It's beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas

I have to admit that there have been moments of stress for me during this Christmas season.  I wish it wasn't true.  I wish it was all just sitting by the fire, making Christmas cookies and keeping it simple.  But, I have had moments of wondering how all of the baking and shopping will get done along with all of the other normal responsibilities.  I have had moments of panic worrying that we are spending too much money.  But, this morning I left our house to be gone for awhile checking more things off of my list and I could feel it....Christmas in the air.  Around here everything is covered in a blanket of white.  The stores are full of people rushing around to get their gifts.  The post office had a line almost out the door to get packages shipped.  And, in true Lafayette, Indiana style, almost everywhere you go you might see someone you know....just like I did today.  The stress started to melt and I got that same happy feeling that I remember from childhood.  I hope it stays because my shopping isn't quite done yet and there is plenty of wrapping to do.......but there is also this.....

Kyla holding the snow we brought inside.  The night before we got a fresh snow, so we decided to bring it in and have some fun.

 Digging right in

 And we made snow ice cream....snow mixed with a little sugar and Christmas sprinkles....a great treat.

 Yum yum....

 Ashlyn going in for a feel....as soon as she touched it she tried to get it off of her hands.  I think the cold was a little shocking!

 Kyla offering her a bite....

 ......and this was the reaction.  Hmmmm....I don't think she loved it.

There is also more baking.  And, it is made even better with my little helper.

 Kyla unwrapping Hershey's kisses for the peanut butter blossoms we were making.  She kept telling me that she just really wanted to eat the kisses....I told her I felt the exact same way but that we had to save them for the cookies. She had already had one earlier, but said that her tummy said she really wanted another one.  Again, I totally understood.

 Rolling the dough in sugar.  Great helper.

And, the best stress reliever for me is our family being together.  We had that today and loved every minute.  We decided to go look at Christmas lights tonight and on the way there Troy was telling me how much he loves preaching at Christmas and that even though the scripture passages that are part of the Christmas story are the same, that God always reveals new things to him.  We talked about how great the word of God is that way and at the end our closing statement was, "God is awesome."  Goodbye, Christmas stress....hello, things that really matter.  And, hello Christmas lights....

Pure happiness as she takes it all in

 Ashlyn taking in all of the lights....and chewing on her sleeve, which is a regular occurrence these days.  Waiting for some new teeth to come in. 

 The lights that welcomed us.  I love it.

And on another happy note, this is what I see when I look out the window over our sink in the kitchen....makes this snow loving girl really happy.

 Yes, there has been stress.  But, there has been lots of joy and love, too.  Joy and love win.  Every time.