Today, my friend Courtney Walsh shares about finding Christmas simplicity — is that an oxymoron?

Lately my seven-year-old, Sam has been asking me if Santa is real.

It dawned on me today when he told me the Santa that visited his chapel at school was absolutely not real because he had black tape on his shoes (Impostor!), that he was at that age when Christmas starts to lose a bit of its luster.

After all, some of the magic disappears when you find out the truth about Santa…

And as you get older and you become the one responsible for meals and traditions and transportation and gift buying and all those obligations that take precedent over the things we actually want to be doing, the magic all but up and leaves.

It’s the season of busy. And I know it’s cliche, but somewhere along the way I started to dream of a simpler Christmas. One that didn’t require grandness but allowed for cozy pajamas and orange cinnamon rolls straight from that canister that scares you when it pops open…

For the rest of Courtney’s post, go here.

I am so delighted to announce that my writing buds and I are banding together to give a great big Christmas gift to our readers. This will be a fun tour that takes you to our blogs for Christmas memories and traditions. You can come back to this post for links to each post as they go live. And be sure to check out each one because many of us will have additional giveaways on our sites. These ladies are so talented that I’m delighted you’ll get a chance to meet them and discover their books if you haven’t already.
– 12/10 – Beth Vogt: A copy of Somebody Like You or A November Bride (winner’s choice); a $5 Starbucks card 
– 12/12 – Cara Putman: A copy of Where Treetops Glisten; B&B Works lotion
– 12/14 – Kristy Cambron: A copy of The Butterfly and the Violin or A Sparrow in Terezin (winner’s choice); a $5 Starbucks card
– 12/16 – Katherine Reay: A copy of Lizzy & Jane or Dear Mr. Knightley (winner’s choice); a Lizzy & Jane tumbler
– 12/18 – Katie Ganshert: A copy of A Broken Kind of Beautiful; an audio copy of An October Bride
– 12/20 – Courtney Walsh: A copy of Paper Hearts; Christmas artwork
– 12/22 – Melissa Tagg: A copy of Here to Stay; an It’s a Wonderful Life DVD
– 12/ 24 – Sarah Ladd: A copy of A Lady at Willowgrove Hall; a Pride and Prejudice DVD
*Winner announced 12/26. U.S. only please.
Just use this form, but be sure to keep going for my extra giveaway!

It’s easy to enter. Just use this form, but be sure to keep going for my extra giveaway!

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And here’s mine!

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