Donna Harris Photography

It must be the blessing of small children that make this time of year so much fun for me.

Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of frustrating parts of the Christmas season: The obligatory gift giving, trying to meet expectations of in-laws, “out-laws”, and other family members, and the commercialization everywhere you turn (right after October 31st, I might add) are just a few reasons why we can lose sight of the holiday spirit.

Also, the last few years I’ve experienced great loss with my nephew passing away and my brother dying a year before that. Having loved ones leave you can always make the holidays hard.

Have I totally depressed you?
Well, take heart, because this isn’t going to be a depressing post. Nor do I want you to think my life is all smiles, sappy traditions and crafts with my kiddos. Life is hard. The holidays are hard for a lot of people. But each year, I find that in my own way I can truly TRULY enjoy the spirit of Christmas.

And here are just a few ways we do it at the Harris House:

Tree decorating – I’m the Christmas Light Nazi. There can never be enough lights on my tree and I’M the one that has to put them on each year.

(Oh, and squinting really hard at a lit tree shows where you need more lights. Really. 🙂 )

Time for ornaments!

Roman gave both of us a pretty good workout being his human ladder.

Putting together the Nativity Scene with dad.

Milo has tried his hardest to get to the tree. The baby gate just brings more attention to “Don’t Touch That”. So we just keep touchable ornaments at his level.


After ornaments and lights, presents under the tree become the icing on the cake of tree decorating.

I take Ro to the dollar store to pick out gifts for dad and little brother. If you look at his bag’s contents,  I managed to also secretly slip an Elmo coloring book in that day as a stocking stuffer for Roman himself.

{{Really enjoying the ease of gift buying with and FOR my 3 year old!}}

He loves wrapping even more than shopping!

We count down the days until Christmas.

And we celebrate Advent.

Our church gave us this awesome packet of activities to do for Advent. I am so grateful for this! To be honest, I never really understood Advent’s true meaning. So I’m learning along with my kids. This has been my favorite part of the holiday season.

Everyday we connect a strip to our paper chain. The strips of paper have things to talk about or do regarding the season of Advent. It’s been really fun and a great way to anticipate Christmas.

Our Singing Snowman is a big hit around the house. Roman has decided that this snowman’s name is actually Snow White since he sings about snow and he’s white —  I guess that makes sense!

Gingerbread houses are becoming a favorite tradition…

Also, going to see Christmas light shows…

And getting pictures taken with Santa will continue until, well, I guess until I can’t get my adult kids to continue to sit on Santa’s lap.

If their dorky parents can do it as adults, well then so can they!

So some of you might be having a pleasant holiday season…

… and other’s not so much.

Either way, here’s my advice to you:  Take hold of the true spirit of Christmas this year.

Take it all in, the good and the bad. Remember you’re making memories. Remember what’s important. Forget about all the formalities. Don’t focus too much on ‘how’ something is supposed to be. Just let it be. Love your family – no matter how crazy they are. Tell your friends how much they’ve meant to you this year – with your words more than with gifts. Have fun with silly things like crafts, games, and corny traditions. Don’t stress too much about your diet, your looks, or who you’d like to impress. It could all be gone tomorrow so focus on what’s important – without taking anything too seriously.

Merry Christmas, friends, from the bottom of my heart.