A Christmas Weekend

    Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem two thousand years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?  Then you can keep Christmas.     ...Augusta E. Rundel

There's nothing quite like Christmas. Excited kids. A flurry of gift wrap flying that takes thirty minutes to undo hours of shopping and wrapping. Kids always think the packages are going to reveal more fun than they do. I remember how there is just something magical about a wrapped gift with your name on it. When you're a kid, it can be anything. Anything at all before you tear off the wrapping paper and pull open the box. My daughter got a huge wrapped box and one of my grandsons was so excited to help her open it up. You could see his visible let-down when it held nothing more exciting than a sewing machine cover. To him, it was a total waste of gift anticipation. He was so sure the mere size of the package promised something wonderful. 

But the best part of most gifts we receive is the love that is behind whatever is in the box. Somebody loved us enough to want to give us something to make us happy. No matter how successful the actual physical gift may or may not turn out to be, the feelings behind the gift can warm our hearts and make us glad. Well, maybe you have to be older than my six-year-old grandson to get that feeling. :)

My other little grandson was not feeling well. He didn't have much fun and ended up having to take  medicine and sacking out on the bed with his big sister. She was ready to sit with him and nap with him to make sure he was okay. The boys are so blessed to have a loving big sister. 

I am blessed by those wonderful grandchildren and my kids too, but also by my extended family too. My sister-in-law allows us to gather at her house and enjoy an extra day of Christmas. It's a fill up your plate and find a seat wherever you can. Of course, if you eat standing up, you can usually manage that extra piece of lemon meringue pie or peanut butter fudge. We do one of those gift exchanges. That's always fun. I ended up with flashlights and my husband ended up with a teacup and teabags. Not exactly his kind of gift, but I like tea!

I missed having a get-together with my side of the family. This was our first year without Mom and Christmas Eve seemed to lack an important family event - seeing Mom. But think what the celebration must be like in heaven. We can only imagine, but Mom can know.

Did have have an extended family celebration this year?

Christmas Magic and a Christmas Giveaway for You

A Small Act of Grandparent Bravery

I got extraordinarily brave Saturday. I was keeping three of my grandkids including my twin grandsons who at the age of six must drink high energy water every morning when they pop out of bed. That energy doesn't run out until about fifty "go to sleep" orders have been issued well after dark. That wasn't the brave part. The brave part was that I took them to our local town's Christmas parade. It helped that my other son and his family was there to help me keep an eye on the kids.

A Small Town Parade
 
I was a bit concerned disappointment awaited in the wings when, before we left home, one of the boys started talking about how we might be on television. Not until he mentioned seeing the big balloons did I realize he was thinking we were going to be on the sidelines of a parade like the Macy's parade he'd watched on Thanksgiving. Their cousin, my older grandson, and I tried to ratchet down their expectations without totally stealing their excitement. 

We found our viewing spot in front of one of the churches, and then had to wait for the parade. And wait. And wait. Waiting is not what these two kids do best! Plus, it was cold. Before we spotted the police cars' flashing lights or heard the marching band's drums, the boys were ready to give up on the parade ever coming and call it a night. But I persevered. I'm good at that. Maybe eventually they will be too. 
 
Do we see Santa?

Finally, the police cars came, sirens sounding to lead the parade. The kids spotted Grinch on one of the floats and the Nativity scene on another. Santa finally showed up too, riding on a firetruck. My daughter-in-law took this picture as the boys were peering ahead to catch sight of Santa. Kids are such fun at Christmas time. And even better, when we took them to church Sunday morning and our pastor asked the kids why we celebrated Christmas, one of the boys was eagerly ready with the answer, "to celebrate Jesus being born."  

A New Christmas Contest


Christmas is a great time for thinking about giving and so time for me to have a Christmas Giveaway Contest. If you get my newsletter, you may have already read all about it and entered. I sent out the newsletter Friday to share that my book, Christmas at Harmony Hill, was a free download for twenty-four hours. The free is gone, but the e-book price is reduced for a while longer if you would like to check it out at your e-book provider. Christianbook.com also has the hardback copies at an even cheaper price.
Amazon Kindle
Nook Books 
Christianbook.com

If you'd like to get my newsletter (more book freebies and contests are on the horizon) and aren't signed up, just let me know or sign up here. 

