I was pressing coffee this morning, thinking of how fun life is. Waking up each morning, and viewing the day as a blank canvas. I get to do whatever I want, within reason of course.

My daughter has started a new tradition. She likes the concept behind that little ‘Elf On A Shelf‘, but he doesn’t excite me. We went shopping earlier this week for tree lights, and she spotted this crazy snowman hat. It is getting colder in Texas, and my hair is growing, but it’s still quite short. Knowing my head was probably chilled, she placed it on my head.

She looked at me and burst out laughing! It felt like everyone stopped and looked at what was so funny. We both started laughing so hard we could barely breathe. The hat felt soft, and warm to my head, so I continued wearing it as we finished our shopping.

It was $5.00, so I paid for it, and enjoyed watching my daughter laugh all the way out of the store.

She has started placing it in different locations before she goes to bed. One morning I strolled to the coffee maker, and he was sitting on top of it. This morning, he was sitting on top of my bag. Now, it’s my turn to move him for her to find him. You can make life fun.

There is a lot of pressure we put on ourselves this time of year. Buying presents for people we normally see only a few times a year can be stressful. Throughout my life, I have given things away, so maybe this idea will work for you too. God wants us to give our very best, and that doesn’t mean expensive. It means to give away something that brings you joy.

When shopping for holiday gifts, or browsing online, I usually see things that I want. Now come on…You know this happens to you too. I have to restrain myself from coming home with things for me! So, when I see these things that bring me joy, I think to myself, “Who can I give it to?” If it brings you joy, the person you give it to can see it’s from your heart.

The holiday season is not about gift giving at all. It’s when our Savior was born, and a time for celebrating that with the ones we love. The world creates chaos with Black Friday sales, and gets us all in a frenzy about buying big gifts on sale. Life should be fun! Giving should bring joy to the giver and receiver. Give from your heart!

Something was brought to my attention after posting my last Blog entitled, Make It Pretty.

I talked about this massive tree my daughter picked out at Elgin Christmas Tree Farm. What I failed to do was post a picture of it, so here it is. For the past three years, my daughter has had a vision of how each tree should be decorated. They are never the same. We use the same ornaments, but the lights are different, and this year was her first year to do garland.

If your life is not fun, it’s time to stop long enough to enjoy what is happening right in front of you. Thanks to my daughter, and her idea of fun, we get to enjoy this guys presence all day. She even gave the tree a name. We love The Gilmore Girls, so she named it Paul Anka, after Lorelei’s dog. She has made this tree part of our family, at least for a little while.

Before leaving the house yesterday to go into town, we left the tree lights on, along with the porch light. When we got home after dark, Paul Anka was beaming so brightly, you could see him from the street. Walking up to the front door, she peered through the window and grinned. He was shining light all over the den, and in both our hearts.

Make life fun.