Trimmings

As I type this my laptop is currently sitting on top of my cool mist humidifier (sans water) in an effort to keep it from overheating. We believe the internal fan decided to commit holiday suicide just to spite us, and this is the only way to keep the bugger running! That being said, I'd like to post these pictures before taking it off to the laptop hospital from which it may return sometime in 2011. If I'm lucky. There's nothing all that special about these, but since they are all about our family decorating for the holidays, I didn't figure they'd make a very interesting post after the New Year!

We decided this year to forgo our big tree and instead put a small four-footer on top of our entertainment center. Having a little one obsessed with balls means that there would never be any rest in this house, and I'd never be able to keep that kid away from the tree. I really don't dig the look of a tree with baby gates surrounding it (been there done that - only with the cats), so this was the next best thing.

In no particular order...



My most well-loved Christmas ornament of all time - and it shows. 2 legs, one antler, flaking paint and enough superglue to fill the Grand Canyon. It just wouldn't be Christmas without this little guy.




Old meets new...Rudolph enjoys a tete-a-tete with Julian's first Christmas ornament from last year.



Excuse the gnarliness of some of these photos...our house seriously lacks light, especially on cold and dreary days!

 




Christmas ornaments I made for our family... got a little crafty this year (yes, I can be crafty!) This was about midway through the project.

Our little family - in snowmen. I originally tried the above craft on glass Christmas balls (which did not end well), so I was trying to make use of the ones that remained.

A little outdoor decoration.

Of course, we only got fit like one iota of the ornaments we own on this tiny tree, but that's ok. We picked child-safe ones and let all the pretty glass decorations rest until a future date. Julian went absolutely bonkers over our 10 -year-old plastic apple 'balls' that made up the majority of the ornaments we used this year.





Who can resist this face?



An ode to the mice of Christmas past.

Three little stockings, all in a row.

If I can manage it, I'll also post some pictures of our first 'real' snow. It only lasted a few hours, but it was pretty while it lasted!

Hope everyone is having a safe and stress-free holiday season. I can't believe how quickly it comes and goes. I seem to remember the Christmases of my childhood taking years to get here!