The Holiday Crash

Well, the holidays have now come to an end. I know many people hate this time of year . . . the hustle & bustle of buying gifts for loved ones while pleasantly humming Yuletide jingles is over, the merriment that inspires us to wave at our neighbors & greet complete strangers with a jovial "Merry Christmas" is past, & the twinkling lights & shiny decorations that we have "oooh"-ed & "aaah"-ed over are being placed back into Tupperware containers & stored in the back of the attic until next year.

I can identify with the sadness -- it seems like months of shopping, wrapping, decorating, & baking were gone in a moment. But then I looked deeper . . .

It was never about the shopping . . . or the wrapping . . . or the decorating . . . or the baking. It was & still is about the birth of our Savior.

As for myself & my family, we had 2 wonderful opportunities to regain our focus this year. The 1st was at our church. Our church observes Advent & our family was asked to light the "Christ candle" at the Christmas Eve service. Now, growing up in a conservative Baptist church, I had never really been familiar with Advent, nor did I have any knowledge about the Advent wreath. So I did some homework, and now I pass my education on to you. The evergreens in the circular pattern represent the immortality of the soul, the eternality of God, & the eternal life Christ offers. Each of the four candles represents 1,000 years, totaling 4,000 years which is the time span from Adam & Eve until Christ. And then I came to the significance of the white Christ candle. And for me, it was an awe-inspiring "lightbulb moment" (to borrow a phrase from Oprah). Christ is the "light of the world" . . . the light that came to a very dark world . . . "long lay the world in sin & error pining." In the past, I have been guilty of sitting through the Christmas Eve service thinking, "I hope she got me the right size sweater" or "I wonder what's in that really big box under the tree" or even "I hope he's not offended when I ask for the receipt." But this year, as the four of us walked down that center aisle with "O Come, All Ye Faithful" being sung by our congregation, I was forced to think about what Christmas truly means to me & what it should mean to all of us. And I came to the realization that the true "joy" of Christmas is something that I carry with me every day -- not just during the holiday season when it is politically correct to celebrate Xmas.

The 2nd opportunity to regain my focus came in the form of my children . . . particularly my two-year-old. She is now at the age where total strangers will approach her in the store & ask her what she wants Santa to bring her this year. Now, for those of you who play out the whole Santa charade . . . more power to you -- have a wonderful time! However, it is important to me that Caleigh knows that Christmas is Jesus' birthday & that her family gives her gifts because they love her & because we are following the example God set for us by giving His most precious gift . . . His Son. I want that to be important to her . . . and in wanting that to be important to her, it became important to me.

On a lighter note . . . our girls had a wonderful Christmas. Jason & I thoroughly enjoyed watching our girls' faces light up with delight as they opened their gifts. Granted, some of our own glee faded as we brought out a fully-wrapped rocking horse with all manner of pomp & circumstance -- you know -- "I wonder what could be in here?" "Wow, this present is really heavy!" And before it even touched the ground, Caleigh very matter-of-factly stated, "It's a horsey." How did she know??

Now Available on eBay!!!

For my faithful customers, loyal family, & loving friends, or maybe those who just stumbled upon this blog (perhaps you typed in "gospel" or "Christmas cookies" or "Target" or "INSANITY" & wound up here) . . . whatever the reason . . . I have news!!! Morgan Marie Designs is now on eBay!!!!!! Here's how it works -- go to eBay, look under the "Jewelry" category, type in "MMD" (for Morgan Marie Designs), & start bidding!!!!

There are only a few items there now, but I will be adding more & more everyday (provided the bidding goes well).

And, while we're on the subject, Morgan Marie Designs will be expanding to include all sorts of gift items . . . book baskets for that avid reader, fleece tie blankets for that new arrival, jar mixes for the unique baker . . . all manner of goodies!!! So stay tuned . . . my spring open house will be the great unveiling!!!!

But for now, here's the link to get you started: www.ebay.com

The Gospel of Santa?

Today at work I found myself driving by an elementary school that was obviously in full holiday swing. The marquee out front announced the politically correct holiday musical "Elves in Musicland." I can't say for sure what the motives were of those who were responsible for approving this play, but I imagine it was an effort to keep from offending anyone. I guess they thought that by erasing the historical baby Jesus from the play and replacing Him with short-statured, pointy-eared mythical creatures that dance around in bell-clad pointed shoes they could keep the musical religiously neutral. Did they?

I guess they did not want to cater to a section of society that believed in a man that came a long time ago to spread love and kindess to a world that had little. He performed miracles for those who believed in him and promised to return shortly to reward his followers. His group call on him to grant their requests as he had promised to fulfill their greatest desires. WAIT A MINUTE !!! Are we talking about Jesus or Santa!?!

It struck me as ironic, as I pondered this thought, that in the name of religious neutrality they would change the focus of Christmas from that of Christ, whose followers say He died and rose again, to that of jolly old Saint Nick whose followers state is still living. I'm glad we took "faith" out of the schools!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Santa-squashing Scrooge. As a former follower of the "bowl full of jelly", I used to leave the cookies and coffee religiously (pun intended). I'm just trying to point out the lengths the world will go to supress the truth.

