I’ll be the first to admit it.

This year I’ve been a bit of a Grinch.  Or Scrooge.  Or Nicholas Cage in that movie where he sees how his life could have gone if he’d made different choices.  (what’s the name of that one?)

It’s not money, though, that I’m stingy with. (although, I’m not handing it out by the bucketful, that’s for sure.)

It’s time.  My time.  My time with my family.

Christmas seems to have become even less about presents and more about commitments.  Go here.  Be there.  Show up for this.  Volunteer for that.  Oh, and could you make some cookies while you’re at it?

It’s tough.  Tough to feel cheerful and spirited when I’m exhausted and overwhelmed.  Tough to be thankful when I wish we were just at home on the couch listening to the girls push the button on the singing “Jingle Bells” book a zillion times.

Even today, when I have a free day home thanks to icy conditions, I’m left feeling as though I haven’t done enough.  Played enough, rested enough, cleaned enough, bought enough.  I certainly yelled enough.

Yep, got that one covered. 

You see, unfortunately, sometimes Christmas brings out the worst in me.  The Grinch, the Scrooge, the…whatever his name was.

I get too caught up in the perfection of the tree, the house, the gifts, the baked goods.  I want it to be special and magical and unforgettable.

I realized on Sunday morning when I was reading a devotion in my Bible instead of paying attention to the Sunday School lesson, that the person I really am right now is Martha.

The workaholic.  The perfectionist.  The demanding one. 

Help me prepare for you.  Me.  How selfish it truly is.

Martha almost missed the message because she was too busy preparing for it’s arrival.  I don’t want to miss the most special moments because I’m too busy getting ready to make them wonderful and not still enough to cherish them.

Actually, today was more like the third or fourth snow for 2010, but it was the first snow for this season, and it came before Christmas, an unprecedented event around here.

School has been cancelled, we have milk and bread, and I’m about to settle on the couch with a half dozen baskets of laundry and Harry Potter.  Nothing like snow to help one prioritize.

What I noticed most about this snowfall is how much my girls have grown.  The coat Belle wore in January is now packed away for Amelia and Madelynne’s jacket is noticeably shorter (and dirtier because she rolls around on the playground at school). 

Enjoy the pics of our little snowfall.  We anticipate many more to come!

It’s sticking…sort of.  I should take a pic of the deck now; it’s covered!

Oooh…flakes.

Amelia is less than ecstatic, but at least she’s warm.

Belle trying to see how close she can get to the road before I middle name her.

Madelynne can’t keep her hat out of her eyes.

Should’ve turned on the Christmas lights; then it would look like a card.  Maybe.

Poor Amelia.  She’s not sure if this is a good idea.

January 2010…more snow, less height.

Well, it’s December 5th.  I have a tree with lights, “DecemBear” (a calendar from Joshua’s childhood), and a fake poinsettia.  Which brings me to my first tip for focusing on the holiness of the season and not the holiday: SIMPLIFY.

I’m working on it.  We’re going to try to simplify this year.  Fewer decorations translates into fewer times I have to say, “No, Amelia,” and it also gives us the chance to enjoy our new living room set up.  Since the point of that was to gain space, I’m not too interested in immediately cluttering it up with lots of decorations.  Especially since I haven’t even figured out what it’s really going to look like on a regular basis.

So, this year our decorations will include the tree…and it may get ornaments this week.  We’ll see.  Time is not something that multiplies with the joys of this season.

And the manger scene we’ll set up as soon as I find it in one of the many boxes currently residing in my bedroom.  I have the Willow Tree Nativity set and I love it for it’s simplicity.

We’ll definitely hang the stockings because the girls have been begging since Thanksgiving to hang stockings.  We had (and by that I mean I wanted) to order new ones so that the girls would all coordinate.  See why I’m trying to simplify?  I over analyze this decor stuff way too much.

And beyond that?  Well, the only items I’m really keen on are the Christmas cards I expect to find filling my mailbox soon.  I’ve got a post coming in the next few days on what my plans are for all those…