The newsletter also let readers know about my Christmas giveaway. Since many of my books deal with family relationships, I picked the lovely three generation figurine above for first prize. Plus the winner will get his or her choice of one of my autographed books. Second prize is the Peanuts perpetual calendar with smiles waiting on every day and also the choice of one of my books. To enter, you can leave a comment here with a way to contact you via e-mail or Facebook (without this important information I can't find you should you be a winner) or send me an e-mail (annhgabhart at yahoo dot com) and I'll throw your name in my giveaway hat. Any e-mail will do, but for fun, you can tell me your favorite thing about the Christmas season. Deadline for entries is midnight EST December 31. You must be 18 to enter and have a USA or Canadian mailing address. Next time, I'll come up with something not so hard to mail to include you international friends.

Last Week's Winner of the Christmas Stories

Carolann won last week's giveaway - the Christmas stories. Rose McCauley's Christmas Grace, and my Christmas at Harmony Hill. Thanks to all of you for your comments. It's always fun hearing what you have to say.  

Butterflies on Thistles

Life is butterflies and thistles.
Hummingbirds and bumblebees.
Sleepless nights and sleep-in mornings.
Blooming flowers and chomping worms.
Truth and fiction. Sorrow and joy. 
Butterflies on thistles.

I'm off my schedule this week, but wanted to stop in to thank you all again for all your prayers and thoughts this last week as I had to tell Mom goodbye. Now my house is full of sleeping grandkids. That would make Mom smile. 

THANK YOU LORD FOR SIMPLE THINGS (Anonymous)

 Thank You, Lord, for simple joys… 

Homemade cookies, handmade toys.    

Cotton clouds in bright blue skies; 

Buttercups and butterflies,

Kitties, puppies, birds and squirrels; 

Little boys and little girls,

Starlit nights and sunny days; 

Words of hope with love and praise.

A smile, a friend, a big warm hug; 

Cocoa in my favorite mug.

Peanut butter on a spoon; 

Winds in March and flowers in June.

A cherished book, a special song; 

All the places I “belong.”

Feet that dance and eyes that grin, 

And a heart to hold my memories in.

What small things are you thankful for today? No small thing, but I'm thankful for you.

Loving Flower Stories

Love is the only flower that grows and blossoms without the aid of the seasons. - Kahlil Gibran

My giveaway contest to celebrate Small Town Girl is going great. Entries are coming in from all over and you wouldn't believe how many of us are out there who "never win." One of those people will be winning those wind chimes and one of my books on July 13. The first prize is two dozen roses and so it seemed the perfect time to ask you to share memories of a time you got a special bouquet or a surprise one. I'm getting the most wonderful stories. Some very short. Some a little funny. Some with a twist. Some showing a lot of love. I'm going to be sharing a few of those stories here and on my Facebook page during the next few weeks. If you haven't entered the contest yet, you still have time. Just send me an e-mail from my website (you can see complete details of the contest there on my Event page too) or leave a comment here with a way to contact you should be the lucky winner.

Flowers can mean so many different things to us according to when we received them and who gave them to us. One of the surprise bouquets mentioned most often in the contest entries were those dandelions or daisies clutched in the hand of a smiling child or grandchild. I've been the recipient of those kind of bouquets and I've also helped the grandchildren pick flowers to give their mamas. Pure love that makes those short stemmed and wilted dandelions the most beautiful flowers in the world. 

Lois agrees in her story. "My flower story is when my daughter was about 4 years old - now she is 40 - she gave me a bunch of dandelions in a fruit jar for Mother's Day and she was soooo very proud. They were the best flowers I  have ever received."

Rosemary's story shows that grandmothers like those kinds of bouquets too. "One day when I was out, my grandchildren stopped by to visit. When I came home I found some flowers picked from my garden along with a note that said: Hi Grandma, we stopped by and watered your flowers. We love you! I treasured that note and put it away in my keepsake box. Thinking of that day always brings a smile."

