Decorating Continues

My view this morning... lit trees always look distorted, but it is beautiful. The top of the tree is hidden by the doorway and the picture isn't composed well, but it is my memory. The other memory of the tree that I want to keep this year is of my children decorating it. They worked and worked and worked. Especially my oldest. He was reminding the other two to 'spread out the ornaments... they can't just be in one spot'. He stopped many times throughout the day to add more ornaments... I loved it when I heard him singing Christmas songs as he worked.

The Countdown... I have three advent calendars this year as I have three children. I'm all for taking turns, but this only happens once a year. Below is the Santa. Someone moves the star each day and places it in the pocket. No candy or treats just the joy of moving the star.

Not pictured is a basket of wrapped books. The kids can tell that they are books as they are really smart and well, they look like wrapped books. The books are all about some aspect of Christmas and all but three of them are from their book box. Someone will unwrap a book each day.

Third... I'm not sure what to call this... maybe the word jar?... it is inspired from the Simple Wife. It is also inspired from this book. Someone will pull a tag out of the tin (not pictured) and clip it into the "fancy" clip below (an awesome, simple craft from out Simply Living book club). I'll post another picture after the kids wake up and put a tag in it.

Suddenly, I've acquired many nativity scenes; which I love. We've been married for 11 years, so I guess this just happens over time. The bigger one on the left is from one of my students 3 years ago... we all love it. I should take close-up pictures of them... I wonder if anyone has a nativity "parade" on the internet?

The advent wreath, hanging from the dining room chandelier... oops, I forgot the candles.

The stairs wrapped with garland, lights and ribbons... always a daunting task, except this year... I found these great hooks... I used to use wire... what a pain. These hooks are totally worth it! I forgot to take a picture of them... I will take a photo and post later.

An almost empty green room to make way for the tables.

My couch and bar stools in the garage. Just for the week... the suburban has been left out in the cold.