Christmas tree o Christmas tree!!

With the lights on. OK so not the best pictures, but you get the idea. See all the Christmas books to the left of the tree? Great books! The craziness of the ornaments, and the carousel horses under the tree. Emma always asks for the carousel, and she sets it up under the tree!

With the lights off... wonder who knocked off the lights on the bottom??

Yesterday Matthew and Little Matt went out in the woods and cut down our  tree! I wish I had a picture of Little Matt's face when he dragged that big 'ol tree through the front door, and the huge grin on his face his blue eyes sparkling with excitement! What a wonderful surprise for the end of the day!  It's big and full and I love it! For a wild tree it really looks nice, and with the lights and decorations the kids put on, it's great! Matthew and I put the lights on it first. Every time we put the lights on I think of that very funny song that I love about the lights on the tree. Not sure what it's called, but the man is trying to get the lights on his house and then he's yelling by the end of it "Oh when one blinks they all blink, if your so smart, do it yourself!" I laugh and holler at Matthew, in a teasing way, every year those lines as we untangle the lights! We both laugh, and the kids think I'm crazy! It's moments like that, that I enjoy being able to be silly with my family, and just enjoy their company. Every year we buy a new ornament for the kids to put on the tree. Then when they have their own trees in their own homes they will have some decorations to put on it, and maybe carry on that family tradition. My parents did that for us girls, and now that we are grown and have kids of our own we all do it for our kids. Actually Mom still gets us a tree ornament.

My Christmas blanket. I'd like to knit this well, someday!

I love the Christmas season! It's such a joy even more so with the kids getting older and really feeling the excitement of the holiday and the true meaning of Christmas. My grandmother made me a Christmas blanket that I put over the couch, and it's so pretty, and festive. It keeps me warm as I sit on the couch curled up with it, hot coco in hand, the fire going in the wood stove, and my favorite Christmas movie on, Irving Berlins White Christmas! Oh I just love that movie! Or with the kids piled on me reading one of our wonderful Christmas books! Just to name a few, Rocking Horse Christmas, The Crippled Lamb, The Legend of the Candy Cane, Stranger in the Woods, I could list more, but I think you get the picture! We all look forward to digging out the holiday movies, books and music, to enjoy all month!