Hello! I'm having one of those 3 a.m.-won't-be-sleeping-anymore-today mornings, so thought I'd pop in and say hi! We took Jo's advice and made the rounds of the thrift stores for some decorations...when we moved we seem to have lost a lot of ours! Found some really cute things...of course, by the time we got home I was too wiped out to do anything! I enjoyed watching my husband and daughters set up the tree; we got it at Home Depot, and they had several branches laying around that they had cut off of other trees that they said we could have, so we brought those home and my husband cut some up and tied them together for me to have a pretty, decorative wall hanging with a ribbon on top. I have a few more, and would like to make an advent wreath...my oldest daughter's coming today, and I hope she will help me do that!

I did find some easy things to hang on the walls that really add a festive feeling...a wooden angel, a wreath of jingle bells...and one of my girls did a snow scene on the bay window seat, with lights and batting and some of my lighthouse figurines. I also found a pretty Christmas afghan to throw over the back of my loveseat, and, of course, a nice nativity scene.

Yesterday my son and the girls helped finish things up and do some arranging and organizing around the house...now it feels like a Christmas we can enjoy! We still have a little snow left on the ground, and I found some online radio stations that play all-Christmas music...this is my favorite time of year!

I am finding it difficult to do crafty-types of things with my daughters, which saddens me, although they are old enough to do some things on their own. We're having a few of their friends over next week to do gingerbread houses together, and their friends' moms (my friends!) will be coming to help, so they will still be able to have fun and I won't need to use my arms much.

I've done very little shopping...most will be clicking a mouse for online shopping, I think, but time's running out! Need to get busy doing that...

Typing's not going well this a.m....guess I'll go back to reading only...

Hope you all are enjoying getting in the Christmas spirit! I'm trying to focus more on the things I can still enjoy about this season, without dwelling too much on the things I'd like to do but can't...Di, you had really good advice for another poster about that.

Blessings to all...

Donna