Hopefully you all had a great time over the holidays!  We had lots of fun here on Christmas and all of us enjoyed our gifts.  :)  This was Ellie's very first Christmas and I think she'll be looking forward to it again next year!

6:50 am on Christmas morning.  Also known as "the calm before the…

The "official" countdown to Christmas (for me) began last weekend.  Having my birthday exactly 2 weeks before Christmas means that all of our Christmas activity really begins on my birthday.  I hung our stockings over the fireplace (I always wanted to do that when I was a little girl, but my mom's house didn't have a fireplace.)  I dusted off the mantle decorations, since they had been out since Thanksgiving.  I strung lights along the bushes outside (and discovered that two strands don't…