Goodbye December

Goodbye Candles, Goodbye Glow
Goodbye Ribbons, Bells & Bows
Goodbye Parades & Holiday Fun
Pack up the Ornaments One By One
Goodbye to Old Friends From TOO Far Away
(You Make Us Wish Christmas Could Be Every Day!)
Goodbye to the Cards (We Never Did Send)And to the Cookies We Ate (I mean: "Baked for our Friends")
Goodbye to Hot Cocoa & Eggnog, Too
Goodbye Pretty Tree! (Boo Hoo Hoo Hoo!)
Goodbye Packed Schedule & Making it Work
Goodbye to My Waistline (Hello Baggy Shirt!)
Goodbye to cooking & Cleaning Nonstop
Goodbye Crowded Stores Where We (Last Minute) Shopped
Goodbye to the Christmas-y Places We Went
Goodbye to the (Too Much) Money We Spent!!!
Goodbye to the Neighborhood Dressed Up in Cheer
Goodbye to Christmas for One More Year!

I want to complain, but I just can't...

(Disclaimer: Excuse the smear of goo on my car thermometer--I am constantly peeling animal stickers off of everything we own!)I have to laugh at this weather because Andrea has been talking about the ice storm they're having in Illinois. We have been having weather in the 70's and 80's so far this week and I have to say, we have been having a blast!!! Sure, it's a little weird to be raking giant piles of leaves in shorts...and even weirder to drive with the windows down at night looking at everyone's Christmas lights...but it has been so NICE outside that I just can't bring myself to complain. Landon and I have been to the zoo to see the new giraffes and lions. I also took him to the public horse stable and to the dog park downtown. We never feel like doing all of these fun outdoor things when it's cold! So, yeah, global warming is scary as crap, but I am southern to the core. I do like the one day a year when a few snow flurries threaten to fall and the whole city pretty much shuts down, though. There are over 600,000 people in this city and I swear almost every single one, young and old, skips out on work or school at the first sign of snow. Bread and milk disappear from the store shelves. Businesses close (under the excuse that the roads could get dangerous--ha ha!) just so people can go home and enjoy the few little snowflakes that drift through town once a year for about three minutes. Yes, it can get a little melodramatic, but I have my bread and milk, so I'm all set. Pat Conroy said it best in Beach Music: "Southerners love snow. It always surprises us." So true. I'll still stop everything like everyone else to try to scrape up a tiny snowman from the slush when our snow day comes this year....I always do. But for now, I am really enjoying being able to walk out to my car more than two slow inches at a time (I can't even function in the cold! I just shuffle around like an old lady or curl up in a ball and wait for it to go away). I love being outside with Landon surrounded by a mild breeze, my ghastly white (unshaved...Shhh!) "winter legs" gleaming in the sun, blinding all the neighbors. I think, "Wow, it's December!" and feel like I'm getting away with something really sneaky. Warm weather at Christmas--So wrong and yet oh-so-right! Ahhh, the upside of pollution! (Well, I'll get away with calling it the "upside" until global warming decides to snatch away my annual snow day! Hmph!)

Our Ornaments

We all have ornaments that are sentimental hanging on our tree. I thought it would be cool to post pictures of the ones that mean the most to our family. You guys should, too!
This ornament was a gift from Andy's parents. I've always loved these little family ornaments, but this one is the first one on my tree that hasn't included my parents and siblings. It really makes our tree feel like "Our Tree".

This one is a big reminder of how crazy I was during the last few weeks before my wedding. I actually thought it'd be a really great idea to HAND PAINT three hundred Christmas ornaments to hang on a tree at our reception as favors for the guests. Say no more, I was a little nutty. I had to post this one because, not only is this the one ornament my husband insists on hanging every year, it describes him to a "T". A soccer ball with a crown on top and a star underneath. Keep dreaming, my love! ;oD
I posted these for my little monkey. I had to redo the whole tree after he went to bed because he hung all of his favorite ornaments in one little clump at the very bottom of the tree. These two are his favorites: One is a Triceratops(oh, pardon moi, Landon has informed me it is a Protoceratops--It's so fun to be schooled by a two-year-old!)and the other is Swiper the fox (from a set he picked out at Target). I'll post some more later, when we get them all put up.

Basking in the Glow

We finally started decorating our house for Christmas this past weekend and, even though the guy we bought our tree from cut off the entire bottom of our poor tree, I'm love, love, loving every bit of it. Every night, we dim the lamps and light our Advent candles. We watch whatever classic Christmas movie is on, drink hot chocolate and just relax. I love this time of year!
The best thing about this Christmas season is that Landon is really getting into it. He has been reminding us for the past couple of weeks that HE was going to be the one to put the angel on the tree. He's already talking about what kind of cookies we're going to leave out for Santa and he's memorized every word of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". It's great that Christmas becomes magical all over again when you have kids!

I'm not bragging. (Well, maybe just a little!!!)

Hee hee hee hee!