A Busy Saturday

Yesterday morning Paul and I went up to the local Lion's Club tree lot and picked out the fattest Christmas tree we've ever had.  It covered the top of the car.

You can see that it is taller than my two guys. 

We set it out on the porch in a bucket of water while we went up to Paul's karate tournament.  He had a  form to show using a weapon called Tonfas.  He looks fierce, doesn't he?  He also did regular forms and fighting, so he was pretty tired out by the time we left, though he was carrying two trophies.   

Back home we got the tree in the house and hunted up the lights and extension cords.  I continued sorting our collection of Christmas decorations for the big move; my, one does gather a lot over the years! I gave three big artificial wreaths to a friend to hang in her church and passed along a number of other items to happy recipients, so that felt good. 

 While Ben took Paul to meet a classmate to do a service project for school, I put the lights on the tree, getting it ready for Paul and his cousins to decorate when they came over for the evening.  

When John and Dawn and the boys arrived, they brought in a gift of a huge container full of packages of crackers, cookies, cheese, jams, and candy.  We had a very festive evening together and the party didn't break up until just before midnight! 

We put the tree in front of the big window in our dining room, so we can see the pretty lights from the kitchen, living room, and dining room.   Our neighbors can also see them, which I think must be festive for them as they work hard to finish up their kitchen remodeling before the holiday.  

Don't you love those three red balls all in a row? It was fun having everybody adding ornament throughout the evening.  

We've had a "wintery mix" this afternoon, giving us a pretty dusting of snow, just enough for Paul to make a few snowballs to throw at me.

  

In true Maryland fashion the snow was followed up freezing rain, which may continue through the night or change to rain depending on the temperature. 

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Paul's Sunday night flute lesson and dinner was cancelled, and we are enjoying a quiet evening after our busy day yesterday.   

I'm sure we're not the only family hoping the freezing rain will warrant a "delayed arrival" tomorrow so we can sleep in late!