Thankmas

Thanksgiving 2010. Middlest did the table this year!

Thanksgiving passes so swiftly as there is no after Thanksgiving gap of reflection on the holiday. Perhaps Abe L. should have named September the official month of the holiday. Maybe in 1863 Christmas didn't start in October. But now, we eat, we groan, we wait for there to be enough room for one more crescent roll. Then, we clean up the dishes- to Christmas music. Already? How about some harpsichord Pilgrim tunes, please? Nope. Time to start thinking about decorating for Christmas, getting out the cards, the invites to the Christmas Musicale, gift decisions, wrapping, creating for family and friends, cookies, chocolates, parties- oh my!

Youngest picks the bird= great boy job! Grease, meat, bones....fun.

But, this year, I am seeing my kids taking more of a lead in some of these things. While I worked yesterday, the rest of the family was home and Middlest started decorating for the holiday. The felt wreaths in the sunroom, the wool trees on the table, the snowman collection on the kitchen mantle, the christmas books near the woodstove, the candy countdowns on the back of the dining room door... she put up favorite highlights everywhere. Even Daddy's office got a baby pine wrapped in burlap.

Saum's Tree Farm

Then today, we went tree hunting. We neglected to take the checkbook with us, so scraped together enough cash for one tree- a 9 foot tall Canaan Fir. Lovely smell, soft needles, deep green color- my favorite. Huz killed the tree and the kids towed it back to the sale cabin for shaking and trussing. After lunch during the Michigan-Ohio State match up on the football field, the kids and I made our way back to the hunting grounds to bring home tree #2, a 6 foot tall blue spruce- Huz' favorite- for the sunroom. The girls laid down in the mud and D sawed the selected beauty down, then took it back to the cabin, and then loaded it in the truck. I had to pay.

Wow.

Then, youngest sorted lights and the family got the trees in their stands. The house is now filled with the smell of fresh pine. Divine.

And Advent begins tomorrow the Christmas season has begun!