Be happy for THIS Moment...

Hey everyone!

{{{PLEASE scroll down for my Little Paper Shop post today, too...and I thank you SO much for stickin' with me!  Means a lot!}}}

Do you ever feel like THIS time of year just makes ya a little nuts?   I LOVE the Holidays.   LOVE the tree trimming...the cookies...the family...even the shopping, I must admit, when I can take my TIME, I do enjoy it.

Nevertheless, I still feel like sometimes I get caught up w/the best of them and stress a bit too much...and when I was creating this weekend for my DECEMBER GUEST SPOT at UNITY STAMPS this month (yay!!), I couldn't help but stop and think a minute about this sentiment, from the upcoming December Kit of the Month:

"  BE HAPPY for THIS MOMENT"...

Isn't that the nicest sentiment?  And so true....just think of all the things we'd miss if we stayed so focused on the Dec. 25th instead of the December 7th....TODAY.

Today...I will send my kids off to school...and my four year old DD will say to her older sister, like she does every day when they are unloading out of my mini-van "Madelynn, can I have a kiss and a hug?"  I will be SO HAPPY for that MOMENT.

Later today, that same four year old DD will come up to me for no apparent reason and throw her arms around me, like she does every day, out of the blue, and squeeze my neck until I practically choke, haha.  She'll say "I'm giving you a SQUEEEEEEZE, Mommy"...I will be SO HAPPY for that MOMENT.

The kids will get off the bus and they'll smile at me from the street, and then all three of them will run up to see who gets to give Mom a hug first...are you KIDDING ME?   SO HAPPY for that MOMENT.

I will watch my boys play their 2nd basketball game this evening.   They will look at me, from time to time, and catch my eye up in the bleachers with the BIGGEST, PROUDEST smile on their faces, as they have done before during practices.   I will be SO HAPPY for that MOMENT.

Last but not least, I will serve my children dinner tonight, and wonder which one will say the prayer before dinner...Perhaps it will be Nicky, who is always grateful for his food, LOL , but is learning to be thankful for bigger things, like family and parents and his sibling...or maybe it will be Jack, who will quietly pray for our family but then will pray for a friend who had a bloody nose or was sick from school today...or Madelynn, who is SO insightful beyond her years who will pray for our family, our health, and our well-being but then will go on to pray for the things she already knows in this world that need to change..and she will BE part of that change one day, I'm convinced of it.  She is SO compassionate...yeah, I can tell you that no matter WHO decides it's "their turn" at our dinner table tomorrow...I will be SO HAPPY for that MOMENT.

Well, my friends, I'll leave you with a quote I found that reflects what I've been thinking about and to try to focus on the TODAY instead of all that has to be done before Christmas this year... of course it still needs to be done, but it WILL get done.   For now...I will try to remember this:
 

" Slow down and enjoy life.  It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast...you also miss the sense of where you are going...and why..."  ~Eddie Cantor