Countdown to Christmas

My original thought was to skip decorating for Christmas this year. It is very hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it is 80 degrees outside....it feels like summer! I thought, we'll get a nice poinsettia from Costco and that will be good enough. However, there are lots of houses in our neighborhood that go all out decorating for the holidays. Jillian watched all the lights and things go up and said "Mama, I want Christmas at our house too!" :) As you can imagine...the tree is now up in our home. Jeremy will be surprised when he returns tomorrow after spending a week in Honolulu. I was in scrooge mode before he left.

Since the tree was up, I wrapped a few of the things we had already bought for Jillian and put them under the tree. This temptation has been torture! Jillian REALLY wants to open them...she asks "Is it Christmas yet?" "Its dark out, does that mean its time for Christmas?" "Its morning-time now, is it time for Christmas?" "When Daddy comes home will it be Christmas?"

So, we hung up her fish bowl...that I found at the best school supply store that is now sadly going out of business. We put one fish in the bowl for every day until Christmas. Each morning (or evening - her choice) she may remove one fish. When she removes the last fish, it will be Christmas! Yeah! Here is a picture of her removing the first fish. Later, she brought me a second fish and said here mama, I'm ready for Christmas - let's take all the fish down!