december comes in with a twinkle

You guys.

I am tired.

But I want to stay up late and sit in my living room with all the twinkly lights and The Quiet because it is just the coziest at Christmas.

Today we cut our Christmas tree down from a field and put it back up in our house adorned with memories and ornaments from all the days we’ve spent living together as a family – and even the days I spent living together with the family I was born into.  Little Lacey-handmade ornaments brushing shoulders with little Keiglet-made ornaments is pretty heavy on the nostalgia side of holidays.

The ten-year-old sage I live with sighed as we put up the decorations and said, “Ah.  I love Christmas.  It makes me remember when I was just a little kid.”

Of course the Christmas tree placement required a rearranging of the living room.  (And yes – this tree has a name too.  He’s Richmond.)

Our mantle is brimming over with stockings  – we added in stockings for both Maddox and Ryder this year.

The Christmas Bear endured his Annual Tossing.

Mosely tossed the scruffy damaged fellow and – after a quick search here on this blog/history of our lives – it looks like we were one year off in letting her have her turn.  Can you just please not tell her that for me?  Thanks.

This week is my exciting-good-times-ticket-to-bring-Sean-Penn-the-leather-bag into my life.  Yeah – some people are calling it a Noonday party.  (You can still order online and list my name as the hostess if you can’t make it to my house this week.)   Every day this week Noonday is offering a couple crazy-low prices on many items – like a flash sale each day.  And – by the way – I’m planning to make my famous caramel popcorn so if you want to sit near the Christmas tree by the sweater-soft red pillow and munch caramel popcorn Thursday night, that would be fine with me.  (I have probably just jinxed myself.  That caramel can be so persnickety.)

It’s shiny lights and familiar traditions and baking time, friends.

Hello December.