...Christmas Spirit...

Is it really December? The weather sure didn't fell like it today! It was warm and sunny, you didn't even need a jacket with a high of 67 degrees! That never happens here!

So I took advantage of the day and decided to put up Christmas lights, because after all it IS December and we are expecting SNOW tomorrow!

I'm so of proud of myself! It was MUCH more work than it looks like from the finished picture! The kids love it and that makes it worth all my effort!


The kids were feeling the Christmas spirit too! Katie and John did a little shopping at Secret Santa's Workshop at school today. They spent the afternoon wrapping the presents they bought for each other. Of course, they didn't want to wait until Christmas to open them! So we opened a few of them before bedtime!

They were so excited for each other to open the special presents they picked out. The best part was watching the look on their faces while the other person opened the gift! They put so much thought into the little gifts they picked out. My heart was so happy and full watching my kids enjoy giving to one another!


I can feel the Christmas spirit in the air!!

...decorating...

We usually decorate for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving, but this year was different. Like the rest of the year nothing is quite the same without Donnie.

We have always had a fake tree, but last year our pre-lit tree wouldn't light. So after stringing lights onto the tree, I decided it was time to put that tree out on the curb after Christmas. Too bad, I didn't get a new one for this year at the post Christmas sales like I planned too. And buying a new big tree just seemed like more than I can handle, so this year we will have three small trees. Katie, John, and Luke each decorated their own tree with their own ornaments, and some ornaments they made special this year. 


I tried to set back and just let them decorate their trees how they wanted. It was so very hard, and anything I suggested they didn't want to do anyway! Perhaps, I should have used some reverse psychology on them.

The finished Christmas trees...


These halls are decked, December is here,

so look who decided to come back to visit this year!

...TWINKLE...