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man ... They exchanged the truth of God for a lie." (Rom 1:21-23,25)

On a lighter note I would like to state what a wonderful time of year it is. I am writing this after my date with my girls. Tonight Daddy, Caleigh, and Peyton all went shopping for mommy's gifts and stocking stuffers. We ooohed at the ten-feet-tall blow up Santas, Grinches, reindeer, snowmen, polar bears, and Homer Simpsons (your guess is as good as mine). We aaaahed at the blue, green, red, white, blinking, and twinkling lights on every tree, bush, house, fence, and porch. We sang eight rounds of "Jingey Bells" (a remake of the traditional "Jingle Bells" by Caleigh Morgan) and twelve rounds of "Piggey Pudden" (figgy pudding for those not fluent in Caleighnesian). I know we encountered crowded lots, long lines, and cranky people but the funny thing is I don't remember it. I only remember the two pairs of wide blue eyes staring at every shiny decoration. This is what Christmas memories are made of.

Happy Holidays!!!

The holidays are upon us in full force! "How do I know this," you ask? Because I was among the ready-to-be-committed people who braved Target's toy aisles on Saturday night (not to mention the Target parking lot)!! Talk about taking your life into your own hands . . . but far crazier than that were the certifiably INSANE individuals who were lining up outside the store for the new Wii products. That's right, I said OUTSIDE (chilly . . . but if you've been keeping up with my blogs, you know that I fully acknowlege that electronic junkies are a whole different breed). But despite all the hustle & bustle (and pushing & shoving & cursing & swearing & charging & crying), our trip was quite successful. Does anyone else out there have a hard time restraining themselves when it comes to buying for their kids?? Off to the POOR HOUSE!!!

But far better than the shopping & the wrapping was the hour that I spent with Caleigh making Christmas cookies . . . and after 2 days of shopping (& spending) it was a much-needed, quiet break. Daddy was outside, Pey-Pey was sleeping, & "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" was wafting quietly into the kitchen. Granted, if you look closely at our cookies, you will also see a Christmas chicken & a Christmas bunny (????) not to mention the biscuit-cutter cookies that Caleigh insists are pies.

But along with the joy of the holidays, comes the insane busyness of the season. Shopping, family gatherings, wrapping, more family gatherings, church services, and even MORE family gatherings! Trust me, I sympathize. I was even so bold (or should I say NUTS as to add my wedding anniversary to the mayhem -- December 22nd -- Happy Anniversary, Honey). But wherever this blog may find you . . . finished with your shopping, finished with your wrapping, fully decorated, humming "Let It Snow" as you merrily put the last festive sprinkle on those sugar cookies -- OR -- haven't even started shopping, much less wrapped anything, who needs decorations, Bah Humbug!!!! -- a very Merry Christmas to you & yours from me & mine!

Precious!!!

Last night's bathtime was too cute for me to resist! (Yes, I realize that when Caleigh & Peyton bring their boyfriends home, this is a sure-fire way to embarrass them!) It's awesome when your children reach the age that they are old enough to start interacting & enjoying each other. Granted, it doubles your work, but it definitely doubles your joy!!

As Jason & I were getting the girls washed up, toweled up, & off to put on jammies, we reminisced back to the day when we thought we wouldn't be able to have any children -- we longed for the day when we would be drenched from head to toe from an especially exciting bathtime (you know the ones . . . lots of splashing), longed for the day when the house would smell like a mixture of diaper cream & baby powder, longed for the day when Christmas stories were the order of the evening before bedtime songs & bedtime prayers, longed for the days when the rhythmic sound of a child's breathing would be coming over the monitor. Ahh, this is the life!

The Writing on the Wall

Yestereday was a busy day -- we've all had them -- there are bills to be paid, phonecalls to be made, online shopping to be done, & TONS of cleaning for the guests you are expecting tomorrow. And, of course, Caleigh was playing quietly, by herself, like a little angel. She headed up the stairs to her bedroom, & I thought perhaps I should follow, just to make sure that everything was okay -- she was happily playing with her Little People & the dog. So I went back to my work. About 10 minutes later, up the stairs I went again to let her know that it was Rest Time. She looked at me with those big, blue eyes & pleaded, "No Rest Time -- I play wif Wivvy." Okay, I admit, I'm a sucker for her! I told her I would set the timer for Rest Time & back to work I went. After about 10 more minutes, I noticed that things were unusually quiet upstairs . . . perhaps I should go check this out. By the time I crested the stairs, Caleigh was standing there with an open bottle of Peyton's gas relief drops. "Did you eat this??????" I asked in disbelief. "Uh huh . . . I take medcine," was the reply. As I cleaned up the mess & tried to hypothesize as to what could possible happen to her body after taking that much gas relief medicine (granted, the girl won't "fluffer" for a year), that when I saw IT. "IT" would be a long streak of blue pen across Peyton's bedroom wall . . . & that streak led to another streak . . . which led to another streak. And then I noticed the pattern. Caleigh was trying to color in all the polka dots on Peyton's wall!!!!!!!!!! I'm telling you . . . if she wasn't so cute . . . TO THE MOON!!!

The Naughty Step Song

Read on for a funny motherhood moment . . .

I don't know what's going on - maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the terrible two's, maybe it's a full moon - but whatever it is, Caleigh has been spending an unusual amount of time on the Naughty Step. Yes, SuperNanny, we have a Naughty Step. It started with telling Mommy "No", then it was breaking a bulb off the Christmas tree (which she's not supposed to touch . . . I know - how cruel - something shiny & sparkly & right on her level & she's not allowed to touch it, but that's so not the issue), then it was throwing a toy at her sister's face & hitting her right in the nose.

Anyway, last night, we came home from the mall & Caleigh went right to the piano, climbed up onto the bench & started banging away. The funniest part was that the only words that I could make out to this "toddler tune" were NAUGHTY STEP! Apparently it's become such an important part of her life, she wants to sing about it!