'tis the season

we went to the downtown lights parade this weekend. sorry, no pictures of the floats. they were all kind of corny anyway. but as a parent, you do the majority of things for your kids - this night included. but let me tell you, it was fun being in the cold, sitting on frozen sidewalks, and fighting the crowds to save our awesome seats! we did get a free balloon, cocoa, and cookies from those hosting the event that night. that makes it all worth it, right?!
here is Papa and Elliott. I should've gotten another angle; when you look at Elliott, think Christmas Story. he had on one of those one-piece snowsuit things. it was too big for him, but it still looked like the kid in the movie who just couldn't move for anything. he was so warm and cozy in there; he ended up falling asleep during the parade.


Papa did Christmas lights this year. bad picture, I know. I couldn't find the night-time setting. anyway -
lights are so fun. if you squint, you can see our 10' snowman in our front yard. those blow-up things aren't too popular around here, so we get a lot of people slowing down for a look.
we just got our tree, so I'll have to add a picture of that another time.

I love poinsettia's. bright and bold red, yellow, and green. so Christmas-y. do yours ever live after the holidays? I water it and love it like my other plants, but it seems to have some internal clock and dies no later than the New Year. maybe I give it too much love. I have been known to kill plants doing that!

we're suppose to get lots of snow tonight and tomorrow. "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go ..."

I hope the spirit of Christmas finds you all!