Fa la la la la, we have our tree!

A week late because of all the painting mess, we finally got our tree up tonight. With Zig leaving for Tokyo tomorrow morning, and a crazy busy week ahead of us, it felt like now or never! After Sela's darling choir concert, we opted to skip the church party and come home for a little tree trimming party of our own. We have Sela's birthday next week, and there is one day midweek with three Christmas parties so tonight none of us were really up for the crowd thing. I thought the kids might balk at not being able to sing dressed like shepherds, sheep, and angels, but they were also excited just to come home. Hallelujah!

Sela's choir concert was very fun. They sang some Christmas classics like Silent Night and some lively Hanukkah songs that made you want to get up and dance. Then they ended with a couple fun ones like "12 dogs of Christmas."

As in years past, Zig put up the tree and along with the kids, decorated it beautifully. I was not feeling well. Usually I'm good for one activity, which was the choir concert, so I spent the rest of the evening lying down. But I had a little fun of my own. I had ordered a bunch of books for Christmas which arrived earlier in the week, so I had a great time secretly reading through all of them while the children were occupied. Some are books for reading before Christmas and the rest are gifts for the kids. I'm very excited to share them. Something I discovered early in parenting is that I love to read to my kids if, and that's a big if, they are well-written and/or beautifully illustrated. I especially love books from earlier times about the simple life and simple pleasures. I love books about the wonders of nature and I enjoy ones with a moral or with sweet and wholesome family interactions. There are some books I just cringe when they pull out, anything movie related for sure! The absolute worst ones are the Disney books written after the movie. Ugh, what drudgery those things are. And how did we get so many of those?! I always say, "Dad will read that one!" Right now one of the books we are reading "The Tale of Despereaux" and I look forward to it as much as the kids.