artistic sparkles and their excessive use of Elmer's glue.

My life is sloppy, tree and all. As I look around my house, I see my son's Santa hat on my kitchen counter from his school play yesterday. I see an adorable kid-decorated gingerbread house on my kitchen table and a delicate Santa candle out of my kids' reach next to my (not so white) toaster oven.

A few feet away from it lies one of my favorite childhood mugs that crashed to the floor earlier this week from a zealous hot cocoa drinker. I'm still optimistic that my husband can glue it back together. Crowding the fake garland up my stair-rails are fluffy red Santa hats and stockings, not exactly "hung with care." More like, "flung with flair" by my four-year-old.

I love the paper Advent chain that sits next to a pile of school papers and magazines as well. Each day (well, we usually forget and catch up every two or three days) we cut off the next green or red link in anticipation of the last yellow link which will be cut off on Christmas morning.

I could keep it out of sight because it's big and clumsy looking, but why? It makes me remember that we're actually in the Christmas season because we certainly can't tell from this beautiful weather lately. Is it December or July because I'm getting confused (not that I'm complaining, only wishing we could have ditched our school-duties and raced off to the beach instead)? Apparently we are supposed to get some rain later this week, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Christmas magazines cover my two coffee tables and catalogs arrive by the hundreds. I'm not sure I needed five catalogs from the same company within two weeks; maybe I'm just a tree-hugger though. The cute pictures of puppies and bows nestled with flannel bedding sit as "innocent" reminders of my very incomplete Christmas list. At this point, I basically can't order from the catalogs without getting penalized by the $40, 2-day shipping, so what's the point anyways?

We finally knocked out a couple of gifts this past week, but I'm so jealous of those people who are done Christmas shopping by September. Truth be told, isn't that a little bit strange? It's way too organized for me... to be honest. I like to get people gifts that are actually from the season that we're currently in... even if it's like 85 degrees out. My sister can wear the pink scarf I bought her with one of her black tank tops and like it, darn it. :)

I'm still anticipating a cookie-baking day when it cools off again sometime over the next week or so. When we do turn that oven on again, I'm certain we will have plenty of edible creations that look like footballs and clouds instead of angels or Christmas trees. But, as long as they have some yummy frosting, (time to actually get out my favorite red mixer) I'll eat whatever cookie shapes the kids make. And I'll dote on their beauty as well, especially my four-year-old's plethora of princesses and ballet slippers to come.

Remember to chill out, even in this warm weather; enjoy the season no matter what Weather.com says. If friends pop by to share some coffee or some fruitcake, don't freak like a psychotic nut-ball to make your downstairs look perfect. Chances are that theirs doesn't look any better than yours anyways. Let them see what a "real" house looks like. They'll take their shoes off, plop down on your leather couch, and actually relax with you, instead of feeling like they are visiting a museum (you know what I'm talking about).

Take time to read your favorite Christmas stories and to rent those classic holiday DVDs like "Miracle on 34th Street" and "A Christmas Story" as well. You've seen them a hundred times, but you should watch them again tonight... instead of going crazy trying to write up that lengthy Christmas letter. Just do the picture-card instead. It saves time; plus, that's what everyone really wants anyways. As a mom of three kids, I rarely have time to read all of those updates (not that I don't loooooooooove them, of course).

Before you know it, we'll be celebrating New Year's and listing out all of those beloved resolutions... yet again. So, while it's still 2010 and we have a week and a half left until Christmas, order that scrumptious peppermint mocha from Starbucks (oh my gosh... they're so good it's dangerous); and if it stays warm outside, just order it iced instead.

Remember to get lots of whipped cream too. Diets are totally illegal for the whole month of December. Didn't you read the memo at the top of your in-box earlier this morning? Eat a few extra calories now before you get all freaked out starving yourself in January. Tis the season, remember? Don't forget to get a little sloppy and save some of the serious stuff for the new year.

One of our favorite traditions is to watch a kid's movie before bed on Christmas Eve. I can't wait until my kids open up "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Despicable Me." I'm not super pumped about "Barney's A,B,Cs" but my littlest will do back-flips over it. Hopefully she'll fall asleep first, which sounds so mean, huh? Just keeping it real!

Blessings to you and your family. Share some of your favorite Christmas traditions. We'd love to hear from you. :)

Labels: Christmas, family, kids