Merry Christmas to all our fine feathered friends from the Nest!
Image Norman Rockwell
Things will be a little slow, and a little quiet around here this week and next. I hope the same goes for you. No matter if you celebrate Christmas or not, the year end is a great time for reconnecting with family, laying low, eating a lot…maybe drinking a little, and just centering yourself once again as we prepare for the year to come.
Today my kids were home from school. And I’m writing this as the rain outside is buffeting the house, the fog is still hanging thickly in the air, and although it’s 60 degrees inside, it feels like a cozy, cold winter day. Perfect day for snuggling in pjs.
Earlier today, the kids and I ventured downtown with a trunk full of toys. We headed to our local homeless shelter, and dropped off the toys, hoping to make someone else’s Christmas a bit brighter this year. The shelter was very grateful, as several families who have just recently lost their homes had asked the shelter coordinator if there was any possibility of getting some toys for their little ones.
It’s the first time I’ve taken my kids to a homeless shelter, and I am so glad that I decided it was time for them to see one. I think that it really helped them realize that there are needs out there bigger than our own. They’ve heard that song and dance before. But seeing is believing.
We dropped off our toys, then headed to one of their favorite places in town. The toy train museum.
To the boys, that place is better than almost any place on Earth.
Sister and I tolerate it. But it’s Christmas, and that makes everything a little more palatable.
Plus, they have a Cobra-Kai-Karate studio in the display. That’s pretty awesome.
And a bar called the Drunken Clam. I may actually love this little train town.
After the train museum, we went out for donuts. It was just that kind of day.
What’s so amazing is that being able to give some toys to some kiddos who needed it was a gift. To them, yes. But also to me, and to my own children. Because in giving, we are actually receiving. Crazy. And it gets even better.
This December, Wayfair has started a program called #BlogItForward. Bloggers choose some small way to give back, and we then challenge others to do the same. In exchange for these acts of kindness, Wayfair graciously donates $50 to Habitat for Humanity, which happens to be one of my favorite programs ever.
So thank you, Wayfair! And I’m challenging Shanna Gilbert of Restoration Redoux and Deb Foglia of Seeking Lavender Lane to participate. Speaking of those two, if you haven’t been to their blogs, GO! They are FANTASTIC!
Here at home, the afternoon is fading, and the prospect of Christmas Eve is beginning to loom large. I love this day. I love the thought of what will come tomorrow. That feeling of being 8 years old again. Hopefulness. Happiness. Contentedness. Love.
I wish all of you all of these things in the coming year. Thanks for being here. Thanks for supporting our little blog and making it such a joy to write. I am so looking forward to 2016, and hope you are too.
Peace and blessings from our nest, to yours.
And P.S. If you’re looking to shine a little light out there into the darkness tonight, or at some other point during this Christmas season, give this post from one of my favorite blogs, Momastery a read. You’ll know what to do next.
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