Through the eyes of a child.

I've heard that term used before and while I knew what it alluded to, I don't think I truly got it until watching The Boss react to Christmas decorations this year. On a recent trip in the car, she was so giddy I was in tears (of joy) hearing her squeal in delight the way she did eight million times on that ride home. And seeing her react to everything in this way has made me so excited to celebrate Christmas. Holiday songs made their way into our night time lullaby rotation, too.

We've pared down the gifts over the years and I'm really happy at the place we are with what we spend and what I'm making this year. I had much grander plans to make things, but instead I'm going to be realistic and go pretty simple rather than stress. After all, my crafting is supposed to be enjoyable and stress has no part in any hobby.

We've been in the vicinity of Santa twice and each time I asked The Boss if she wanted to sit with him, she replied "Sit with you, Mommy." I can't argue with that. Last year I had the token crying on Santa's lap picture and this year she was wise enough not to get close enough!

Taking the Christmas card picture is always an adventure! She's old enough now to know what I'm after and to decide if she'll cooperate or not. There was a lot of this going on:
But then there were ones like this which reminded me of photos of me as an angelic child (no, really, I was). Of course this was before she discovered the train at Phipps. After the train, it was all over, don't even think of trying to pose her for a picture when she could watch the choo choo (and tell other kids it was hers)! It was all we could do to convince her it was time for lunch at LuLu's Noodles.

And of course, a festive day was capped off by decorating our own tree. I love the nice collection or ornaments we have now. Some of them were my grandmothers or from my childhood and the rest were acquired over my adult life (not sure when that technically started though). One of my favorites is this, handmade by best childhood friend's mom.And this one from 1981 (as indicated on the other side of it)--an ornament that survived my Brownie/Girl Scout years...yes, those are clothes pins that were stained. Now that is some serious crafting! So, readers, if you have a blog (you don't? well why not?!), I have an assignment for you. I'd love for you to post a picture of your favorite or most meaningful Christmas ornament or knick knack or whatever it is that makes you get into the spirit of the season. Consider yourself tagged.