Christmas Time Is Here. . .

Our Christmas cards should be arriving today.  I really like them.  Last year, I started doing a card design on Snapfish that includes several pictures.  I used pictures, primarily of Aidan, from throughout the year.  Loved it!  I found another one, but better for this year.  Can't wait to see it! 

I have gotten incredibly lazy when it comes to Christmas cards.  I used to buy them and then handwrite on each of them:  signature, addresses, and sometimes a short note.  Now, I have the signature done through the company I buy the cards, and my sentiments are also pre-done--I do come up with it myself, though.  I just hang onto the fact that the pictures tell the story of what we have been up to this past year. 

Normally, at Christmas time, I like to wait until our Anniversary (December 13th) to put up our tree and start lighting outside lights.  I might start after Thanksgiving--which is usually the first weekend of Advent--on some indoor decorating, but not be done with it until December 13th.  It's nice that way because we aren't tired of it before Christmas gets here.  This year, I was over ruled.  We did ALL of it the weekend after Thanksgiving--a full week before Advent began!  I'm just hoping it doesn't all come down the day after Christmas. . .I tend to get a little nuts if there is too much clutter. . .

It is pretty, though.

The boys put the tree together. . .

I got the lights on the way I like them. . .lots and lots of lights!!!

Put out the Father Frost on the Mantle with some greenery and a deer. . .

The train was set up. . .and played with. . .

And voila!  A picture worth a thousand words. . .

 

The thing that is really cool this year is that the tree lights are reflected in the floor!  I can just imagine Christmas Eve with the fire going and the tree lights on, it will be a warm and happy place. . .not that it isn't already, of course!!

I have our Christmas dinner menu pretty much set.  Now I just need to shop for the food for it. . .in a couple of weeks.  Most of the gifts have been purchased, too.  Tons of wrapping to do, though!  I do have a couple of gifts left to purchase, but I am not on a time cruch to do them.  I can wait a bit.  This week I am planning to get the cards done and mailed and do a lot of wrapping.  By next weekend, I should be in excellent shape to sit back and just enjoy the season.  Hmmm . . .that's pretty early, too!  That will be great.

Aidan and I will be baking some tasty cakes for the neighbors in a couple of weeks.  We do this each year and take some homemade Irish Cream to many of them, too.  It's fun for he and I to do this together.  Yesterday some friends came in the afternoon and we made 8 dozen each of cookies: hers were sugar cookies filled with Nutella, very sweet, but yummy and mine are Buckeyes--also known here in Virginia as Martha Washington Candy.  Why so many?  Well, today is a Cookie excange at our work.  We needed 6  1/2 dozen for the exchange, which left some for us at home, too.  After today, I will have tons of cookies!!  I may have more to bake:  chocolate chip and Christmas M & M cookies, but that will be about it!  Aidan will love helping with those.

Aidan's hockey team won yesterday.  Aidan seems to have slipped back into being intimidated again so he was not very productive.  Well, that's not really true.  He had three assists, which were awesome--some really good passing.  But, he wasn't engaging himself in going after the puck.  I think he'll settle down again.  It was likely being off for two weeks that threw him back. 

With this win, and another team's loss, our Grey Wolves are likely in the top six.  After half the season, which was yesterdays game, the 12 teams are split into two divisions:  Upper 6 and Lower 6.  We are pretty sure our boys just made the Upper 6 cut off.  Now we will play 12 more games 2 against each team.  And then there will be a championship tournament.  We will find out for sure in a day or so where we stand along with getting the new schedule etcetera. 

Well, back to work today.  That was one fast weekend!!!