The day after Thanksgiving we take down the few Thanksgiving and Autumn decorations we have and put up the Christmas ones. We're not a greedy-ass department store, so we keep our decorations in line with the actual holiday of the moment.
The Living Room's Christmas Tree
The Dining Room's Tree
Russ's Winterland Village on the Mantle
The Chris-Moose and the Decorated Stairway
Santa on the Table
Having finished the lanai over the summer, Russ has turned his attention to the kitchen. He's ordered new appliances, new shelves, new floor tiles. He's started to rip every thing up. It's a mess right now...
We also took some time off to visit some friends. They have two daughters...one around 8 and the other about 3. The 3-year-old, so desperate to be part of the activities, eventually hauled out her fingernail painting kit and her mom if she wanted her toenails painted. Mom, trying to be sweet and tolerant, explained that, "No, the grown-ups are talking and we don't need our toes painted."
At which point, I spoke up and announced, "Oh no! In fact, I am in dire need of a new toenail painting!"
So Kate helped me remove my socks and gave me a beauuuuutiful paint job. Then Garry got his done. Then Russ! Then she did us all a second coat! We boys had the most awesome toes in the gym the next day! But more to the point, it made Kate's night and she's talked about it for days afterward! Go us!
Oh! I nearly forgot this piece of Christmas treasure! Last year, we let Garry decorate in a Nightmare Before Christmas style and he created this little treasure partially inspired by a funny Mr. Bean episode. Yes, it's the manger scene being attacked by skeletal dinosaurs!
One of them is carting away the baby for later snacking!
And finally, our tree topper. A couple of years ago, Russ took a standard angel topper, a hula boy doll from Hawaii, and a set of fiber-optic wings, and created our fabulous gay hula boy angel in a lava-inspired gown!
