Ornament Cupcakes Sprinkled With A Few Tears

The Christmas season is upon us and we're busy preparing for our multi-day traditional celebration and beginning a few new ones. Last week, while Emily was creating her Wishing Spool, she was having a hard time figuring out what she wanted and said to me, "Aunt Kandi, Christmas isn't all about presents. It's God's birthday you know." I can only imagine the smile that crossed my face at that moment and just thinking about it now brings joy to my heart. I said to her, "you're right Emily and this year we're going to make Jesus a birthday cake." And, that's exactly what we're going to do! What an amazing little girl.

Danny has been craving funfetti cupcakes, so this week we made Christmas tree ornament cupcakes. I made the cupcakes and the ornament tops out of fondant and Emily was the official decorator. She did an amazing job! She used practice sheets before attempting to pipe the frosting onto the ornaments and if you've ever used fondant, you know that you have to use water to attached anything that's not frosting. That means, Emily had to use a small decorating brush to attach each of her Christmas tree lights onto one of her cupcakes. She learned how to properly hold a frosting bag and make stars.

Speaking of ornaments, each year we buy an ornament that reminds us of something special in Nathan's life. This year, we welcomed two new additions to our collection. The first ornament was purchased during our trip to Sesame Place and the second while we were volunteering for the Make A Wish Foundation.

Our Christmas season has also been sprinkled with a little sadness. Nathan is almost three and doesn't "get" Christmas or know who Santa is. The moments are fleeting, but they serve as a reminder that our son will always be different and struggle to understand life. We're sad that he's missing out and so are we. On the flip side, Nathan might just believe until he's 15, and we'll have many more years of genuine Santa Claus fun during the season.

As difficult as it may be at times, we can't allow Nathan's challenges bring sadness into our lives. It's not sad ~ it's just a temporary state of being. This year, Nathan's enjoying dancing to Christmas music (he loves the Chipmunk's songs) and tomorrow he'll have brunch with Santa. As I write this, he's dancing around the kitchen to Jingle Bell Rock. Our life is just as it should be ~ perfect in every way!

Thank you for stopping by. We hope you're enjoying your Christmas season.

Holiday Kick-Off, Make-A-Wish & Photo Shoots

Nathan and I officially began the Christmas season with some Black Friday shopping at Toys R Us! Don't judge, but Nathan was the only child in the toy store at 5:30am and he was an angel! He sat in the cart and played with a truck we bought for one of his cousins the entire time. Danny had to work out of town and that morning, so Nathan and I hit the sales, enjoyed breakfast, and sang Christmas songs all morning. He is such a great kid and I'm so lucky that he's so easy going!

After shopping, Nathan had his official Christmas card photo shoot. Here's a sneak peak ~ isn't he adorable?!! Santa's little helper....

I won't get away with dressing him in these outfits much longer, so I took advantage of it! These are actually his Christmas Eve jammies. I'll post more pictures after the Christmas cards have arrived.

Following a well deserved nap, Nathan and I headed to my families Holiday Kick-off party! Nathan made his 2010 Wishing Spool and his hand print Santa card. Both are keepers! We've decided to do yearly Wishing Spools. It will be fun to see how the wishes change from year to year. Next year, I'll paint them green and use red ribbon.

(Notice the card is backwards? Yeah, that was my fault! lol I turned it over to write his name on it and forgot to turn it back around. Oh well, it just makes it that much more special!)

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As I mentioned last week, Nathan and I participated in the Make-A-Wish Foundation's, Adopt an Angel campaign yesterday with friends. For those of you who don't know about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, it "grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions." I am truly blessed to have so many friends who have a genuine compassionate heart for others and believe in giving back.

We also had another photo shoot with Emily. I can only share a few pictures because they're also for Christmas.




It's our sincere hope that your Holidays are a blessing....