Christmas

Ft. Worth 2017

The real start of the Christmas season for me tends to be our trip to Ft. Worth. There have been a few years I haven’t been able to go, but I try to make it down there every year. Sadly, for me this year was a little lackluster. It was fun, don’t get me wrong, but it just didn’t scream Christmas season to me.

Hubby had to go to San Francisco for work the whole week leading up to Ft. Worth. He flew into DFW on Thursday night. We left home Thursday night and drove as far as Denton, Texas. Then from there, Friday morning we drove to the hotel that hubby was at and picked him up.

It seems like every year they change up the schedule for the NCHA Futurity. This year the NonPro and Amateur finals happened Friday night, the Open Semi-finals happened on Saturday, and the finals for the Open happened Sunday evening. Truthfully, that’s how it used to be, then they started changing it. We’re back to basics now.

Ft. Worth Stockyards

No trip to Ft. Worth is complete without a trip to the Stockyards. I have to say, this is probably my favorite place on earth… or at least one of. Hubby though wasn’t in the Holiday spirit so I felt like I was “dragging” him and he pretty well refused to go into the stores with me. One of my favorite things to do is window shop at the stores and I couldn’t hardly budge him into a store with me. I was getting frustrated.

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This is What It’s All About

Earlier this fall… yes, it’s still fall… you know tomorrow starts the Winter Solstice, that’s the shortest day of the whole year. From there we’re going to be gaining light!! Anyway… back to the fall… We had our annual Chili cookoff to raise money for deserving Children whose families have fallen on hard times for whatever reason.

I always refer to those who help with this project as Santa’s Helpers because who couldn’t use a helper? So, Santa’s helpers have been busy at work, getting applications, reviewing them, and trying their darndest to make sure kids have a fabulous Christmas no matter what the circumstances their family faces are. But here’s the thing…

They needed a place to store the presents bought, wrap the presents, and have a pickup point for parents. But the other day someone broke into that warehouse and stole at least $300 worth of gifts. WHAT? Sad, but true. (more…)

Raising Money for Christmas {Last Three Months of the Year}

It’s no surprise that I LOVE CHRISTMAS. I do. I can’t hide that fact. Some people ask why I like it so much. This is kind of hard to put into words but I’ll try. There is something so magical around the time of year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. There is something in the air. The air is crisp, which it is also known I hate cold weather, but that time of year you know you need snow so that Santa can deliver his presents. Duh!

But there is a spirit among people. Yes, a lot of people are stressed out by Christmas and they say that the suicide rate is up around this time of year, but there are a lot of happy people around this time of year. They are out and about shopping for just the perfect present for their loved ones and friends. There is Christmas lights and Christmas music and little kids getting so excited that Santa will visit.

That is the thing though… Little kids get extremely excited about the thought of Santa visiting. Some little kids though are sad at this time of the year. Their family is going through some struggle and the thought of Christmas is far from their mind. That’s where Santa’s helpers come in to play.

There are organizations that are working year round to make sure that every little kid knows what Christmas is and knows that they aren’t forgotten. Santa’s helpers run fundraisers and ring bells, and everything else to raise money for presents for those deserving little kids.

I’m sure we all know this, right? So why am I discussing this? Well, because the last few years I have been working with one of those organizations. I have been volunteering my time to help raise money. To help raise awareness. All little kids are deserving all year round, but I want them to know my favorite time of year and have fond memories of it just like I have.

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Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night….

Ah, the joys of Christmas are over. I know I complain a lot about January, but I really just don’t care for January. Tbug on the other hand does because her birthday is that month, although once upon a time I asked her if we could celebrate her bday in June. She looked at me like I killed her puppy. She was like 7. Then… last year, she asked me if she could celebrate her birthday with us in June. I told her NO. She asked why and I laughed and told her about this 7 year old who was offended I even mentioned such a thing. We all got a good laugh.

But that was just a side note… the real reason for the post is Christmas. And here is the calm before the fury… or something like that. Right now hubby, the girls, and I are living with my parents until we decide our next move after selling our house this late summer/early fall. We decided we were going to set our Christmas tree up in our little living room and we were going to open our presents just as a family Christmas morning (since Tbug was with us Christmas Eve through Christmas Day).

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Christmas Eve

Years ago I started a tradition. I would make cookies for people who helped me throughout the year and on Christmas Eve I would go around delivering them. I missed a few years, but not many. When I got married, hubby continued that tradition with me. This year was no different. This year I made sugar cookies and spent a week decorating them so that they’d be ready to plate up and deliver on Christmas Eve. We then piled in the little red “sled” (aka hubby’s truck) and off to deliver cookies we went. And out of all the plates we delivered, we only spoke with 2 of the recipients. All the rest weren’t home so I left them in the normal places I have in the past and off to the next place we went.

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Leading up to Christmas

I had an epiphany the other day… They want to call it a holiday tree so that it is less offensive. Well holiday is all inclusive: Christmas, New Years, 4th of July, Valentine’s Day, etc… So does that mean we get to leave our Holiday trees up all year round? Just a thought…..

In other news…. So a lot of people won’t put up Christmas trees with toddlers around. Say it’s too much of a hassle or an inconvenience. I don’t agree. I think it helps teach them to love the season and respect the season and learn patience, which sometimes I still need to learn… just saying. I’m happy to report we only had one casualty when it came to Christmas presents. Abug got sooooo darn excited that Thursday of last week she opened a present. I laughed so hard because she was so proud of herself. It happened to be my present from my parents and I also knew what it was. No harm, no foul, but next time, open something I don’t know what it is so I don’t have to wait so long to know, okay kid 😂😜.

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The Christmas Train

Earlier this month my dad was reading the Big Nickel newspaper and saw that the Christmas train happened this last weekend. One day it was from Seligman, MO to Rogers, AR and I don’t remember the other day. I don’t remember because we were planning on the Saturday trip, we had plans for that Sunday. We were excited because it happened to be a Tbug weekend so we bought our tickets and made plans to ride the Christmas Train.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect and it wasn’t quite what I thought I might expect, but it was a lot of fun either day.

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