'Tis the Season

I love this time of the year. There is such a contagious spirit of love and laughter and giving and family. We set up our decorations the day after Thanksgiving, and have had the wonderful aromas of nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, pomegranate, pine, orange, and other fabulous spices lacing together to create an even cozier atmosphere. The house looks beautiful, and our family is aboundingly giddy with Christmas Spirit. I want to write down my day on Tuesday in hopes of preserving a most fabulous day that, in my mind, was the perfect December day, and I never want to forget it. (I did take some pictures, but I feel as though they do no justice to the memory of the moment, so I am choosing to just write this post. Sorry to those of you who hate written posts with no pictures...I know it's boring, and I am in now way a story teller, but bare with me here...)
Adi got to spend some time with her Aunt Gayle that morning while I caught up on some bookkeeping. She colored and decorated ornaments, and was really pleased with the outcome, and thrilled to have spent some time with one of her most beloved friends. We decided to stick with the ornament theme and later made cinnamon cut-out ornaments. We all got garbed out in our Aprons and mushed and rolled applesauce and cinnamon together until it was ready, and then we rolled some more, all the while basking in the amazing scent that it provided to my home. The girls had a wonderful time cutting them out with Christmas shaped cookie cutters, and then poking the hole for the ribbon to go through with the straw. The snow was softly falling outside, and Christmas music played quietly(and sometimes loudly) in the background, while we merrily sang along. When we finally finished the huge batch we had made, we cleaned up. Gayle had to go home, so we said good-bye to her and then the girls wanted to help wash dishes. Feeling completely overwhelmed with pure happiness surging through me, I let them! We made lots of bubbles and soon it turned into a very fun bubbley event. We smashed it on each others heads, and tickled it on to each others noses, and attempted to launch it through the air at each other. The deep belly laughter and high pitched squeals of excitement were almost more than I could bare...in such a good way! I felt that if my day were to get any better, I might possibly burst.
After cleaning the kitchen Emersyn, exhausted from the day, lay down for a second nap. Being the Angel she always is, she was happy to go down. Having some down time with Adelynn I siezed it to spend a little Mommy/Daughter time together, and of course crafting something is always fun for us. So we decided to make a christmas countdown chain, you know, the kind you did when you were younger too?We had a ball together, and she excitedly tears one(or two) off every morning!
When daddy came home that night the girls were very excited to show him their accomplishments, and he of course lathered them in compliments. After dinner we bathed the girls (which is always a blast for them anyway) and then turned off all the lights in the house except the Christmas ones, and we lit the candles. More playing and giggling insued, and then we read wonderful stories together of Elves and Santa and Reindeer too. We admired pictures of beautifully decorated trees, and snow covered forrests.
The girls went to sleep without a peep, and I tell you, I felt as if I could float away on a cloud that night from being too puffed up with love for my family, and for this special Holiday.