The stockings were hung on the bookshelf withOUT care.

It's true.  My stockings are hung on the bookshelf.  And they were put there without much care or thought.

December is the busiest month of the year in our house in every facet of our lives.  Josh has the Christmas Eve services at church which are beyond what most people can imagine a church service would entail.  I do marketing for Chick-fil-A in a mall.  Anyone ever shopped at the mall this time of year?  Craziness!  And then there's photography.  Guess when everyone & their brother wants pictures?  Right before Christmas of course.  It is hands down the busiest time of year.  Not complaining-- it is a total blessing & I love every minute of it!

As if that weren't enough on our plates, we have Christmas parties galore.  And oh my are the ever fun.  Then there's Christmas shopping, wrapping, decorating, finding the perfect outfit.  And... this year we have a lively 10 month old to join in on all the fun, which requires an insane amount of prep & clean up to do anything (Can you hear that?  Mom's of multiple kids are laughing right now).

We were out of town for Thanksgiving & when we got back I couldn't wait to put our Christmas decorations up!  We bought a new tree-- a tall & skinny one that actually fits in our apartment, and I already had present to put under it, as I had been buying all year long this year.

But the reality was, I was tired.  Our house was messy.  I had a to-do list a mile long.

So I pushed some of the books further back in the bookshelf & hung our stockings.  I only had hangers for two, so Hazel's is held in place by a heavy book.  Classy.

  

It's a shame really.  I had big dreams for our stockings.  All three were handmade.  And the more I look at them, Josh's and Hazel's are nearly identical.  Extremely cool considering I think they were made by two different people, 28 years apart.

But that's okay.  Not every year is going to be a magical tale, and I'm okay with that.  I'm not super mom, and I'm at peace with that, too.  My goal isn't to perfect every detail of every holiday or event.  My goal is to help our little girl to grow up loving God & others.  And I'm pretty sure the placement of the stockings have nothing to do with that.