Christmas Vignettes

White chocolate covered cherries. Can you say "yum"?

When I saw this idea on Pinterest (and yes, I get a LOT of ideas from Pinterest), I knew I was going to make them for Christmas.

Why?

Because they are a fairly healthy treat. Being mostly cherry. 

And they are red and white. My two favorite colors at Christmas.

That's a win-win in my book.

K dresses like an elf when she wraps Christmas presents.

And she sings.

Although she probably would not admit this to anyone. 

Her mother thinks she sings pretty nicely.

I told my niece that she looked like an Old Navy model on Christmas eve. 

I love that hat.

She looks very European in that hat. Come to think of it, she lives closer to Europe than any of the rest of us.

I finally got the NOEL sign made. 

Actually, the Man made the sign for me. He was home a few days before Christmas and was at odds with himself. As Nana would say, "He had an egg and didn't know where to lay it."

Kind of looking for trouble, if you know what I mean. 

So I decided to give him a project. I didn't let him know he would be c-r-a-f-t-i-n-g. 

I told him how I wanted it to look and let him have free rein with the glue, my hot glue gun, and some spray paint. 

Love it. He did a great job, didn't he?

J gave P a cute gift on Christmas eve. Another Pinterest idea.

J and I took a bunch of pictures, with his arms posed in all kinds of positions, and pieced them together to form a heart.

I think she liked it.

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Some things I want to remember about this Christmas:

Going to see The Nutcracker for the first time, just K and I. It was magical and wondrous and I felt like a  kid again.

Finding joy in the smallest pleasures of the season...listening to K sing a Christmas carol......seeing J wrap his gifts in a horrendous fashion.....enjoying a glass of mulled wine with the Man while watching "It's a Wonderful Life".......hand stitching some ornaments for friends. As my kids would say, It's all good.

Deciding that my favorite night of the season is December 23rd. The anticipation is still building, but the holiday is close enough to feel. 

Cutting out a lot of the baking I used to do. We don't need it. And I get mad when I end up throwing it out after Christmas.

Changing my attitude about gift-giving and decorating. I'm going to go with "less is more" next year.

Favorite discovery of the season? Doing photo cards for the first time. And loving them.