Things That Have Filled My Heart with Joy

I've really been trying to savor the "moments" lately. I am a person who considers Christmas an entire season and not just a day, in fact I've had many recurring nightmares to find myself suddenly awake on Christmas day having done nothing to prepare, anticipate, or celebrate its arrival. So, in an effort to prove it's just a bad dream, I work really hard at savoring the journey that begins after Halloween and ends at the beginning of January. In light of that, here are a few things that have made me stop and smile, and filled my heart with warm fuzzies (and occassionally my eyes with tears) over the last week or so....

1. After three frustrating attempts last week, finally getting a mid-day nap
2. My first peppermint mocha from Starbucks of the season
3. Hearing my son say one day last week, "Today, Mommy, I'm going to try to be really good" - (this makes me want to cry right now as today has been a bit of the opposite, he's currently writing an apology letter to me in his room as instructed by the phone call from Daddy - Mondays are hard....)
4. The sunshine last Friday
5. The smell of my Christmas trees
6. The fact that my kids love the pizza from WinCo foods and especially requested it after getting the tree (what a cheap - and I agree, yummy pizza)
7. The first listenings of: Point of Grace's "Let There Be Light", Amy Grant's "O Little Town", Newsong's "Sing Noel" - these songs literally give me chills....
8. The date with my daughter at the above mentioned "Starbucks"
9. The looks in the kids' eyes watching Santa board the train
10. Watching ELF and SANTA CLAUSE 2 while wrapping Christmas presents