Shiny lights

Except for the parts where I have to replace lights, the decorating came off nicely today. I'm glad to have had a day dedicated to Christmas prep. Here are some photos.

Here is one of Holly's marvelous owl ornaments! (please refer to earlier post entitled "owl be seeing you in all the old familiar places" for important link) I'm so blessed to have one for each of my family members adorning our tree! This one is Ese's; it has Rock Star eyes!


"Whooooo are you?"



This is Bodacious.

We didn't have a stocking for Lilybelle yet, so Ese decided to make one from paper and tape it to the mantle. My mantle is missing the lighted garland because, I'm still waiting for the dude to return from Dollar General with a new string of lights.

A confession: I never liked Christmas. It used to be a source of stress and sadness for me, as it is for so many people. I have my own personal reasons for this, however irrational you may want to view it. But since I've had children and my focus is on the most important aspects of the holiday, I have begun to actually enjoy the entire season. I find myself bursting with more energy than I can remember then ever before for the purpose of decorating and generally spreading good cheer. No, I still don't get it all done, but guess what! I don't let that mess stress me out anymore! This holiday just isn't about people pleasing, it's about people loving and loving God and God loving us! Wow! Ese loves what I'm writing and is cheering me on from over my shoulder. So my tree is FULL of Ese and El made ornaments and the ornaments that Mr.B and I have bought together over the years and a conglomerate of stuff loved ones have given us over the years. It's wrapped at the based with a true piece of denim 'art' created by a girlfriend and there's a war going on between the Hokie and Tarheel ornaments. I'm sure this is close to what the Maggi had in mind... right?