A Little Thank You

Call me old fashion, but I appreciate a hand written thank you note. 


There's something about getting a note of appreciation from someone.  It doesn't have to be fancy or even store bought. In fact, a simple thank you on a post it note would suffice.  Just the fact that someone wrote a quick message of thanks and dropped it in the mail is enough.  It shows gratitude for whatever it is he or she received, whether it was a gift, a service, or something else.


Alena has been to many birthday parties over the last year and received very few thank you notes!  Maybe this is just the norm now?   


I'm going to continue to be old fashion and write thank you notes for my children until they are old enough to write their own. I think it's important that they continue to do this as they get older because these little notes are definitely appreciated.  Yes, I know most people open the card, read it, and throw it away.  I'm OK with this knowledge as I know they will be grateful to receive the little note in the mail. 


Speaking of mail, isn't it wonderful to receive a letter in the mail?  I hate that electronics have taken this away from most of it. It's so easy to send a text message and email now but there is something special about seeing your name on an envelope in the mailbox, (except when it is a bill).  A couple weeks ago, Alena saw me getting our Christmas cards ready to mail. She decided to make her own cards for some of her cousins.  They were short and sweet but very thoughtful.  It will be fun for her and her cousins to correspond via mail as they get older. 


Last month I received a letter from a new patient I was going to meet for the first time this week.  He introduced himself and indicated he was looking forward to meeting me.  Isn't that just the sweetest thing?


I see over 200 dialysis patients a week and many have become dear friends of mine.  Some patients I know so well we often spend more time talking about social things than medical things.  One particular patient always remembers to write me a thank you note near the holidays. I greatly appreciate this each year and it's a nice reminder of why I do what I do.  I love the patient interaction the most about my job, and why I went into this career.  Today I met a patient who went to high school with Elvis Presley-such interesting people I have met over the last 10 years! 


I think we can all do better with showing others our gratitude by saying thank you, whether that is in written form or verbally.  A thank you is like a compliment, it makes the recipient feel good about him or herself!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday and the one I go all out for. I don't really decorate for the other ones but maybe that will change in the new place.  We got a jump start decorating this year because, well, it seemed like everyone was already in the mood and decorating so we jumped on the band wagon.  I almost always wait until after Thanksgiving, using the long weekend to place things in their correct places.  We started the weekend before this time. I figure, if we go to all this work getting things set up, we might as well enjoy them a little longer.

I purchased something I never thought I would:  A fake Christmas tree. My father will probably shake his head at this item in my home, but I just thought we needed two trees! One to gaze at from our main living space and one in our front room.

When we built this house, I knew exactly where our Christmas tree would go.  Justin picked the tree out this year from Dad's tree farm and honestly it was a nice choice. I knew it was a little bigger than what we normally pick but thought it would fit perfect.  Well, it's a good thing we ended up cutting some of the top off to shape it a little better otherwise it would not have fit.  It's big; maybe a little too big, but it's growing on me.

The other reason I felt we needed two trees is because we have so many ornaments. Justin and I have our own from when we were little, (both getting new ornaments each year), plus we have ornaments that we have obtained from being together.  (We usually get one from locations we travel to with the date on it).  The little ones also receive new ornaments each years so the number has grown.

The kid's ornaments are all on the real tree.  In all honesty, I probably should purchase more ornaments for the tree because it is a little bare but it's fine for this year.  We are pretty simple people, so lights and ornaments are all that go on our little (big!) tree.

Decorating the mantle was fun and I went a little non-traditional with the color scheme.  I went back and forth about where to hang the stockings and ended up getting new hangers for the mantle.  Caleb and Alena each have a little tree in their room, (next year I'll find one for Lauren).  While I was busy decorating the inside, Justin headed on the roof to hang a few Christmas lights. He also put lights around the deck.

We've had two weekends of baking and a freezer full of goodies. I purposely place these in the freezer in the garage so they aren't as convenient.  When we designed this house I pictured my three little ones sitting at a big island while we rolled out and then decorated Christmas cookies.  Having two ovens made the process go even faster.  I went back and forth about doing a gingerbread house.  In the end, I found a cute "gingerbread village" with 4 little buildings.  C missed out on this project as we was down for the count the day we did them.

My new favorite holiday cookie!

Elfie joined the family again on December 1st and I love each child's excitement every morning when they roam the house looking for him.  They are really getting into it this year!

Alena has her Christmas list all ready to go and has made one visit to Santa.  (She may need to revise this list as all she needs for Christmas are her two front teeth!).  The twins have no interest in seeing Santa although L did give him a high five when we ran into him at Home Depot a couple weekends ago.  C told me he wanted ME to tell Santa what he wanted.

I believe these lists are a combo of what Addie wants and what Alena wants!  Hope Santa can sort it out!

To help our little ones remember the reason behind Christmas, we are focusing on the four gift rule:  One thing they want, one thing they need, one thing they wear and one thing they read.  We will also have a few items for their stockings and maybe one or two other presents for them to open, but we really wanted to avoid going overboard with presents.

I love listening to what others do for the holidays and their traditions.  Do you wrap the gifts from Santa or not?  Does Santa bring many gifts or just one big gift?  Are stocking gifts wrapped?  What do you leave out for Santa and his reindeer?  Do you do anything special for Christmas Eve?  I will be honest, some of our traditions we are still figuring out. Justin and I came from two different families that each had their own traditions so we are trying to meld these traditions together.

I hope my kids continue to believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy forever!  Unfortunately, I know that once they get into school, rumors about these friendly visitors being pretend will come up. Alena is already asking questions so I have to be even more careful about things, (she found the wrapping paper "Santa' used last year!).  Please stay young with your innocent minds forever!  

Alena had her Christmas music program a couple weeks ago and we have already had one family Christmas. Another Christmas is this weekend. The month is going so fast.  Does anyone else think 2015 went by faster than it should have?!