Best Christmas Light Display In the Neighborhood

Errr correction...only Christmas lights in the neighborhood! The only other light displays in our neighborhood are the menorahs in every single front window except for ours...we have our Christmas tree instead. Our neighbors actually encouraged us to put out our Christmas lights, so that is what we did. Spencer and Ella Ann put them up last week and we obviously did it for Ella Ann, who was so excited to see the lights on her house she was squealing with glee! We didn't have enough for all of our dinky bushes so the two of them made a trip to Home Depot and came home with pink lights, yes pink. You can guess who picked those out. She loves her pink lights. The picture isn't so great above but it was the best I could get on the night setting on our camera. Spencer promises next year will be bigger and better! Honestly, it won't take much!

We have been gearing up for Christmas this week. I ended up having to make a paper chain countdown for when we leave for Nana and Papa's house because Ella Ann asks me in her most desperate voice at least 5 times a day, "Wheeeeeeeeen are we going to Nana and Papa's house?!?!" She cannot get it straight where we are going first (Spencer's parents), second (my parents) and who's going to be where. Yesterday she asked me if Carter and Seth could come along with her to Mimi and Grandpa's house. The person she is the most excited about seeing is actually Nanny, her great grandmother, which warms our hearts tremendously. So precious. I have been making a ton of Christmas candy for my friends and Ella Ann's teachers. Of course I made extra so I've eaten a ton as well. I am done with all of my shopping (hooray!) and I am shipping most of our gifts to Kentucky tomorrow because we will not have any room in our car.

On Friday Ella Ann was buckling the top clasp of her car seat and broke it. This meant an emergency trip to get us a new seat for her that day. She was already going to be moved up to a booster seat either this month or next because Rane was going to be sitting in hers so now we will be buying another new pricey car seat for little boy. When it rains it pours. Ella Ann is so excited about her new seat. It is very comfy and cozy for her, has two cup holders and she uses the seat belt from the car's seat so it is much, much easier for all of us. She loves being able to move around more and I do too because she can help me out with Rane. When she sat in it on Friday night she said, "I love my new seat! I am going to sleep ALL the way to Kentucky!" Ha! Yeah...I wish!

We will be taking down all of our holiday decorations before we leave so that our tree will not be a pile of pine needles on the floor when we get back. It's well on it's way anyway to being dead. I am actually looking forward to taking it all down (so sad, I know) because I am so tired of trying to keep Rane from breaking any more ornaments (he broke the first one out of the box when we were decorating), shaking the tree and ripping the paper on the presents.

Spencer and I are SO SO SO excited to give Ella Ann her present! I have been wanting to get her the "it" toy for 2009 ever since my mom called me to tell me about it several weeks ago. I have looked high and low, like the rest of America, for the Zhu Zhu Pets. They are fake hamsters that live in what looks like a real hamster house complete with a wheel and tunnels. They have all kinds of add-ons, of course, including a car that they get in and drive around your house! They make over 40 different noises depending on what room they are in of their hamster house, they look like the real deal, can be petted and while doing so they make cute little noises, etc. Ella Ann would love this crazy thing and both kids would have a ball chasing it around our house. This $9.99 hamster is going for $60 on Ebay and the fun house, forget it....crazy amounts of money and they cannot be found in any store. So there I was last week at Toys R Us, minus Ella Ann, looking for another toy to get her for Christmas when lo and behold I saw a man in the checkout line with the FUNHOUSE complete with TWO hamsters in line!!! Oh my goodness I was so excited! I went up to him, tapped him on the shoulder (he was like grandpa-age) and I whispered (literally whispered), "Where did you get that?" He whispered back, "Right over there." As he pointed to a top shelf near the checkouts. He also said, "Run." Well run I did! I bolted to that shelf and got the last one! I went to a new line that just opened and the same man got behind me and he said, "You better be careful going to your car...you could get mugged!" Of course he was joking, but that's how coveted they are if you haven't heard! So I got the funhouse! Spencer and I got it out and played with one of the hamsters the other night and we definitely think Ella Ann will go crazy over this! I cannot believe my good fortune at Toys R Us!

So here is our tree.....
and Little Bit who pulled off an ornament (Zhu Zhu funhouse is the red paper!! Ekkkk!)
There he goes, after a present (at least it's his present).

"Little Ole' Me? I won't break anything!"

When Andrea was down last week she taught me how to wrap presents to make them pretty so now I am obsessed!

Ella Ann in her new ride today.