Holiday Preparations

Well, carols are playing, the tree is up, the cards are mailed, and the house is decorated inside and out. We didn't put too much out in the house because little fingers don't stay off. So basically, I have the mantle and banister decorated (out of reach), some plush snowmen around the house and Christmas dishes that we use for the holiday season. I have a million knick knacks that didn't even make it out of the box. Some year I suppose.

Last weekend I took them to my mom's work for Breakfast with Santa. Kaylie HATED Santa this time and the only picture I have is of her crying and squirming herself off of Santa's lap. Ryan could care less where he was sitting. Here they are enjoying some cookies with their hats that didn't fit. I guess they have big heads.

Bob did the lights outside. I would go take a picture but it's sleeting here at the moment. You'll have to wait. Our neighbor even called us to say how nice it looks.

Speaking of lights....a day last week we lost power for over an hour and I was by myself. The kids were eating and then all of the sudden it went out. I lit a million candles to try make it as light as possible. After a while Kaylie kept pointing to the lights as if to say, "Turn them on," but I just kept telling her they were broken. Here they are dining in the dark.

Shopping is almost complete but the wrapping remains. I also have to do some annual baking of cookies, but I'm not going crazy this year.

The kids have Christmas jammies....

The tree: This year we got an artificial tree. This is the first year of my life without a real tree. While I don't miss watering the tree, I do miss the smell of a fresh cut tree. The tree came with a spray but it's not the same. We decided to do artificial because we knew the kids wouldn't leave it alone and the amount of fallen needles would be impossible to keep up with. The kids of course touch it and we constantly are saying, "Don't touch the tree!" I want to record myself and just have it play if any branches are touched, sort of like a tree alarm. We are only on day 3 of having it up but so far no broken ornaments, although the breakable ones are high up.