Christmas giving

I bought two wooden puzzles today for Hannah for a Christmas present. As I was leaving the store, I was thinking about wrapping them and putting on a tag that says TO: Hannah FROM: Mommy. I got all teared up thinking about that! How lucky I am to have a child this Christmas! It makes me teary even now thinking about it! I just think to-Hannah-from-Mommy and I cry. I started thinking about Christmas gift giving. Sure, it's annoying sometimes to have to shop for people you don't know all that well, or for people who just buy what they want whenever they want it, and any other shopping that is out of a sense of obligation. I don't intend to even talk about out-of-control materialism and consumerism. But, today I thought this: at least once a year we take the opportunity to intentionally give someone a gift. All of a sudden Christmas gift-giving became a beautiful thing to me!

This year I got presents for the little ones in my family- my cousin Ian, my nephew Michael, my niece Bridget, my niece Cassandra's kids, Jennifer and Daniel, and also my parents. And of course my precious daughter Hannah! She's getting the two wooden puzzles and a handmade giraffe I bought from an etsy.com store. I am in the process of making some cards for my mom's favorite game, too. Her cards are all worn out and they don't make replacements anymore. It's taking me a little longer to stencil 0-99 on cards, but I am enjoying each and every one! It's nice to really feel a Christmas spirit!