Just checking in. Things have been moving at the speed of life around here. Lots to share. Lots to quote. Lots of lots of things. Time not being one of them. We did get the tree up – twice now if you count the rescue when it hit the window. Don't you worry though. It is now tied to the ceiling. : ) What were we thinking, putting up a tree and not tying it to the ceiling right off?
They way we ensure they don't redecorate the tree? We gave them their own. I saw this idea on My Montessori Journey and had a eureka moment. WHY didn't we think of this sooner?
Abbie watched the hustle and bustle in her Christmas wardrobe…
We intended to do one cookie recipe per week for advent. We got the 'one recipe' part down! Around here it is a toss whether the biggest challenge is getting them made or hiding them adequately.
and finally, Tess turned two. How could that happen, sweet girl? It was surely just a minute ago it was you in those Christmas jammies. Her birthday pictures were less than spectacular. This one the kids took after she found these old glasses captures her silly newly two year old self better than the obligatory cake shot anyway.
Starry Sky Journal 
Oh, Kim, they are all so beautiful!
1) Every year that I was growing up we had to tie up the tree, and this due to the fact that we had cats who would always try to climb the tree each year.
2) We have had a small table-top tree ever since our first child became an ornament-grabbing toddler. I think a lot of the temptation is that many of our ornaments are little toys and dolls. Very tempting…
3) My kids also have a tree to decorate. My husband found a little artificial tree, complete with lights, that someone had thrown out. This is the kids’ tree and we keep it in the school room.
4) Your cookies look delicious and your two year-old is a cutie!
1) Every year that I was growing up we had to tie up the tree, and this due to the fact that we had cats who would always try to climb the tree each year.
2) We have had a small table-top tree ever since our first child became an ornament-grabbing toddler. I think a lot of the temptation is that many of our ornaments are little toys and dolls. Very tempting…
3) My kids also have a tree to decorate. My husband found a little artificial tree, complete with lights, that someone had thrown out. This is the kids’ tree and we keep it in the school room.
4) Your cookies look delicious and your two year-old is a cutie!
Such sweet babies! My two-year old is about to turn three and I still think of him as a baby. Now he’s going to be a preschooler! Thankfully I still have a baby behind him, but I’m sure that she will be a preschooler just as fast!
I have never heard of tying the tree to the ceiling. That’s a new one for me.
We haven’t tried tying the tree to the ceiling, but we do put it in a play pen. Our littlest children can’t reach to pull the ornaments off, and the older ones, who CAN reach, (usually) know better.
Last year we put up the tree on the first Sunday of Advent, trimming it with purple and pink lights and Jesse Tree ornaments the kids made. This was a great idea, except that by the time Christmas came around (when we planned on changing the lights to white or colors and adding our Christmas ornaments, the tree was so dry I was sure the tree would burst into flames the moment we plugged in the lights. This year we are getting the tree closer to Christmas (some time this week), and decorating it for Christmas instead of Advent.