As this year quickly comes to an end I start to reminisce on all that has happened in 2016…

My best friend moved to California and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.  My brother and sister-in-law brought my beautiful niece into this world. I took a leap of faith and left my job to pursue my dreams.  My kiddos have never stopped surprising me this year with their amazing smiles and growing personalities.  Our foster son is still with us, which brings me to the most amazing realization that there truly is magic in this world.

Yesterday I was having a conversion with my very fast growing 15 year old son as we stopped to pick up his first job application and made a DMV appointment for him to get his learners permit.  He says to me “do the younger kids still believe in Santa”? and I responded this may be the last year we have in this house for the magic of Christmas and I was hoping to push it a little longer but they are getting to that age.  I can still remember when I stopped believing, between my moms handwriting on Santa’s letter or my dad wrapping Santa’s gifts in the same paper the other gifts were wrapped in.  But as I start to think about the magic slowly disappearing I say to him “magic is all around us”, its not about fairy dust and unicorns, its about the things in life that make us smile and break our hearts and make us people.  Its about getting a little boy when he is three and falling in love with him before you even knew what happened, its about finding the one you love and sharing your life with that person, its about becoming a mother and then becoming an aunt and a best friend.  Its about getting a phone call to foster a 3 week old baby and knowing instantly you were going to love him. Magic is what you make it! Its not anything you see its what you experience and if my kids can believe in that I have done my job as a mother.

As you spend this holiday with your family remember all the magical memories you have shared with them this past year and know that there are so many more magical moments to come.

Merry Christmas!!