Beginning to feel a lot like...

The Schwangstons are in full swing for a Christmas push.  We spent last Saturday (with everyone else that was traveling on Thanksgiving) getting a Christmas tree and getting our Christmas gear out.

This is interesting only because we had to find it first.  To set the stage, we have many, many boxes waiting to be unpacked.  Of those, Christmas gear was low on the list.  We managed to unpack the last kitchen/dining room boxes leaving us clear skies to be a "go" for Christmas decor.

This is exciting for Ms. Schwangston, but also very exciting for young Carter James.  Owen didn't know what to think but got so fired up about the lights and still does every morning when he sees the tree.

We didn't know what to do outside, so we improvised this year until we can get a better plan going forward.  We decided to wrap our "Charlie Brown Magnolia Tree" that was rescued from vines and an out of control juniper this fall.  After hanging lights on the 24' ladder in the tree, I'm not sure if I'll ever do this again or even take them down.  Check back around February.

To complete the day, we met with Santa at our local Mall.  This is the first intro to Santa's lap for both boys.  Carter is very curious about him, like "how is he going to come down the chimney with the cap on top of it?"  Owen doesn't trust him at all. To make the picture possible, Ms. Schwangston had to sit on the bench (but not on his lap - sorry Mr. Kringle).  Carter had only made one request for Santa and couldn't think of anything that Owen would want.  Hopefully Mr. Claus will improvise for little brother.

This is really gearing up to be an exciting holiday season with the Chapel Hill Parade and the Christmas Pageant this tomorrow and a possible trip on a Christmas Train as well.  Carter loved helping the Ms. with the Christmas cards...

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season.  Thanks for reading...