Maxine's Christmas recital and our tree...

Maxine's Christmas recital was last night. She was pretty nervous but played excellently. She played "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and "Auld Lang Syne".

(There were more pictures but other kids were in them. I don't want an irate parent mad at me for putting their child's face on the internet.)

And I had a request for our Christmas tree so here it is.

There's only 1 stocking hung on the wall so far but I'm hanging the rest today. My Mom and sisters tend to have those really pretty, professionally decorated-looking Christmas trees. Mine is made up of ornaments I've collected over the years and some balls. These are some of my favorites!

This is a Ravensburger puzzle ball ornament. 60 puzzle pieces snap together to make an ornament. We think they're fun and tear them apart every year so we can assemble them next year.


This ball is a hand blown glass ornament that was hand painted in Venice, IT. We bought it when we were visiting Italy as a family during Christmastime. That was 5 years ago.


These paper stars were brought back from Sweden by Merril's little sister, Megan. A light is inserted and they glow. I'm very fond of them.

There's a collection of kid picture ornaments. Maxine made this in preschool.

This Hallmark ornament was the first one I ever collected. It was given to me by Grandma G.


Under our tree lies our baby Jesus in the manger. When the kids do selfless deeds, they get to put a straw in the manger. The goal is to have it full by Christmas.

Other than that, I'm just trying to get things finished up and wrapped. I keep telling myself it's fine and I still have 2 weeks left. I'm usually done by now but I'm lagging behind this year. :) Merry Christmas!