my friends call me whiskers

Never underestimate the curiousity of a five-year-old. On Friday as I was holding the classroom door open and greeting my students, I noticed two of my little girls barreling down the hallway and bee-lining straight for me. The one on the left's eyes were popping out of her head and the one on the right had about 5 or 6 kleenex sticking out of her mouth. As they got closer, I could see the kleenex had turned a slight pinkish color. My suspicions were confirmed when girl on the left blurted out, "Mrs. Place, Janey licked the bus!!" Just another day in the life...

preparations

Ever since the first day we laid eyes on this house we have been saying, "This is a great Christmas house!" We have been greatly looking forward to Christmas decorations, music, and baking. We've been debating the past few weeks about what type of Christmas tree upgrade needed to happen this year. The tree we so fondly refer to as the Charlie Brown has served us well for the past three Christmases but this year it just wouldn't do. After much discussion, we decided a live tree would be best. On Sunday afternoon we piled (all three of us) into the Honda to head over to Earl May and make the important decision. It seemed that Dameon went in with a sort of "bigger is better" mentality, but I was a bit worried about this game plan. I think I mentioned several times how much "bigger the tree will look once it's inside the house." Nonetheless, he spotted the most perfect Fraser Fir! I wasn't much help as we loaded and unloaded her because I was distracted by the discovery that Rufus had eaten approx. 8 powdered donuts in the front seat while we had gone inside to pay. Thankfully, Dameon's a he-man and could lift the tree over one shoulder. And Rufus's pancreas is now recovering.

We spent the evening unpacking Christmas decorations, trimming the tree, listening to Christmas music, and taking in the refreshing scent of a real pine. The decorating is by no means finished, but we're well on our way to a winter wonderland!