All grandmas have a keepsake box in their heart for memories like that. Karen certainly keeps this next memory of a special flower in her heart. It happened on the day she was watching her grandson on the day graduate from preschool in cap and gown and all. 

"Parents, grandparents, teachers and children had filled the church sanctuary waiting for the 'solemn' occasion to begin. As we sat on the edge of our seats, turning to view the children as they marched in to 'Pomp and Circumstance,', imagine my surprise as my grandchild passed by me and suddenly broke line, ran back to where I was sitting, and in his most precious voice said, 'Grandma, this is for you!' 

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but I felt extremely honored as his parents, his other grandparents and my husband were all there. Even though it was not a big bouquet, but one single small flower that had bloomed among the grassy area, which he picked outside of the church as the class was waiting their turn to enter the building, in my eyes it was.  What fun it was to recall that day in my life.

Flowers have a way of making us feel loved. Flowers give us a way to show that love as Karen's grandson did. But sometimes the surprise can be double whammy. Mary's story made me smile.

"My son gave me a lovely bunch of flowers once. It was certainly a surprise because he pulled them up from our garden, roots and all. The thought was there & we did manage to re-plant most quite successfully."

 Earth laughs in flowers.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Thanks for reading. More flower stories to come.

Paper Airplanes and Homework

I just got home from spending a couple of days with my grandkids while their parents went on a business/relaxation trip. They take this trip every year and for the past several years I've gone up to their house to hold down the fort. Well, last year, the kids came to my house. My husband was out of town that weekend, but I lucked out with my daughter home that weekend. This year I went there, but my husband was able to go along to help. The twin boys loved that. We had two days of back to the past. It's been a while since our kids grew up. We're a little rusty - no, a lot rusty - at seeing to first grade homework, bath time, packing school lunches, getting kids up and off to school and keeping the peace between siblings. They say kids keep you young, but that's only for a few hours. After a few days, we realize we're not as young as we used to be!! But then who is? 

It's a funny thing about kids. The more fancy toys they have, the more they like the simple things. Like paper airplanes. The boys had a great time with the airplanes folded from a piece of paper. They'd climb halfway up their stairway and float them down into the living room. Over and over. 

Isn't that one of the fun things about kids? They don't get bored doing the same things over and over the way us older folks do. Kids don't mind seeing the same movie again and again. In fact, they sometimes will watch a favorite movie until they can say the dialogue with the characters. Reruns of their cartoon shows are fine with them. They pick the same book again and again and will beg to have it read to them five times in a row. Or more. The Monster at the End of the Book Starring Sweet Loveable Grover was a favorite this week. It's been a favorite with all the grandkids and with me too because it's such fun to read. Each grandkid has also enjoyed reading it with great expression as soon as they learned to read."You turned another page."

But the paper airplanes were a big hit. The noses of the planes would get crunched and the boys would hunt a new piece of paper. No piece of art by their sisters was safe. LOL. By the time we left they had a whole fleet of airplanes, all showing signs of many crash landings. 

Did you ever make paper airplanes? Did you fold them in fancy ways or plain the way the one beside the twins on the table? Sometimes the simple folded ones fly the best or maybe that's the only kind I can make fly. But then I can't fly kites either.

So we had a great time with the kids and a few tiring moments in those keeping the peace times. But there's nothing like a grandkid hug and kiss and an "I love you, Grandma." 

Have you checked out Jocie's Hollyhill Book of the Strange this week? Jocie had some homework of her own so she let Wes take over. She thinks you'll like Wes. You can click on the tab at the top of this blog to navigate over to Jocie's blog too. Remember if you leave a comment here and/or on Jocie's blog you'll get an entry into a giveaway for the chance to win an autographed copy of Scent of Lilacs. Three winners. Drawing on March 1. Also you can check out this Goodreads link for more chances to win a copy of Scent of Lilacs.   

Thanks for reading!