2020. The year that will never end, right?? From a global pandemic, and systemic racial oppression, a tanking economy, fear and uncertainty, and everything in-between...this has been a tough year for everyone. (Oh yeah, and flippin Murder Hornets? They were a thing too.) We left our classrooms in March not knowing what in the world would be next, and come August, we will return to school once again…online. The kids miss their friends, their teachers, socializing, and let’s face it, we honestly miss the normal work routine as well and being able to mingle with our co-workers. There has been tension, stress, a lot of unknowns, and a LOT of sadness and negativity flooding social media.
We decided it was time for something happy.
We decided that Christmas in July was a must this year.
…so we did it!
Once the kids went to sleep on July 23rd Asa got out some of our Christmas decorations and we (he..) got to work.
We set our alarms on the 24th and woke before the kids did. Reese is usually the first to wake right at 8am and she was right on time ‘Christmas Eve’ morning. As we drank our coffee and beamed up at her, she was SO confused. As soon as she came around the corner and actually saw the Christmas trees with presents underneath, she sprinted to Pierson’s room and excitedly woke him up. Their reactions were priceless and the joy in our home felt like a warm blanket. They looked at the presents (they each got a total of seven) and then we sat on the couch to watch Christmas movies (starting with Curious George’s Christmas that they have loved since they were toddlers.) Our plans were to spend the next two days together as a family (not that we haven’t had a ton of just family time), but to be more intentional with the things we did; baking cookies, cooking, coloring, decorating, creating, movies together, and big holiday like meals. We had Asa’s mama over as she typically joins us Christmas Eve, and after dinner Asa read the Birth of Jesus to all of us and then we watched a Christmas Story. We baked Gingerbread cookies with a Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting, and earlier in the day we went to Lotsa Pasta to get fresh ravioli for the next night’s dinner. The home was just the right amount of Christmas decor—and the whole mood of the house just felt so peaceful.
On July 25th we had breakfast and then let the kids open their gifts. Again, they got 7 each, and we wrapped things separately like paint by itself, paintbrushes, canvas’s, and then Reese got a couple of dresses and Pierson got a couple of new pairs of shoes. It wasn’t about the presents or spoiling the kids—this was all to create a happy memory for all of us for what has been such a tough and challenging year.
I diffused our Christmas Spirit oil in ALL our diffusers around the clock the entire two days. When we say it smells like ‘Christmas in a bottle,’ we totally mean it. It’s a little spicy, a tad sweet, and just smells completely heavenly. (Want it for yourself? Leave a comment here and I’ll hook you up!) Overall, we highly recommend participating in Christmas in July yourself. You don’t have to go BIG, you don’t have to set up a ginormous tree, just make it what you want and how you want! We used our porch tree from Treetopia and the pre-lit garland that we had from the same company. I had a lot of people message me and say they wanted to do this but it seemed like so much work; my husband will tell you it probably took him an hour start to finish [he is the speedy decorator, again, he is kin to Buddy the Elf so it’s just in his blood,] and he would also tell you it was completely 1000% worth it. August is around the corner, online school will be happening at LEAST the first six weeks (let’s face it.. probably longer..) and we are just praying we can take it ALL in stride and that everyone can stay healthy and happy.
