(the $90 rainbow gumball garland for $6)

Now if I could just prop my laptop up in my chalkboard fireplace, I would be good to go! Seriously, this is great ambiance, and after the initial ad, it runs commercial free with beautiful piano music for an hour. The kids love it.



For advent today we made a tree for the birds:

It looks pretty forlorn but it was definitely fun to do and we put it outside on the birdfeeder.

 The kids and I decorated the tree today while Eli was napping.

The tree will provide some unique training opportunities for him.

He drools profusely while he stands and looks at it. 

You almost feel bad for saying "no, Eli, no, just look, don't touch."

Cambria did a "show" for us tonight with her nativity story felts.

 Eli got to "drive" while Daniel was picking up pizza. Ear to ear grin.

I choose a different decor/color theme each year for the Christmas season.  This year my inspirating was this page out of the Land of Nod catalog:

These gumball garlands are a bit out of my price range though:  I checked tonight and they are actually on sale for $25/11 feet.

We bought 2 $3 packages of pompoms at Walmart and strung them on thread today.

I am beyond thrilled with how it turned out.  Super super easy and exactly like the Land of Nod garland.  I estimate that we made $90 worth of garland for $6.  I'm happy with that.  {So is Daniel.}