Gimmeee....

Can't believe Christmas is almost here!! This is the time of year I think I find myself reflecting back the most, and this year is no exception. This will be our first Christmas without Brandon's dad, and I find myself thinking about him alot. Thinking back on past Christmas'..Wishing I would have gotten one last picture of him with the kids. Remembering how sick and miserable he was last  Christmas, but he still made it by to see the kids even if only for a few minutes. I am trying to grasp that this Christmas he is happy and healthy! No more Pain or struggling and he WILL get to see the kids :)

Lately, I have been worried that with my kids I am failing to teach them the true meaning of giving and recieving..They all have the "gimmeeees". I know that some of it is their ages and some of it is just being kids and being excited, but I worry that I am not teaching them what it really is all about. And this is when my lessons from Gary come to mind. I think about how little he had and how he struggled to make ends meet. But how he managed to pull together something special for me and my kids at hollidays. It may have came from the dollar tree but it was what he could do. It was a sacrifice, it was from his heart and it was so very special. Looking back, I didn't express enough to my kids how special these gifts were. For a few reasons..Right or wrong, I tried to protect my kids from  knowing the pain of everything their Grandpa faced. ANd two, you never know what will come out of little mouths ;) So this year, I hope to "squeeze in" a little talk about Grandpa and how precious those gifts were. Not to give them a guilt trip, but to really help them to know what gift giving is all about, and to help them see what an awesome person Grandpa was. It doesn't have to be exactly what we want or the most expensive, but something that the giver gave from their heart and felt we were special enough to  recieve :) Merry Christmas to you all! Enjoy your time and treasure your family and friends!