Yup!  As for the actual DAY the holidays are held on, I’m doing a leg sweep and calling something else a bigger deal.

Being together.

I have quickly learned with this multi-hatted mom gig that we can all do without the added stress of the holidays by letting go of who has to be where and when. Woooooooosah!!!!

Seriously… we as moms have a lot of responsibility to simmer all the way down this holiday season.  We might be cramming the wrong spirit of the season down their throats even with our lovely intentions.  Poor kids.  The things we put them through.

So, I’m not sure what it is for you that could make this holiday time more magical, but for me, the first step was letting go of Thanksgiving DAY.  With our 7 children, there are plenty of other families and dinners and festivities to compete with.  No, thanks.  I’ve never been a competitive girl – unless I’m going against myself.  I’d much rather tell a beautiful story with our lives and our family memories than try controlling a holiday. HA! I would definitely be the most miserable one at the end of that day.  So, we had to make a change.  I don’t want Jacey to miss family moments because the visitation schedule rules her life.  I don’t want my stepson & daughter to feel they are being stretched & stressed, torn between being with people they love and more people they love.  And I’m a little picky… I prefer to not miss out on sharing holidays with any of our kids.  I don’t care what day it is, any day we are together is my favorite holiday.

So, for starters, I rescheduled Thanksgiving this year.  At least OURS.

Simple little decision, world of difference. 

So what if it was a few days before the actual holiday, it was perfect.  We ate and laughed and wrote letters to send to Jamie in Africa.  We added to last year’s chain of thanksgiving,

and we played a round of “Thanksgiving tag” where we each share something we are thankful for and tag the next person by sharing something special about them in particular that we thank God for.   AND, we started some fun NEW TRADITIONS!!
We took pictures for our first family Christmas card.  Silly pics, of course.  

We picked out a Christmas tree.  Together.  All of us.  Even my tree-hugger, Skylar.

And long before Thanksgiving ever started for everyone else, my heart was already full on family and my Christmas tree was up!  Which also turned into another sweet blessing – we got to spend our actual Thanksgiving day decorating our tree together. I LOVED IT!!!

I could have fought for that Thursday, and I go hard so I could have fought tooth and nail to get as many of our kids as possible together at some sacred hour on Thanksgiving day to keep some crazy control hold on what I think it should look like.  But, it wouldn’t have worked.  I’d be one worn out wifey with some unhappy campers.  And, we would have missed all this.

Being a blended family of only a couple years, we have a fresh, new heritage being birthed and it is so incredibly amazing to see.  I can’t imagine a more beautiful story than the one I get to be a part of in this family. God blows my mind as I look around and see HIM creating this exquisite tapestry of life through our family, piece by piece, moment by moment, miracle by miracle. 

It’s a new groove.  And for us, it works.  Whatever it takes to share this beautiful season with my husband and kids with less CHAOS and more CHRIST, I’m down.  On to Advent!

Maybe it’s not giving up the holi-DAY, but maybe we could all make some changes for our families that help silence the madness and create space for the sacred.  What do you do to keep your family grounded this season?  Making any changes to simplify?  Favorite traditions that help keep family the focus? What’s your groove?