O Tannenbaum!

On Tuesday we got 3 inches of snow, which isn't much, but school was canceled due to icy roads. We spent the day at home cleaning house so we could buy a Christmas tree. Call me OCD, but I insist on a clean living room before the tree goes in!

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We've always had a 6 foot Christmas tree before. However, with a slim budget this year we settled for a 4-footer, which we placed on a small table. When Dylan found this one standing alone in a corner, we knew it was the tree for us!

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It was late evening when we bought it, and with so many activities sending us here and there all week, we had to wait to decorate our tree.

Tonight we dragged out the boxes of Christmas decorations and the kids sorted through their ornaments, deciding which ones they most wanted on the tree. With a smaller tree, we used about half as many as usual.

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We had to buy a new string of lights. Our 3 old strands finally gave up the ghost, and you just can't have a Christmas tree without twinkling lights!

While the kids hung ornaments, I put out my favorite decorations. My sister-in-law Dana crocheted the little angel dress to make this angelic visitor from an old-fashioned clothespin.
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Dana made the Nativity from actual peanuts. The little sign says "Christmas in a nutshell!" It's a sweet reminder of the quiet, simple but so very important event we celebrate at Christmas time.

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When I saw the items below in an Avon calalog several years ago, I instantly felt I was 10 years old again, enchanted by "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" on TV.

I knew I had to own Yukon Cornelius, Sam the Snowman, the Abominable Snowman (Bumble), and all the other characters for myself!

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Each year it's a reminder of how magical Christmas is for children and how the memories we make together linger with us always.

Outside, a fierce wind is howling around the eaves. A fairly heavy snow is blowing through the thrashing trees. Several days of snow are predicted, perhaps a few feet worth, and we wonder if we will miss the fun school parties and the final exams this week.

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But inside, all is calm. The twinkling Christmas tree is beautifully dressed, my children are all snuggled warm in their beds (although I can hear Sarah whistling a Christmas tune from her room), and all is peaceful in our little home.

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These are the feelings of Christmas spirit I'd like to carry in my heart all year through.