Day 131.  Maggie is such a good sport.  She will do just about anything for me to take a picture.  Even crawl under the Christmas tree.  She is such a pretty young lady, inside and out.  On another note, I found out this week that my sister and her family are in a tv commercial.  Then last night I was watching tv and there they were.  So, I watched the same show tonight to see if they would show it again and they did, twice.  How cool is that?  I think it is very cool.  It is a cleartalk wireless commercial and it comes on during the Jimmy Kimmel show.  I recorded it tonight so I can show Stacy and the kids.  Way to go Mitchells, you guys rock.

Day 130.  One more decoration to show, just because.  I got this little tree for Stacy several years ago.  It is a lot like one at her grandparent's house that she grew up with.  It's a cool little tree that is lit by a single bulb in the base and has little light shaped pegs that fit into the holes and the light shines through them.  Stacy loved putting the pegs in every Christmas.  It was such a neat memory for her that I looked for one of these trees for our house.  Target started carrying them and I surprised her with it.  I don't know if they still have them or not, but, this one is helping our kids make memories.  They are very careful with it and love to set it up, so, the tradition comes full circle.  

Day 129.  It really hasn't been cold yet but it will get there.  When I was little I didn't want snow at Christmas because we usually got a toy that had to go outside, and it wasn't a sled, plus we would get too loud to stay inside.  The older I get, the more I appreciate my parents.  I don't like cold weather but I do like snow, so, if it is going to get cold then I think it should snow.  The weather doesn't care what I think.  It will do what it does and I will adjust and live with it, and be happy to be alive.  

Day 128.  Today I wanted to show off some of Stacy's handiwork. All of our stockings are handmade and stitched by her.  They are counted cross stitch patterns.  Mine wasn't too bad, but look on down at Annie's, the entire front is covered with stitches.  It took her several years to complete all of them.  It was pretty funny looking over the years when some of them were done and others weren't so we used plane stockings, and had some stitched and some not.  They all served their purpose so it was ok, it just looked kind of funny.  She started working on a tree skirt several years ago, but stopped to complete the stockings, and we have a quilted tree skirt, anyway.  Maybe someday she will work on it again, but it's ok if she doesn't, I like the quilted one.  So, we have personalized ornaments and stockings, and we have a collection of Nativity scenes,( see day 18).  I guess we have our own Christmas traditions that we are passing down to our kids.  When the kids grow up and have their own families they will start their own traditions.  I'm still not sure if Stacy and I will allow them to take their ornaments and stockings.  I will cross that bridge when I get to it. 

Day 127.  Thanksgiving is over and now we look toward Christmas.  We put up our tree today, and it looks pretty good.  We don't put tinsil or garland on it anymore, just our ornaments.  Every year we each get to pick out a new ornament.  They are dated and our name is written on it.  That makes the ornaments to special to cover up.  We are at the point that if we put garland on the tree it will cover up ornaments and no one wants theirs covered.  So, we leave it off.  It makes the tree look bare until you notice how many ornaments are really there.  I used to make the family wait for a week or two after Thanksgiving to put the tree up.  Then we would leave it up until after New Years.  Now, because the kids do a lot of the work, we put it up sooner and it comes down before New Years.  I like it better this way.  I love Christmas and the lights and all, but I also love when the house gets back to normal, and we can get back to a routine.  Honestly I never thought I would say that, but I have grown accustomed to having a routine.  Not for me, but the kids do better on a routine.  When they do better, I do better.  Yep, it's all for the kids.

Day 126.  Before lunch yesterday, we were outside playing with the dogs.  Brody loves Dugan, and Dugan loves him, too.  We were commenting on how long Brody's tongue is, and there it was.  By the way, Brody is the dog.  I couldn't see if any of the pictures I took were in focus or not.  Today I got new glasses and I get to look at all the pictures I took.  I thought this picture was great.  So, here I am catching up on my blog, wearing my new glasses.  Merry Christmas to me.  Actually, that's all I want this year.  To be able to see my family up close and in focus.

Day 125.  What a gorgeous day.  Thanksgiving day and it's 74 degrees outside.  After a great lunch most every one needs a walk.  Usually I help Stacy with the dishes while the others take a walk.  This year Matthew agreed to help with the dishes and I went on the walk.  What a great bunch to walk with.  We had five dogs along with us too.  The best part is that after the walk we go back, the dishes are done, and we get to go home and take a nap.  Because, after the nap, the Christmas shopping begins.  Well, at least for some.