Happy in the Middle

It is November and I thought I would give an update on the holiday events so far.

We cut down the tree, put it up in the house, decorated it. . . . and undecorated. Needless to say, the kids have enjoyed the ornaments. Ason likes the 'balls' (aka bulbs) and wants to play catch with them. Roo likes all the other ornaments and takes them off the tree to play with them - hourly. So far we have had to super glue 9 of the ornaments. Not bad.

We have one other small tree in the basement that is decorated with Scandinavian ornaments that my mom and I made when I was little. Tonight Roo and Ason took all the decorations off the tree. Uff - da! The tree has very cool memories for me. Do you think Roo will have the same memories of 'ornament-making' with me? I bought some precut foam pieces that we glued together. Not exactly the same as bending and tying straw together like my mom and I did with the Scandinavian ornaments.

The four nativity sets have been getting good use also. Three of the sets are for kids to play with (Little People, Playskool, soft set). The fourth set is breakable. Of course this is the one Roo loves the best. She promises to be 'very careful' with it. I give in and let her play with it when Ason naps. She loves arranging them in the stable and having the wise men visit. I better keep that super glue around.

We have bought presents, made presents, and wrapped presents. Big J and I have never been very good at surprises - or waiting till Christmas to give gifts. It seems we have passed this trait onto our daughter. She has been making lots of gifts for people - coloring, painting, drawing. But she has trouble getting to the wrapping stage. She keeps handing out the gifts to anyone who comes to our house. I guess I am glad she is enjoying the 'giving.'

I put Christmas music in the stereo, but Roo is stuck on Mary Poppins songs right now. She said, "I can't get them out of my head!" We saw the "Macy's 8th Floor" display on November 15th. A great time to go, since no one was there. No line. It was awesome. Roo and Emmadala actually sat on Santa's lap and had their picture taken - on November 15th. Got that out of the way.

The Christmas cards are ready. We decided to go with a boring 'everyone smiling at the camera' picture. Actually - it is amazing that Ason is smiling at the camera. We all look nice and put together. Maybe we actually are this year. We are relaxed - but it is only November.