Signs of the season

I noticed recently that I rarely post photos to my blog. That is mostly because I think of stories I want to share, not pictures. It is also related to the transfer issue. I only get photos off my camera and onto my computer every few months, by which time they all seem woefully out-of-date for posting to a blog.

But tonight, I have a whole slew of December photos, and it is still December. Seems like the perfect opportunity to branch out into a photo essay. So, here goes.

December 2, 2010
Look at them boots!

Winter has arrived. No one should be caught without their most fashionable boots on. (Except Mom, who will have to fight to get any of her boots back.)

December 4, 2010
Time to get the tree!
Don't worry; John will bring the saw for us.

We cut one from our now "traditional" place - someone's front yard up in Rockford. Well, a particular someone's yard, and they are selling the trees. It is $10 a tree, any size you can find. You cut, you haul. Not a bad deal, overall. After all, we do have lots of free labor for hauling.

December 5, 2010
Christmas Music
It is the Children's Christmas Program at church. John sang with the other preschoolers. Margaret sang with the other first graders. James sang with the 2nd-6th graders. More or less. And all were blessed.


John is there in the red sweater. He is pantomiming "Sleep in heavenly peace" like a pro.



Maggie is thrilled to have another place to wear her "Santa" dress. She was also excited to sing on a stage. They sang "Emmanuel" and "Go Tell [SHOUT] It on the Mountain" - a good fit for Maggie.
The "fuzzy effect" is not actually my photography; it is the hair of the elderly woman in the pew in front of me. Just think of it as snow on the windowpane.




Not certain if James actually opened his mouth to sing at all during the program, but he seemed content enough to stand with the rest of the chorus.


December 11, 2010
Picking out a tree, Act II.
We drove east to help Dad pick out his tree. The place he went, near campus, is a bit more of an "industry" than our spot. There we encountered:

• a tractor and wagon ride back to the warming hut
• a reindeer is kept roaming about his pen
• a roaring bonfire around which to enjoy food purchased from the warming hut (doughnuts, hot cider, and more)
• an oversized, Christmas-tree-shaped photo op
• not only are the handsaws provided, but so are the big wheeled carts for hauling your prize back
• tree shakers to remove the dead needles, and a bundler to send it all home in a tidy package



Uncle Jim joined our family to help Grandpa find his tree. Not much snow that day, but it was bitterly cold. The snow came the next day, causing the kids to get snowbound at Grandpa's for an extra 24 hours.






Does it involve buying junk food? Then it is a hit with the kids. James, Maggie, and John liked it pretty well, too.

  Of course, none of this fancy accessorizing prevented Dad's tree from falling over on top of him that night as he and the kids slept in the living room in sleeping bags. This just about made Maggie's whole trip, since it reminded her of one of her favorite stories, from "when Mommy was a little girl" and the Christmas tree fell over. (The rest of the story involves a Santa suit, a vacuum cleaner salesman, and other oddities that you have to ask to hear in person sometime. Unless you were there, like Jeff.)