Sweet Lemon Living.... A Glimpse Into Our Little Adventures!: Let it be Magical!

Let it be magical!

To be totally honest, I have been debating on whether to post this or not, because I don’t want to embarrass my amazing parents… or say that what you do to celebrate holidays in your family is wrong in any way shape or form- BUT… because this is something that is so important to me and has impacted my life unknowingly until know.. I am going to share with you my own little personal “magical” holidays with you!

For those of you who know my family and I know that for the majority of my childhood (up until I was 11 years old) we lived in a two bedroom duplex- in this cozy little place we loved to call home- lived my two incredible parents and 5 children (including myself). We were snug as a bug- without much room for privacy or secrecy when it came to the holidays because lets be real… where on earth would Santa or the Easter bunny be able to hide their plentiful stash for us little ones… not to mention- how on earth could they be ever so sneaky as to set up and lay out all of the gifts and goodies each holiday without waking any of us anxious and excited children up when we were just a few feet away? Well my friends that, is where the magic all happens!

Growing up, I, in all innocence, had no idea of the hard work that and sleepless nights that were behind the scenes of it all. This magic that surrounds the holidays- was just that, magical! There was no way of explaining how things happened, they just did! I lived for these magical moments- lets be real, I still do! These were those perfect little moments in childhood that you believed everything- and it was all truly remarkable! Well as I got older obviously things changed- this is not to say that there was any less work being done behind the scenes- because if you know the Santa and Easter bunny like I do- these were some busy bees 24/7- no matter the age, belief, or holiday for that matter- they were bound and determined to make every holiday just as magical as ever.

It wasn’t until this past Easter however, that I came to fully understand and realize what this magic truly was. This magic isn’t something you can merely believe in, its not something that you gain by watching holiday movies, or even the little traditions (however- all these things do contain their own magic and wonder). The magic that I now realize made every single holiday so incredible- is one simple little thing.

It is the magic of love.

This was Keller’s second Easter. And he was so excited to take part in every activity you could think of from making cookies and decorating eggs to Easter egg hunts and story time. We.. (okay I talked and he jibber jabbered …) but we talked of the reason we celebrate Easter and of how because of the incredible sacrifice our savior made, we get to be together for all eternity. Of course he didn’t understand everything I was saying- or why all of these activities were being done- but he loved every minute! His excitement and eagerness to participate made me as a mom even more excited for all of our holiday festivities! Even in his innocent young age, you could see that excitement and wonder in his eyes- as well as every child’s eyes as they talk of the Easter bunny and the traditions that they get to have with their own families. It is truly an incredible thing to listen of their love of their savior and their excitement in all of this magic!

Well as Easter quickly approached us this year with Kurt wrapping up school (one more week!!! Ahhhhh) and me still working full time training a replacement for while I am on maternity- life has been a bit hectic to say the least! So as the night before Easter snuck up.. I was far from ready… this Easter bunny didn’t quite know it yet- but she was in for a duzy of a night.

After tucking little Keller bug in for the night and finding my hard working hubby sound asleep on the couch while studying for all his test I sent him up to bed as well. The poor guy with little resistance was also soon sound asleep. So there it was me and my sleeping boys… this Easter bunny was now on a mission to get stuff ready before collapsing herself from the exhaustion of the day.

The eggs were stuffed, baskets prepared, outfits layed out … including the bowtie that was made last minute! But it turned out pretty cute if I might say so myself! Well everything was ready- this little bunny was quite proud of her work and at after ONE in the morning headed up to bed only to hear little Keller calling for mommy… he was still new to the whole big boy bed deal so nights had been pretty rough as of late. So There it was almost 2 am and even though my body ached and I wanted nothing more than to feel the comfort of my lovely pillow I instead crawled into bed with my little Keller bug as his little arms wrapped tightly around my neck he almost instantly fell back to sleep, holding tightly to his mommy- I laid there, snuggling Keller, feeling my baby girl kicking like crazy, and couldn’t help but to think of how many nights my own parents- totally exhausted spent holding and snuggling me when they wanted nothing more than to sleep. I laid there and cried- not sad tears, but happy tears. Grateful tears. All these years I knew nothing of the true magic behind each of these holidays- all these years I knew nothing of the sacrifice- the hard work- the sleepless nights. All these years I never knew that it all boiled down to own thing- LOVE!

Words simply cannot express how grateful I am for my parents and their incredible example to me. All those years are now flooding my mind with the true magic of each holiday! Because of all they did and sacrificed I was able to soak in the innocent magic of each and every season- because of all they taught me- I am now able to celebrate each holiday with my own children- I am able to help create that beautiful magic I so often looked forward to with eagerness and bright eyes!

Holidays are truly a magical time for any age- any belief- and any person. Holidays are what we make them out to be, so I say- MAKE THEM MAGICAL!! I am not saying that you have to spend tons of money or go all out in ways you otherwise couldn’t. BUT- spend time on the little things- take time to snuggle, to love- take time to make believe- and most importantly take the time to celebrate the true meaning of each holiday! This my friends is where that true magic lies. Let it be magical!!!

XOXO