Tis The Season! Let there be light!

I decided that today I would put up the lights outside. I thought I had learned all the lessons from other years and would get them up in a snap! I even told Jules to watch the game, that I could handle it. I flew through putting up those lights as the hummingbirds buzzed and dive bombed around my head. I got to the last string and realized 2 things. First the last string had a section burned out and 2nd I didn't have enough lights to go to the end of the house.
So I thought, I'll just run down to Ace and get another 2 strings of lights. I did that came back and spent a half hour unwinding all the icicles from one string. I went outside and plugged in the new string and realized that the lights instead of being a warm yellow color were a harsh white light. I call Julian to see, he takes one look at the lights and says these are LED, green lights to save the planet. So I disconnected it and reconnected the broken to see if I could fix it. Jules says, you know you can get just as big a shock from that little broken bulb, I don't know why you do this with the lights plugged in. I say because I don't want to get them all up and realize that some of them are burned out (a lesson learned from other years). Or get them up and realize that I put them up backwards and couldn't plug them in (another lesson learned from other years)
So, I said, I'm taking these back and getting the old kind. So, I take them back to Ace but of course they don't have any old kind. So I return them and go somewhere else to get the old kind. I did find them, got them home tried to plug them in and realized that they had the new plug with one prong bigger, so I couldn't connect them to the end of the light strings. By this time, I'm about in tears, so Jules says, We can take them down move them and connect the new lights up to a different cord. I say that will take so much work. We finally decide to disconnect the first 3 strings and attach them to the end where we are short.
Then of course I didn't have enough because I thought one would be enough just for the end. Anyway we took the lights out of the carport, but will get those back up attached to another extension cord, which will probably be better anyway because last year I kept blowing fuses because I had so many strings connected together. The Christmas smile is back on my face and the lights are magical!

And the nights and days before Christmas

Ryan and Christina helped decorate the tree.
We make an advent calender for the Chartier Christmas party.
The last day of school and 2 more parties land on the same day December 19. Makes us sound like party animals doesn't it???


The boys have a day with Grandma Carol. We played baseball in the street and returned to the ditch even though it is now winter. The boys now have on long pants. I tell them it will be too cold, they don't care. They're tough. They still wade, still have fun sending those sturdy boats on their short journey. They make a boat catcher out of sticks so they don't get sucked into the great abyss. Of course we didn't remember to bring towels, cause we're caught up in the moment of excitement of going to the ditch. We end up on the canal bank, trying to skip stones on the smooth water of the canal. This is a little bit of my childhood within walking distance from our house. It has it all a canal, a ditch with flowing water dependent upon irrigation, a dirt road, cottonwood trees, desert plants and animals and citrus trees. The only thing missing is cotton fields. I grew up next to another canal in south Phoenix and played in the ditch and irrigation whenever possible. Niko, Nathan, Maceo and Jeremy being boys.


Jeremy who doesn't really like to have his picture taken. Somehow I got him to not look bored and half smile. He's a teenager don't you know. Ryan and Kristina decorating the tree again. I also got Faye to help one day when she was here, but didn't get her picture.

This is one of my many Christmas presents in progress. I am making all our presents this year, so the house has piles everywhere. Making Christmas presents does get you in the spirit, but of course I should have started in July but didn't. Julian is afraid to move anything for fear he will mess up my messes. I have even been baking for Phoenix friends, imagine that! I'm sorta brain-dead because I spend every spare moment making all these creations. I hope you all enjoy my efforts.