In the Spirit

I was finally bit by the Christmas bug....nothing like 15 days left to do the trick. Sometimes going through photos and layouts of past years does the trick even more than putting up decor does for me.

Here are some I stumbled across...

 "Christmas Eve"

"Merry Christmas" was featured on the Club CK gallery highlights last year. I scraplifted from the very talented Suzy Plantamura out of a December issue of Creating Keepsakes. Love layouts that have tons of photos....

"Back in the Day"

Old photo highlighted. I was lucky to have the chance in childhood to actually hike in the mountains in and find the "perfect" tree. So many cool memories of dragging the tree down the mountain and freezing to death (or what felt like freezing to a five year old).

"The Best Part of Christmas"

This is my favorite photo from last year. It was taken on Christmas morning before any gifts were opened. You can see the twinkle in the kids eyes. Excitement. Joy. Anticipation. (Well, except for Evareaux, she had no idea what to expect.) It's quite possibly the only day of the year that these kids hug each other so tight....

Now that's the spirit.

This year I have managed my expectations for projects I'd like to do. Sometimes I have to stop myself from being like Buddy in the movie "ELF."

The plan is:

*Get a Tree and decorate (TONS of glitter and shiny goodness.)

*Giant Wreath

*Outside Lights-Griswald style

*Pretty Pretty Packages tied up with string

*Record info/photos for December Daily to make later :(

*Christmas Cookies (Bake and Decorate)

*Home made Caramels

*Gingerbread Houses

*Watch lots of Christmas Movies

*Teach the Kids some Christmas Carols

*Car ride to see the Local Lights

*Disneyland at Christmas time

*Visit Santa