December 2nd

Today the decorating was accomplished (except for the tree). It was the first Tuesday in a very long time that Mom's been able to come over. The children were so excited!

I told the children they could decorate their rooms so they immediately set about making snowflakes and paper chains. Mom inspired Rachel to make a creche scene out of toilet paper rolls and a shoe box.

Meanwhile I began pulling out Christmas decorations and taking down the Fall decorations.

Here's what Mom came up with for the mantel:

I had an idea in the back of my head after seeing the following page in a magazine:

A few sticks brought from Mom's yard made the idea a reality. It's a card tree. Since I haven't received any cards yet, I pulled out a few from last year. (Note the resemblance of the decoration on the white knitted blanket to the poinsetta! A nice coincidence):

A little wreath for in between the bookcases:

A perfect day to be sporting halo hair:

More of the fam were gathering for teatime so I decided we needed something festive: Gingerbread Muffins. They are so good!

Uncle Bill and Auntie C appeared for tea. After taking this picture I noticed a very interesting resemblance -- could this be where Rachel inherited the "something in the mouth" syndrome?

Here you can see Rachel, still hard at work on her creche:

And now the day is over. The house was an incredible wreck after all the decorating, creating and tea drinking. And that after spending our chore time this morning straightening the upstairs so carefully. I suppose this is the way of life with four children......if only I could get more used to it.