Speed of Sound

Look up, I look up at night
Planets are moving at the speed of light
Climb up, up in the trees,
Every chance you get,
Is a chance you seize.
How long am I gonna stand
With my head stuck under the sand?
I'll start before I can stop
Before I see things the right way up.
                                      --COLDPLAY

"Chwistmas is coming sooooooom, Mommy, Chwistmas is coming soooom. It's going to come through the back door, right there!"

"Huh. I thought Santa was coming through the chimney, and in the fireplace."

"Yes! Santa is coming in the firepwace. We have to cwean it off!"

I love preparing for Christmas. Digging through the attic, pulling out the 7 man-sized tubs full of crinkly, sparkly, jingly things.  Preparing for Christmas is just as fun as Christmas itself. I never seem remember what I put in each tub, and some of the decorations are a new surprise every year.

This year, Cari was just as excited to decorate for Christmas as I was.  Last year, the big day was a bit of a blur to her, since we had a new bundle of crying squishy demands join the family  She doesn't remember Christmas as much as she remembers Halloween, so I know this year will definitely leave a mark.  One cold Sunday morning we decided to skip church and start decorating the tree, light up the front of the house, lay garland around the house, and sing some Christmas songs.  Let's just say it was quite some fun. We decided it will be our new family tradition.



The very first tree ornament this year. A feather from her dress-up boas. No matter how many times I pulled it off the tree, it founds its way back on again. So it remains.



And we also decided to create a new tradition of avoiding Santa pictures.  We first went to Bass Pro Shops which we thought would not be so packed, especially the very first weekend of December.  Turns out that jolly Ol' St. Nick had a 4 hour wait when we arrived. We settled for the snow man at the North Pole, some tractor "sleighs" and some "snowy" trees instead.  We decided we'd make one more effort to go see Santa.....we heard he was leaving Bass Pro shops because of all the people there and was heading up to the mall just north of us. We packed the kids up in the blustering wind and high-tailed it up there.  Got there just in the nick of time....for another one hour wait. But that was more doable.  Cari passed the time by going up and down and up and down and up and down the escalator. Thankfully, Chad was pleased to have some calm rest.  And, in the end, it wasn't so successful anyways.  I'm sorry Santa - please don't leave coal in our stockings. Apparently you are in extremely high demand in Atlanta!

Merry Christmas to All, and to All, a good night!