P365 - 2013 - Day 341 - getting our Christmas spirit on

P365 - 2013 - Day 341 - getting our Christmas spirit on

We spent the day, getting our Christmas spirit on!  We went to the Ship Bottom Christmas parade in the afternoon and the Beach Haven tree lighting at night.  It was a lot of fun!

 

*Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. - Mary Ellen Chase*

P365 - 2013 - Day 340 - silly elves

P365 - 2013 - Day 340 - silly elves

Isabelle, Burke, and Barnes are up to their antics again.  When the kids woke up to get ready for school, they found the sunroom covered in toilet paper and those silly elves hanging around....

*Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!- Francis Pharcellus Church (New York Sun 1897)*

P365 - 2013 - Day 339 - Our Christmas Tree

P365 - 2013 - Day 339 - Our Christmas Tree

A friend of mine recently commented that her tree is a "3D scrapbook" and it got me thinking.  I love that! I never thought of it that way, but that is exactly what our tree is as well.  I am sure there are people who love their Christmas trees to be perfect with matching beautiful ornaments.  That is nice but it's just not my thing.  I like our tree to tell a story.  It tells the story of our family...special dates, big events, births, trips, favorite places, special people, special pets, favorite teams, crafty and store bought, ornaments we picked and ornaments that we received as gifts.  I have an ornament that I painted all by myself in first grade and a "babysitter" ornament that was given to me in 1987.  I have yearly ornaments that date back to the 70's and ornaments from each year of my children's lives.  We have a special crab ornament from when we lived in Maryland, Disney and Hershey ornaments to commemorate our trips, a special ornament that our friends gave us with our "blog names", ornaments from my parents' trip to Italy, and bells that were rung at our wedding.  Every year, when we begin the task of decorating the tree, I get sentimental.  It's one of those visuals of the passing of time....as my friend said, a 3 dimensional scrapbook of our lives.  I love our Christmas tree and the memories it shares every Christmas. 

 

*When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness. - Bob Hope*

P365 - 2013 - Day 338 - Special Visitor to Campus

P365 - 2013 - Day 338 - Special Visitor to Campus
(Guest Blogger - My Wonderful Husband)

It was a big day on campus today, I was moderator for a panel on preventing genocide and this included a visit from the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng.  This topic remains one of the primary reasons why I pursued my Ph.D. and I hope that this event inspired many of the students on campus to work towards the prevention of future genocides and mass atrocities.  This was quite a special event for our students and the campus community and I was honored to be a participant.

“The West's post-Holocaust pledge that genocide would never again be tolerated proved to be hollow, and for all the fine sentiments inspired by the memory of Auschwitz, the problem remains that denouncing evil is a far cry from doing good.” Philip Gourevitch

P365 - 2013 - Day 337 - Tuesday Communication

P365 - 2013 - Day 337 - Tuesday Communication

This is what our Tuesday communications have come to....tagging statuses.  In my defense, this was BIG news.  Walls!  I repeat, walls!! 

*You cannot not communicate. - Paul Watzlawik*

P365 - 2013 - Day 336 - They have arrived!

P365 - 2013 - Day 336 - They have arrived!

They have arrived!  Burke, Isabelle, and Barnes.  Now the party can start...now Christmas is really here.  They needed a map to find us today, but they did find us.  I wonder what these crazy elves will be up to this month. 

*Believe in the magic of Christmas! - Unknown*

P365 - 2013 - Day 335 - The Christmas season has begun

P365 - 2013 - Day 335 - The Christmas season has begun

We went to get our Christmas tree today.  We have always cut our Christmas trees since the first year we were married.  We were not sure if we were going to cut a tree this year since we are downsizing the decorating while we are staying in our friends' home.  But we decided today to keep the tradition alive and try to find a new tree farm.  It turned out that we didn't actually cut a tree at this farm because they had a fresh delivery of cut trees that were the perfect smaller size to do the trick this year.  I think next year when we are in our house I will want to put up two trees and start decorating in October to make up for downsizing this year, but for right now, this is perfect.  We came home and decorated the tree and added a few lights outside on the railing and voila! The Christmas season has begun. 

*I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month. - Harlan Miller*