Christmas spirit...

It's been busy here the last few days. The usual "house" stuff and getting the girls finished with lessons so they can start their Christmas break. We always start a week early but then go back to lessons the week after Christmas. We are able to get alot of baking, crafting, etc. done for Christmas and little ole' Mom here isn't pinging off the walls by the time Christmas Eve gets here. And I know the family LOVES that! Christmas Spirit just has a much better vibe around here because of it.

With all the talk of getting in the spirit of things, we took the girls up the hill for our yearly Christmas light tour (one night out of many). There is a lovely (very pricey) neighborhood that we drive through every year to see all the lights that were put up. You have to drive UP a windy road through the neighborhood and it's fun to see what ideas were come up with for decorating hilly, sloping yards. It's all pretty cool.

But this is our absolute FAVORITE! This gentleman goes all out and has been doing this for nearly 20 years. Each year he adds something new. There are over 500,000 lights throughout and it's amazing! He says his power bill goes from $50 in November to $1500 in December. He saves up for it during the year and has had to have extra circuit boxes added to the house just for the lights. He says he just wants to share Christmas joy with as many people he can because he has been so blessed in life. And Christmas lights have always made him happy this time of year. He is a sweet guy. He lets everyone get out of their cars and walk along his driveway to see everything he has worked on. He starts putting things up in October with a few friends so that he can start the light show Thanksgiving night.

Here are the shots from across the street. I had to take a few pictures to show the entire front view of his yard. Sorry if the pics are a wee bit fuzzy. My hands were freezing being that it was only 1f out.

And of course here is his neighbor's house. I don't blame him one bit being he helps out with the mega display next door. :) You have to laugh.

So to my cousin David in Georgia, who goes all out every year with lights. You don't have anything on this guy, yet. Keep working at it. :)

We still have the Garden AGlow to see at the Botanical Garden for more lights to see. It's our traditional family thing to do now. I'm just glad they have wood barrels to warm yourself by there. I will share more lights from our trip last night, tomorrow. There are lots of "individual" things that must be shared with you. I still have some lights to put outside before the snow comes tonight. Our lights are nothing compared to the above but they are nice to look at though.

On another note, Em's slippers were finished the other day. She loves them. I was informed by both girls that the slippers are the BEST for sliding across the wood floor. Great! Nice to know that I made my children something they can kill themselves with will walking across the room. Gives you a warm feeling throughout.

I must go so that another jam packed day can be shared with Glenn. He is enjoying his long weekend the next few days and the girls are making sure they don't waste a minute of it. He thought he was going to rest! :) Lots to do before the predicted snow comes tonight and tomorrow. Fingers are being crossed for some sledding time around here. Too bad Mom isn't here for it.

Back here tomorrow for more lights!