It is Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas! :-)

I have had issues with getting my body turned around to this side of the world.  I sleep for 7 or 8 hours every night, take a 4 hour nap and am ready to do it all over again the next day.  

Am I getting old?  Don't say it!

Steve and I have looked and looked for the Christmas spirit around our house.  We decided to go to THAT store and buy a cheap $30 tree and ornaments to try to help it along.  What is Christmas without a Christmas tree?  When we came home, we put Raelee to work decorating.  We started out looking like this:

And soon thanks to Raelee's hard work we had this:

What is it about a puny Christmas tree, a kid and a few decorations that make it grand?


Finally having some of the holiday spirit in our lives, we set about making a Gingerbread House.  Well, Raelee set about it anyway.  I gave her the tools and she went to town making the house come to life - just as she did the tree!  I don't do things for kids - I give them the tools to do it and hang around for questions and tads of help - they do great all by themselves. 


I love giving kids the tools and let them make the decisions - I am never disappointed! :-)


She built the foundation and walls, then added the roof:

We think some people give up on patience.  

Raelee has patience for most things - she held the roof just fine until it 'stuck'.  Some people have trouble waiting on that... and without a good foundation... well things can crumble.. lol... 

Hers didn't... so she started decorating it:

Taking care to make it just right:

And she followed the directions to a "T":

Paying very careful attention to detail:

And soon she had made this:

How do you describe the satisfaction of a job well done?

By taking a picture of the girl and her house:

Didn't she do a great job for a 6 year old?

We found Elfie up to his old antics.  We were sure glad too, we thought he had given up - but he was just tired like the rest of us!  It took him a bit to get back in his groove.  Elfie definitely has his groove on now!  He was hiding in the medicine cabinet!

What is it about a child during Christmas to bring out the holiday spirit?  

Could it be it is because Christmas is about a child born on Christmas Day?  It seems that an adult can try and try, but a child brings in the spirit of the holiday by adding just a few cheerful touches, some decorations and laughter.  Soon, they can make the magic suddenly appear - and just as quick as that, holiday has begun.  


♪ ♫  It is beginning to feel... ♫ 
♪ ...a lot like Christmas! ♪ ♫