To The People Who Celebrate EVERYTHING...

Keep going.

Keep celebrating.

To the people who think the holidays are out of control...

Keep going.

Keep reading.

In our house, we sometimes celebrate days the rest of the world does not. It may be a half birthday, it may be a birthday that doesn't have any significance to its number. We celebrate decorated boxes on Valentine's Day. We celebrate leprechauns coming to our house for St. Patrick's Day and having a mini pizza party. We celebrate the Easter Bunny and Jesus coming. We decorate the tree at Christmas. We give gifts to those we love, to those who may not get any otherwise and to those whom we just want to make smile.

Now you're either with me up to this point or so over everything I've said.

WHY celebrate every. little. thing?

We celebrate because not everybody gets the chance to do so. Not everybody makes it to their 100th birthday , their 50th birthday or even there 1st birthday. We celebrate if it's simply that we are still here. Now, I'm not going to plan extravagant parties for every single day of the week, or even for every holiday on the calendar, but if my child's imagination causes him to set up "leprechaun traps" for 3 hours straight one day, you better believe the leprechauns are going to turn our milk green on March 17th.

Even when the days seem hard, I am going to wake up every morning and thank God for another day to celebrate the sunshine, whether that is just the sunshine in my children's eyes on a rainy day or the sunshine that I see in my clients during their shoot.

We celebrate in honor of those who have gone on. We celebrate for the babies who are with Jesus. We celebrate for those who never got to see their high school graduation. We celebrate for the dads who will never meet their children. We celebrate for the moms who left their kids much sooner than they meant. We celebrate because we never know which holiday, which day, or even which moment will be our last.

We do not celebrate to make our family seem more exciting than yours.

We celebrate because we cherish this life, and that is reason enough for me.