Busy as Elves

It has been a busy weekend around our home getting ready for Christmas.  One of our biggest projects has been trying to finish up Christmas cards to send out.  This year I decided to paint watercolors for each of the Christmas cards.  I have no idea what I was thinking at the time but I realize now that was probably a little too ambitious.  If you happen to get a Christmas card from us those are limited edition cards.  If you don't, we apologize but my painting momentum ran out and you can read the blog Christmas letter and know that we wish your family a merry Christmas and a happy new year.  In addition to Christmas cards to family and friends I also had my 8th grade girls that I mentor make cards for older members of the church.  We had a lot of fun with project and it was fun to see their creativity.  Then I spent a few evenings finding addresses for all of those cards.  While I like to be more of a traditionalist I can see how sending a virtual Christmas greeting is rather appealing.

Saturday was spent in the kitchen making goodies for Christmas gifts.  We also had a few friends over in the evening for a get-together so I prepared extra food for this.  It was double batch day-- double batches of granola, wheat rolls, and two different types of soup. While I was cooking Arthur was being SuperHusband with his ability to leap large piles of laundry in a single bound, a powerful washer of dishes, and always fast to respond to his wife's many requests including whipping up the family Christmas letter in no time at all.

Another one of my projects was literally being one of Santa's elves.  On Friday one of my coworkers shared this story about her 5 year old:  Last summer they visited Santa's workshop in Colorado Springs on vacation and her daughter asked Santa for a spork and a miniature stuffed Pike's Peak.  They have no idea why she asked for these things.  Fast forward to this Christmas season and they have visited Santa and wrote letters to Santa without any mention of the spork or Pike's Peak and thought she had forgotten.  Then she brings home her letter to Santa from school...asking for a spork and a miniature stuffed Pike's Peak.  Her mom tried to explain that Santa may not be able to find these things anywhere.  The daughter's response was, "Mom, that doesn't matter.  Santa has elves that can make anything."  Her mom wasn't quite sure what to do when she related this to us at work.  I volunteered to be an elf and was able to sew a stuffed Pike's Peak or something that can hopefully be pulled off as Pike's Peak.  It was fun to dust off the sewing machine and get creative with just an idea and no pattern to follow.  While we have been as busy as elves around here it has also been a lot of fun preparing for the Christmas season.  Amid the business and flurry of activities we have also tried to prepare our hearts for the true reason of the season-- the coming of Christ the Lord.  Omnia Vincit Amor.