Deck The Halls, Etc.

We put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving, before Matt left for a week in Chicago (grumble, grumble, grumble from this old wife...oh how I'd love to spend a week Christmas shopping in Chicago. To be fair, he isn't shopping. Well, not all the time.). Anyhow, it was the perfect way to fill a cold afternoon inside. We tried a different location this year, as Adrienne is the perfect tree-wrecking age and we now have some furniture in  front of the big windows. The tree is happily perched in the office  nook area upstairs, which keeps it out of reach, yet it is still visible from around the house and downstairs thanks to the open floor plan/glass railings. Jillian was beside her self with excitement over placing each ornament on the tree. Matt handed her the ornaments one by one and she carefully decided where they should go. I am not sure why, but she insisted on wearing her Minnie Mouse costume as we did this. She made us laugh continually by calling the ornament hooks "hookers". For example, "Hey Dad, this one doesn't have a hooker!" or my favorite, "Adrienne, you need to ask Dad to get you a hooker for this one". Oh dear. Matt repeatedly tried to explain to her that they were called hooks, and that a hooker was something we would explain to her when she was much, much, much older (because she kept asking exactly what a 'hooker' was if it wasn't what you put on an ornament!). Never a dull moment, I tell ya.

 This year I decided that Jillian is old enough to follow an Advent calendar, and think it will also help with the continual questioning about "is it Christmas Eve tonight?" I happened to chat with my friend, Jaci, today and she inspired me to make a calendar similar to the one she had made. I am not crafty AT ALL, but I think this turned out pretty cute....and I did have a little help from our elf, Simon.

Ribbon, gift tags, number stickers, and paper clips! Each day will have a post-it behind it describing our special holiday-themed task of the day (to be placed there the night before by the ever-procrastinating mother).

 

 

In other holiday news, Jillian is also counting down the days to her school Christmas program. Today she had a haircut and began asking me if the stylist could make her hair straight. I was kind of shocked, because many people comment on how beautiful her curly hair is, but she just said, "Mom, it will look so much better for the Christmas program if it is straight" and then "Everyone will like it better if it's straight". I felt a little tug at my heartstrings during this conversation, as it's the first time she's spoken about wanting to change some physical aspect of herself. It makes me sad to think that this dissatisfaction with one's appearance starts so early, and is a reminder to me to be careful how I speak of myself in front of her. Jillian, your hair is beautiful in all its curliness and just as God intended it to be. It is so very YOU!