It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Whoa!  I think this may be a record for longest time between blog posts.  Sooo ... I guess I'll start with the most recent stuff first then try to catch you up over the next week or so on what's been going on over the last 3 months since I've blogged.

Yesterday we dragged everything out of the attic and decorated the house.  I decided that I wanted to put the tree in the living room this year instead of by the stairs.  I thought it seemed more cozy and you could see it from the street.  In theory, this doesn't seem like a big deal.  However, the living room just was not arranged for a tree to fit by the window so I ended up moving all of the furniture around and hauling the rocking chair up to the attic.  It turned into an all-day endeavor.  But I am so happy with the end result.

The kids get so excited about decorating the tree.  However, it was a challenge because we had to round them up before we could put the ornaments on the tree.  Nick and Austin were here but Lauren and Mackenzie were both at a friend's house.  But at about 4pm, we found everyone and all had fun putting the ornaments on as a family.  Here are some pictures of our day.  Austin and Nick helped spread the branches on the tree.

Ugh!  Look at all of those boxes that need to be unloaded (and that's not all of them!).  And all I'm thinking as we're unpacking the boxes is that in a few weeks we're gonna have to pack everything back up.  I'm somewhat of a Christmas scrooge that way.

But now on to the fun stuff!  This is my favorite part every year ... the kids putting on the ornaments.  My job is to take the ornaments out of their boxes and the kids line up and I hand them an ornament.  Marty helps them with the glass or heavy ones.  It's fun!

Here's the line-up from my perspective.  These kids are very impatient!  I can't get the ornaments out of the box fast enough!  They're like a swarm!!!

And here are some action shots!  (That's Nick first and Austin second.)

Ta da!  All done.  Here's my super cool family by the tree.

Oh we need some music.  How about Kenny Chesney: All I Want For Christmas Is A Real Good Tan.  (Did I mention that we're headed to Hawaii the week before Christmas?  :)