It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Yesterday the weather was a bit gloomy. It looked like it was going to rain. We got precipitation after all-snow flurries. Nothing major like up North, but exciting nonetheless for Texans who rarely see any white precipitation. When I woke up this morning, my rug had blown off the deck and had ice on it. My daughter gathered enough snow and ice from the back yard to make a little ball. My son gathered pieces of snow and ice until his little hands got so cold that he abandoned his glove on the deck and went inside:

Our Christmas tree is up and ready to be decorated. Yes it's real. I love the smell of fresh pine and I don't mind vacuuming up the needles. It makes the vacuum smell good! I bought some reefs and added bows to them to go on the outside windows. I have yet to put them up as you can see. Hopefully I will get to it by the end of this week. For some reason my picture keeps rotating, sorry you may have to tilt your head to see them.

Next on my list is finding a pattern for bags for this year. Last year I made bags for the kids and they were a real hit. This year I would like to make a different kind of bag. I found a really cute purse pattern here that I would love to make for my daughter. It's the bag that's hanging on the knob. Isn't that cute?? I was thinking of making one of those drawstring backpacks for my son. I found some free tutorials for those on the web. I better pick soon as time is running out!

I talked to the kids today about thinking of ways to help other families for the holiday season. I love to do things for my kids, but I want them to know that it is not about them but about Christ and when we truly love Christ it will show in how we treat others.

What plans do you have for the holidays? Do you have any special traditions? Any great recipes?? :-)