Traditions

Charlotte got to move The Bear!

Every year, my parents hung this count-down-to-Christmas (seen above). For the 24 days leading up to Christmas, this little stuffed bear moves around his house "looking for Christmas." You're supposed to read the clue each day and snap The Bear in place. On Christmas Eve, The Bear "finds Christmas" in his living room.

Growing up, my brothers and sister and I FOUGHT and FOUGHT and FOUGHT over whose turn it was to move The Bear. I guess the older 3 were probably pretty over it by the time Chris and I were paying much attention to it, but I remember racing each other down to the family room each morning to "move The Bear," setting super-early alarms to wake up to beat the others to moving The Bear, and I even remember several physical fights over who was supposed to move The Bear that day. My parents eventually wrote out a rotation to end the quarreling.

Today, Charlotte got to move The Bear for the first time! Of course, she needed help snapping him in place, and she was way more interested in how The Bear tasted than the calendar itself, but I am thrilled for her to be a part of this tradition.

Christmastime is filled with lovely childhood memories for me... going to the Christmas tree farm to find our perfect tree, trimming the tree with all of our wonderfully hideous homemade decorations with Dad's Christmas records playing, reading Christmas stories under the tree on Christmas Eve, and bundling everyone up in the old van and braving the weather to midnight mass. We always left milk, cookies, and carrots (for the reindeer, of course) before midnight mass, just in case our house was one of Santa's first stops - but he never came while we were at church.

We'll make lots of new memories on this very special Christmas over the next couple of days. On Christmas Eve we'll read those Christmas stories with Charlotte, visit family at Aunt Carol's house, have dinner with Grandma Val & Grandpa Jim, then bundle her up for her very first midnight mass. Christmas morning will be spent opening presents, having dinner with Charlotte's great-grandma & great-grandpa, and then more presents and supper with my parents and brothers and Becky.

There will be an empty spot on the living room floor this year. My sister, who is living in Mumbai right now, had the opportunity to travel to Bethlehem & Jerusalem and is spending Christmas in the holiest of places this year. While we'll all be thinking of her, we know that she's loving this great adventure and being so close to the "reason for the season." We miss you, Bobbi Jo!

I hope you all are blessed with good health and good times spent with the ones you love most!

Happy Holidays!