That Sunday St. Nicholas stopped by after mass to see all the kids and give out candy canes. David was thrilled....Henry not so much!
We've been decking our halls here as well.....my favorite part is our Advent wreath. I think it's the boys' as well--they love the candles! Well, they love blowing out the candles! We've been turning off the lights in the kitchen and eating dinner with just the glow of candlelight. The kids can tell something special is coming and David keeps asking for us to light all four candles so it will be almost Christmas! This is my first attempt at live greens and so far so good, although we're going to need a Christmas freshen up because it's already getting dry!
We set up the tree on the third Sunday of Advent--Gaudete Sunday (i.e. the one with the pink candle!). It is always so fun to pull out all of our special ornaments and see the pictures of us from Christmases past. It's hard to believe how much our family has grown in the past three years! Don't worry, I realize the top looks a little sad, but the star is waiting safely in the cabinet for Christmas Eve!
Our Christmas books are out and we've been enjoying the old and the new! Country Angel Christmas is the current favorite here......
Chris didn't agree that we needed a real tree this year, but he didn't mind too much that I brought in some real garland--I just want the evergreen smell in the house!
One of the biggest hits of Advent is this wooden Nativity set we unveiled after Thanksgiving!
And our actual Nativity is up on the shelf awaiting baby Jesus on Christmas morning!
And tomorrow the Christmas baking begins...........