Handmade

These days it's so easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas.

We loose sight of what's important,

and our main focus become gifts.

We have a long list of who we need to buy for,

and for most of us,

a short budget to do so.

We go out searching for the best bang for our buck,

and a lot of people are willing to sacrifice some very important moments with their families.

Thanksgiving has gone to the way side.

People push it aside as if it wasn't an important holiday,

all for the sake of searching out the best deals for Christmas.

It happens every year and is only getting worse with each passing year.

Do we even remember what Thanksgiving is?

Thanksgiving is a time we are supposed to gather with family.

Contemplate and share what we are thankful for,

and how we've been blessed.

We gather,

make great food together,

eat said food,

and create memories to last a lifetime.

No Thanksgiving is ever the same.

Every year the little ones grow,

gracing us with a new years worth of crazy joy and laughter.

We will never get another chance to recreate these memories.

To give up these precious memories all in the name of shopping..

is just plain sad.

This society is now spending their Thanksgiving,

a day to be thankful for what we have,

to face the crowds and fight over material things that just won't matter in a years time.

So I offer you a new idea.

Or a "recycled" idea.

Handmade gifts.

Let's get back to enjoying the holidays,

spending time with our kids,

and reminding them what these holidays are all about.

Family.

God.

Togetherness.

Let's put a little more time into our gifts,

a little (a lot really) less money,

and put some more magic back into our lives.

I'm enjoying spending time with my daughter creating things out of "nothing".

We've been knitting scarfs and hats.

Instead of buying clothes for my daughters "American Girl" dolls,

I've been making them.

Of course I haven't been able to keep them all secrets,

so she has seen a few things.

She thinks they are for someone else,

but her eyes still light up in joy and wonder.

We are making memories together.

Bonding over each new creation.

Even when things don't turn out perfectly.

Try something new this year.

Create something with your kids,

and create memories to last a lifetime.