Winter Pool Party

Bruce winterized the pool cover yesterday- which means he put a heavy winter tarp on top of the pool. The tarp is held down by water-filled tubes which he had to drag across the backyard in woodsman-type fashion. Any crazy ideas about swimming are really squashed now!

I love today's song- definitely a GOOD Christmas song!

My Cozy Christmas Bed

I like to switch out my bed linens with the seasons, and this is my Christmas bed look! Nice and cozy! Bruce thinks all those pillows are useless, but I like 'em!

Today's Christmas song falls under the "could be the most obnoxious Christmas song" category, so that puts it on the BAD song list:

My Anti-Seuss-ite

Shannon and I went to the Festival of trees yesterday! I hadn't been for years and years, so it was fun to go. There were gingerbread houses- this one looked a bit like my house:
This Santa had a sweet ride:Both Shannon and I agree that all elves are scary:And there were lots and lots of trees! This shark tree was pretty cool- the big white blob in front is a scuba diver.Here's a nod to my family roots with a Canadian tree:There was also a President Hickley's "B"s" tree:
But the funniest thing was Shannon and the Grinch trees. She has never liked Dr. Seuss. I don't know if it's those crazy hairy characters or those nonsense names for imaginary objects, but I'll admit I have to agree with her- Dr. Seuss is creepy. So, of course I had to take her picture with every Grinch tree. :)She liked the Hershey tree a lot better.
Today's Christmas song is a GOOD one! It's actually one of my favorites, and I sing out loud along with it when ever it comes on!

What's With the Sad Christmas Songs?

I love Nat King Cole- his voice is as smooth as butta, but he missed the mark with this Christmas song:



That laddie hasn't got a daddy? What happened to his daddy? Santa forgot that little boy? Holy cow, Christmas songs are not supposed to make you cry! Same with that "Christmas Shoes" song. I hate that one. So, sorry, Mr. Nat King Cole, but stick with the roasting chestnuts. You are on my BAD Christmas song list.

The Cross-Dressing Frog

We try to get the tree up and decorated on Thanksgiving weekend. Peter always has the job of putting the tree together for me. This involves lots of energy and yelling and shoving books under the tree stand to make it straight.Traditionally, I lay out all of the tree ornaments on towels on the dinning room table. Then it's a free-for-all to pick out what ornaments you get to put on.
I have always had a new ornament for my kids each year. The first year Shannon was married, all the horse-themed ornaments left my tree and went to hers! I filled a shoebox with Brian's 25 ornaments to send to him this year. I thought this year's ornament for Peter was really cute when I bought it. He took one look at it and declared that, "it was a girl frog". I pointed out that it was wearing a vest and a bow tie- it was obviously a boy frog. After arguing, he decided that it was a "Cross-Dressing Frog". And that's how it will be known forever more.Today's really great Christmas song- This one just makes me feel happy!

25 Days and Counting!

It's official! December is here! We started our advent calender this morning- C made it for me when the kids were little and we use it every year! I have a feeling it will be my job to take each ornament out of it's pocket and put it on the tree- at least until Peter's finals are over and he moves back home. Today's ornament is a kissing Mrs. Santa Clause. Mr. Santa better not keep her waiting there, all puckered up!Speaking of Christmas, I'm pretty opinionated when it comes to Christmas music. I have a long, long list of songs I love, and a shorter list of Christmas songs I think are BAD. Ranking right up there with the worst Christmas songs is this little gem from our childhood. Talk about depressing.

Our Family- Minus 2

Even though we had a great Thanksgiving, we missed Brian and Lindsey being with us. We can't wait till Christmas when they get to come for a visit! Thanks to M for taking this picture!