Preparing for Santa and a very distracted mind

I have been up for the past 3 hours finishing up the wrapping and "Santa" stuff.  My mind has wandered with each present.  What will J think of this new robot, will C like the bed that I made....typical mom stuff! 

However we have also had very heavy hearts lately.  Papa(Dads dad) is in the hospital now.  We know that he will be passing any day and have been trying to get everything prepared for this.  There is never a good time to say good-bye to a loved one.  We are trying to give our children a very normal Christmas experience.  We do not want them to remember Christmas as the time of year when Papa passed, but as the time of year when he got to meet Jesus himself.  Jesus is the reason for Christmas anyway, right?!  With each passing thought, more tears came and I fought them off.  I would remember different anecdotes about Papa from the time I knew him, and the times that I was told about.

If anything that comes with death, it teaches us one thing.  Live your life!  If you see mistakes from the life that has passed, change them in your life.  Don't live with regrets.

So on I went with the rituals that have been in our house for the past (almost) nine years.  Get the presents wrapped, lay them under the tree, get the cookies eaten and the milk drank and finally write the note from Santa.

I am excited for tomorrow morning to see my children come running out of the bedrooms.  Crazy hair, stinky breath and disheveled clothes...but with Huge smiles on their faces!  That is what I am hanging onto right now!

 

Yup, Roxie even got a basket of goodies from Santa!  She will dig right into this in the morning!