It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

and I am starting to get really excited! I ordered everything (literally) online this year because, let's face it - with a 5 year old, a 17 month old and being 28 weeks pregnant, the mall is not my friend. I did have to go into Toys R Us (which I can't stand) to pick something up for a relative and the woman at the check out tried three times to sell me batteries. Her last ditch effort was "You know how disappointed your children will be on Christmas morning if you don't have batteries for one of their new toys." So I gave up on my "No, but thank you." answer - which obviously wasn't working anyway and informed her "My children don't have any toys that take batteries." She looked at me as if I'd said "The government is confiscating your chickens," and was wearing a shiny tin-foil hat.

At any rate - all my wonderful Christmas presents have arrived. I found some really great things for the girls at Blueberry Forest toys: http://www.blueberryforest.com/, got some amazing Bunt Spechte animals from a co-op we did through the Rudolph Steiner College Bookstore. I also got some Kinderkram and Holztiger figures from Padilly http://www.padilly.com/. Oh - and a BEAUTIFUL doll for Love Bug (her first doll) from Berre at Moonchild Handworks http://moonchildhandworkstudio.blogspot.com/. Most of the gifts for my family members I got on Etsy. What a wonderfully dangerous place!!! =) =)

I've just started wrapping. I don't put presents under the tree until after the girls go to bed on Christmas Eve and I am so excited I can hardly stand it. We'll tell the Christmas Story before the girls go to bed that night. I really love how all the festivals and celebrations that have led up to Christmas Day have really lingered in the house. You know, I didn't even take the girls to see Santa this year - not that I am opposed to that, (he only fills the stockings at our house) but Bean hasn't even asked. My husband mentioned it the other day, asking if she wanted to go see him and Bean said "Uh . . . not really." Maybe I'm misled, but I truly feel as though we have really shifted the focus of the Season this year - not that my little Bean isn't excited about presents, but they just don't come up in conversation that often. So, if you're wondering if it's worth the trouble to celebrate all the festivals preceding Christmas, I will just say that it has truly been a month of joy at our house and I hope there is joy at your home too!