Holiday Spirit

December is here, and I am SO  not ready for it.

But, no time like the present!  After a week of birthday celebration, we've jumped into the holiday season with both feet.  Tonight, at the tail end of a lovely, busy weekend, our decorated tree glowing and stockings hung by the chimney with care, I am starting to feel some holiday spirit creeping in...

Last weekend:  Larchmere Holiday Stroll.  Visited our friends' new blacksmith and glassblowing shop, took a horsedrawn wagon ride,and had a surprisingly good time in antique shops with our kids (Jack has now added an antique typewriter to his Christmas list... raisin' him right!)

Then, downtown for Winterfest!

We opted out of the craziness of the lighting ceremony, instead getting our favorite wings and heading home for dinner-- but it is always exciting to see downtown bustling and full of life...

Sunday-- Lake Day!  We celebrated my birthday on Sunday so of course I asked to go to the lake.  I was also spoiled with an amazing breakfast, dinner with friends, and a new first floor laundry room.  You know, the usual.

Here's Nat with his big drill.  We now have two 5 inch holes in our walls...

 ... but you can't see them cause I have a this swanky new laundry room!  It is awesome.

 Celebrating my birthday at my mom's house...

Unrelated photos of the bunny.

 Oh.  We have a new chicken.   Our second (!) thought-it-was-a-hen-but-it-turned-out-to-be-a-rooster was rehomed last week and this week we brought home a new Lyonaisse.  Apparently there's only about 500 of them in the US, so that that's cool.

Our animal lover had a great time at the Chicken farm.

Here's our new girl.

Friends for dinner!  Love these kids.

The weather this week has been extraordinary. Really.  Here's the lake on Tuesday.  We had a great time exploring the Solstice steps with the kids.

Lots of time on the West side this week.  I had my West Shore concert this weekend and in between rehearsal and performance we went back out for Light Up Lakewood.  What a cute, fun festival. Face painting, petting huskies, booths-of-crap, free hot cocoa, the world's busiest Burger King for dinner, and this adorable parade.  

 Crowds of people waiting for the Lighting and the fireworks.  Super festive and made even more enjoyable by the not-too-cold-at-all temperatures.

This morning, we decided to just go for it and decorate the house.  

The kids are getting pretty good at decorating the tree.

The Christmas Village is always a winner...

A large portion of the morning was spent with the children pretending to sleep to the music of the snow globe, or pretending to be presents under the tree...  Funny little ducks.

We fit in a bit more holiday fun this afternoon with a trip to the Dunham Tavern Museum open house.   

 It was the cutest.

 Craft table, cookie decorating, yummy treats, historic house tour.  I was smitten.

And, pretty happy to come home to this.

Time to start soaking up some December around here.  Ready or not.