Hanging the Moon

I like getting the house decorated for Christmas as soon as Thanksgiving is over. By the time we finish the bird, I'm done with pumpkins and apples and scarecrows and mums. 

I called the kids on Sunday afternoon and told them I was going through Christmas decor and if they wanted any of it they better come over.

Tout de suite.

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As we were going through boxes, K spotted a box full of glass ornament balls I had on the top shelf. She asked if she could use some to make a swag. She needed her dad to make the board part.

We called him inside, told him what she was looking for, and he made us sketch it out. Then we had to tell him we wanted it done that day. He looked at us like we were crazy. K said, "Well, you have a little time. I have to go to the grocery store. I'll swing by on my way home and pick it up!"

He gaped at her. And then he went out to the garage and put it together for her.

When she got back, we strung all the balls on the wire and connected it to the eye hooks. It looks fabulous and K is thrilled with it.

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A few weeks ago, when we were shopping for bridesmaid dresses, K was telling her friends how her dad made an outhouse a few years ago. She told them about all the special touches he put into it, things like screen inserts for warm weather, a crescent moon cutout on the sides, a magazine rack. We laughed about it and she continued to tell them about some of the other things he's made.

"My mom just tells him what she wants and he makes it for her," K said.

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So after the kids had left and the Man and I were alone, we were talking about the day. I mentioned the swag board and told him about K's comment that he can make anything. 

"This is why your daughter thinks you hang the moon," I said. 

He just smiled.

Frosty was flying around last night. The winds picked up during a snow storm and he was blown this-a-way and that-a-way. I picked him up and tucked him behind a few potted pines on the back porch hoping that would protect him.

As I was leaving for work this morning, I found Santa had joined Frosty on the back porch. The Man had found him face down on the front porch.

"It looked like Santa had a drinking problem," said the Man when I asked him about it tonight. We need to rig something up to keep them from flying around. No drunken decor on my watch.

K asked me if I could make Christmas stockings for B and little man O. B gave me a sheepish grin as K asked me about them. How can I resist?

Her dad and I have become her Christmas sweatshop.