19 Days 'Till Christmas!

Today's advent calendar gift was quite the adventure. This morning Chris and I picked out some super duper LED lights for the house and a fun snowflake to hang above our garage. Then, Daddy got to spend some time with the kiddos while I started hangin' lights!

I can tell that Alex just loves it when he gets to spend some time with Daddy alone. I think sometimes he gets 'SOM' (sick of mom).

So, I got to work early this afternoon with clear skies and awesome weather that was around 55 degrees. Perfect for hanging lights.


Well, my job working solo lasted approximately half an hour until our neighbors across the street came home and after some friendly negotiation, decided to help, and not once did they mention that they thought I was going to kill myself! Kudos to them.




I'd like to say for the record, that our roof seemed a lot more steep than it appears in these pictures. So, it goes without saying, I welcomed their help.

They were really amazing and even continued to work while I ran back to the store to buy a few more packages of lights.

When we were all done, the project had lasted several hours and the temperatures had dipped down into the low thirties...brrr! The lights looked awesome and we were ready for it to get dark outside to present this fun festive Christmasiness to Alex and Grace.

Chris ran to work for a few moments, and by the time he returned, Alex and Grace had both fallen asleep. With Grace there was no hope, but I was able to keep Alex awake with bribes of ice cream.

Then Dad came home, we ate dinner, opened up today's little riddle, and went outside to bask in the glory of a decorated house over a cup full of tiny marshmallows.

The riddle:

"Go outside for a sweet delight and sparkling lights that are out of sight!"

It really was a lot of fun! We probably looked at the lights for around eight seconds, just enough time to snap a photo and cram some marshmallows back in my mouth, and then we were back inside happy to be warm again.

But Alex loved the lights, he kept saying, "Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree", (referring to the lights), and smiled and smiled...which makes me smile and feel like a good mom.

I think we can call this day a success...and I think I am going to sleep well tonight!