Saturdays with family are one of my favorite things, and today was a great day together. I started the day before 8 am, going shopping with a good friend and then treating myself to a nice Christmas shopping lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Cracker Barrel. There is just something about the atmosphere at that place during the Christmas season that brings my heart home. It just reminds me of a down-home, simple approach to the holidays, one that we so often forget it today's busy culture. After I enjoyed my lunch, I came home and we did some picking up around the house. Kennedy and I sorted through some of my old scrapbook stickers and supplies, and she was so thrilled to acquire a huge stack of "new supplies" for her stash. It is so fun that things that I view as "scrapbook rejects" make her totally and entirely overjoyed.
The highlight of the day was our small town Christmas parade. This is our first year of attending, so I would call this a new holiday tradition for our family. OK, to put this parade in the proper perspective, think a bunch of freezing people standing beside the road to watch five parade entries and have a bunch of broken candy canes thrown at them. Seriously, the kids really enjoyed the parade but were disappointed that it wasn't longer. Hayden was very excited to see Santa on the float and to bring a candy cane home to Daddy (Daddy stayed home to clean the living room....what a husband!). It just reminded me of the simple joys that children so purely experience. Things that adults may view as "hokey" or not worth the time, kids can just be so content and excited with. Hmmmm.....along with Kennedy's joy over the old stickers that I gave her, I sense a theme for the day developing. Stop and take a look at life through the kids' eyes. Try to feel the joy that they feel for the simple things.
Tonight, we opened the second door of the nativity house. Tonight's ornament was one of the wisemen, and Hayden nestled it so carefully in his hand as he walked to the tree and hung it. I picked up an adorable 4-foot tree at Hobby Lobby today (Love, love, LOVE that store!), and I plan to let the kids totally decorate that over the next week. We are going to make some paper chain with some colorful 2-sided scrapbook cardstock, and make some fun ornaments by hand. My sister, Haley, is staying over tonight as she is in town Christmas shopping, so tonight, we took her out to eat at "The Chicken Restaurant." This is a restaurant--actually a remodeled historic hotel in our town--where on Saturdays, all you can order is chicken. Chicken, cole slaw and fries. Can I have a baked potato instead? NO! How about a tossed salad instead of cole slaw? NO! The only choice you get is whether you want white meat, dark meat, or half and half. Makes ordering really quick and uncomplicted! This is especially fitting for my husband, who always complain that I spend too much time looking at the menu and deciding when we go out to eat. Ah, you have to love quirky things about small-town America. Here's to enjoying a chicken dinner with family on the first Saturday in December!
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