Carols and "The Season"

The kids are ready for Christmas and I still need about another extra week. And since school let out today for our winter break, you can forget about getting about 1/2 the stuff you need to get done in a timely manner. Oh well....it will just have to be good enough as is. Speaking of the last day of school, we gave the kids teacher's their presents today. I had fun making wreaths for them and wanted to share with you all how they turned out. They went over big. It is nice to have your ideas appreciated.



We have done some of the fun stuff already, though. We did some baking the other night. The kids helped to lick the spoons and bowls, but there is still a few more items that I want to make before it really feels like Christmas to me. We went to see this crazy house in town that is decorated with lights to the hilt. They were way impressed and we found out that a couple of days later there was going to be an open house there too. They decorate like crazy inside too and were going to have Santa come and talk to the kids. Of course we had to go back and see the mystery of what the inside would look like. So the night of the open house, the kids kept bugging me and asking: "is it time yet?". Finally, I pulled it together and ushered them to the car. We got to the house and with baited breath entered the home. And realized that we needed to hold our breath. It was decorated to the hilt, but it stunk so bad of cat urine that we were out of there in record time! We are going to go see the special lights display that they do here at the recreational lake a couple of light from now. Hopefully they are not all "lighted" out by then. It is one of my favorite things about Christmas....seeing the displays that people create on their homes with lights and props.
The other fun thing is that every time the door is knocked on, Laurel runs to it hoping that there will be a package. In the chance that there is one and there are presents in it, she insists that it is NOW Christmas and we should open everything right away. Her tactic hasn't worked yet, but not from lack of trying. Because of her extreme excitement, I haven't put any gifts under our tree.....I am just too afraid that she will rip into them prematurely.
So to wrap this blog up, I thought that I would add a "carol" that I re-wrote that words to. You would sing this song to the tune of "Stars were Gleaming" from the Primary songbook:

Eyes were streaming, children screaming,
And their voice was high and shrill,
Mother's story, long and gory,
Retail nightmares, lists to fill,
Hand is stinging, Ears are ringing,
Curses flinging, Baby clinging,
Heavens, is it Christmas still?

Okay so it isn't all as bad as that, but sometimes it is easy to forget the "reason for the season" with all the "I want"'s and stress that we impose on ourselves this time of year. Hope that the song above it just a parody and not a true to life experience to any and all that read my blog. Much love to you all!