The halls are decked, the stockings are hung!

It just seems like it has been a whirlwind week since Thanksgiving, was that only a week ago??? This is what we have been up to. . .
We always decorate the day after Thanksgiving, so the tree and decor are all up. Ben hung the outside lights a few weeks ago in warm weather, but we didn't turn them on until the day after Thanksgiving. He is glad he got them up in warm weather (60) instead of the 30's we are having now! Smart boy! Ben and I had a date night to see New Moon. Loved it! We all got to go see Santa. Miss A wants books and clothes, Miss O the game of Life and a Rubik cube, Miss E wants an MP3 player, and Mr J wants trains and cars (no surprise there). Santa thought he could handle that if they continue to be good, so we shall see. . . :) Friday after school I got to pick up Miss A and 3 of her friends with another mom and take them shopping. These girls decided on their own with their own money to adopt-a-child for Christmas. I was very impressed. They are going to make one 6 year-old girl very happy this Christmas! Then after wrapping and snacking and lots of fun with those girls I had my own Girls Night Out. We had an awesome Christmas progressive dinner--I was the soup course. Fun stuff! What a blessing good friends are! Today was our annual Christmas shopping day in the city. We have the tradition that the first Saturday in December my parents always watch our kids so Ben and I can go to the city and get Christmas shopping done. Ben and I had a great day today, and we are all done with Christmas shopping, so that makes it even better. The kids had a great day with Nana and Grandpa. They helped Grandpa get his outside lights up and helped Nana get her Christmas tree up. Nana and the girls participated in the Jingle Bell Jog--they actually walked/jogged with bells on their shoes and red shirts for a mile. Nana said they did great! They came in 3rd and 4th of the walkers! Way to go girls! Life is good--the halls are decked, the stockings are hung, and the Christmas shopping is DONE! So we will see what next week brings. . .