A Simple Hot Cocoa Station

When my kids were really little, the days spent at home with them were mostly awesome. I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. But they were also exhausting. Really, really exhausting.

Being home alone with young children day in and day out can be both very fulfilling and very isolating.

So by the time the weekends rolled around, I couldn’t wait to get out and enjoy family activities together. I was always on the lookout for the latest happenings and we had so many fun adventures!

This was particularly true during the holiday season. We would pack the weekends with every kind of festivity we could find. Watching Santa arrive by train at Riverfront Park. Driving around to every light display. Zoo lights. Christmas parades. You name it, we’ve done it!

But life is different these days. Really different.

These days, as our kids are getting older, we feel as though we are getting less and less time with them. The long days spent at home together have been replaced with shuttling them to and fro and feeling like sometimes the only one on one time we get with them is when we are helping them with homework. And we all know how super fun that is! 😉

Lately, we just crave being home. We crave downtime together with nothing on the agenda except maybe a nap.

And we’re finding this to be especially true during the Christmas season.

Suddenly, we’ve found ourselves longing to create different kinds of memories. Ones that are a little bit more relaxed, more simple.

And the cherished moments seem to be happening in less contrived, less ‘planned out’ ways. Like when my daughter begged to help me make the banner to hang over the hot cocoa station. She stood there in her PJ’s and fuzzy, bed head hair and all I could think about was how quickly time was passing and how thankful I was that I said ‘yes’ to her request.

Especially since she added her own little special touch to the banner.

They say that when you are raising children, the days are long but the years are short. And in those early years of motherhood I didn’t really understand that because frankly, those days just felt SO LONG!

But, now I get it. I get how quickly those years fly by.

And I get that they are only going to fly by faster and faster.

So I’m embracing a Christmas where the treasured moments are quieter, less overt.

Where something as simple as doing a puzzle together feels almost sacred.

Oh, we’ll still go driving around looking at light displays and join in some of our favorite activities here and there.

But, we’re being more selective, more protective of this precious time together. And we’re realizing that even without the lights and the activities and the parades, Christmas will still come.

And we will welcome it not with exhaustion and whatever energy remains, but with joy and reverence.

And a cup of hot cocoa! 🙂

I’m so thrilled to be joining my fellow bHome friends this week as we share some of our favorite Christmas ideas and inspiration!

GIVEAWAY

All the bloggers you will see on this tour are on the bHome App and we are honored to be partnering with D. Lawless Hardware to offer a $150.00 Gift Card to one lucky winner. To enter just download our bHome App by clicking HERE. Our app is available to both iPhone and Android users. If you have already downloaded bHome, you will automatically get a message to TAP to enter. D. Lawless offers international shipping so this giveaway is open to anyone. Winner will be notified on or around December 14, 2015.

DAY 1

Garden Therapy | Cedar Hill Farmhouse | Bright, Bold & Beautiful | Cupcakes and Crinoline

Southern Hospitality | Little Farmstead | Shabby Art Boutique

DAY 2

Redhead Can Decorate | Jennifer Rizzo | Our Southern Home | Maison de Pax | Rooms for Rent

Cherished Bliss | Homemade by Carmona | Everyday Enchanting | My Soulful Home

DAY 3

Savvy Southern Style | Shabbyfufu | Housepitality Designs

Debbiedoo’s | StoneGable | Love of Home | Setting for Four | On Sutton Place

DAY 4

Buckets of Burlap | Cynthia Weber Design | Edith & Evelyn | Lilacs & Longhorns

Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer | At The Picket Fence | Duke Manor Farm