Here Come The Holidays...

The tradition in our family is to decorate the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  That way I get the most out of my holiday sparkle.  

The boys were really excited to help decorate, and thankfully they don't realize how pitifully tiny our Christmas tree is.  Josh and I miss the smell of a real tree, but the convenience of an artificial one fits our life up here.  And once it's decorated, lit up and sitting on it's little table in the corner of our living room, it really is quite beautiful.

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In addition to the arrival of Christmas decorations, our elf on the shelf, Dashy surprised us, showing up on the 30th, ready for December's arrival.  I adore the boys' joy in these pictures.  And I love that a little holiday magic for them turns into a little holiday magic for me.  Seeing their faces when they wake up in the morning and race off to see what shenanigans Dashy's been up to makes me so happy.

Here Dashy had taken a shower and was using toilet paper for a towel.  I will try to post more pictures as the month goes on.  He's a pretty clever little elf, and we're really enjoying having him around. (Mostly I am, because I get to constantly remind the children that "Dashy is watching" or "Dashy's going to tell Santa..." and it encourages them to be a little better about kindness and listening.)

The lights all around the house make me so happy.

(This is the view as I come down the stairs)

And the lights in our bedrooms make them feel so cozy!

We've been getting little tease of snow each day the last week.  I am hopeful that more comes because a) it's beautiful and b) then I could get these kids out of the house to play in it!

I'm definitely praying for a white Christmas!