It's Beginning to Look (a tiny bit) Like Christmas!

What's up with us this week?

Well...there's this:

"Rudolph! Quick! Santa's on fire!"

You can't say we don't have a sense of humor. 

We've been waiting on a check from our bank for a painfully long time. A check we desperately need to finish projects in the house and do other important things, like pay our contractors. Without the check (which thankfully arrived today, at the wrong address) we haven't been able to get the rest of our furniture delivered or put up curtains in the living room windows, which means we haven't put up the Christmas tree yet.

Seeing the first day of December pass without a Christmas tree in our home is MAKING ME BATCRAP CRAZY.

So, this morning afternoon I ventured into our new attic space (which by the way, is pretty stinking cool) and started digging for decorations I could put out right now.

I finally found what remained of my Grandma Nonnie's Christmas decorations. I plopped them (very, very gently) right into my favorite glass bowl.

Just seeing something of hers at Christmas time makes me immensely happy. 

Being the first of December, we also hung the countdown socks. This was a new tradition we started last year. Tuna made these and stitched them all by hand. We put something fun in the socks for each day of December and they have the added bonus of ending the question "how many days until Christmas?" That is a question Rough Stuff would ask at least 75 times in the month of December alone. 

We have warned the kids that the socks will not be quite as exciting now that we are not freshly post-fire. It was really easy to spoil them when they had nothing. They got candy and trinkets last year, but they also got some bigger gifts, cash for shopping, and even (gasp!) a treasure hunt on Christmas Eve that ended with them finding live animals, 4 guinea pigs and a lizard. There will be no such excitement this year. 

We are focusing instead on activities we can do as a family. 

We're kicking things off with cookie baking. 

We may not have a tree up yet, but we are going to Christmas it up 'round here.   

And for the 'CAUSE WHY NOT?' file:

Our Christmas tree has been recalled. Apparently it is a fire hazard. The foot pedal that controls the lights catches on fire. We have been warned to cut the cord off and return it for a full refund.  

Well of course it is. 'Cause why not?