I've got Christmas Spirit, DAMMIT!

Do you smell that? That is the smell of Christmas oozing out of my pores. As you may know, I am a whore for all things Christmas.

This year, it would have been much easier to just ignore it and pretend it didn't exist, but what kind of mom (and Christmas whore) would that make me? Jay's post yesterday, spoke exactly the way I, and I'm sure many, were feeling... UGH, Christmas? Not this year... It's good to be reminded that everyone has their own kinds of struggles and are equaling having a hard time- SO SUCK IT UP!

Determined to keep my reputation in tact, this weekend I immersed my family into everything Christmas-y that I could find.

First stop, Historic St. Charles, MO Main Street. It's so picturesque down here and just a few minutes from my house! The place is stuck in a time warp- carolers (in old-fashioned costume) line the cobblestone streets, "Santas from Around the World", and horse and carriage rides...

I love it, it's as close as I will ever get to my dream of a "New England" Christmas. Oh yeah, and I bought myself an awesome purse that I've had my eye on, but I wrapped it up- it will be from Santa!

Next, we headed to a local Church for their "Journey to Bethlehem". I have wanted to try it since we moved here, but the cold and snow has always been too much to justify getting the kids sick before Christmas (it's outside). I decided that this was the year. Beebs is no longer a baby, the weather was 'mild'- and we I could use a reminder of the 'reason for the season'... It was pretty fantastic. Every parking attendant is dressed in shepherd garb.


They have sheep, donkeys, and camels all over the place.
You role play as a member of the family of David and follow the course that Mary and Joseph took to Bethlehem to pay their taxes. They lead you through a mulch trail in the winding woods with tents and recreate marketplaces, Nazareth and the manger scene. They even give you 'papers' to show to the scary Roman Soldiers along the path.
The pictures totally suck because I put my son in charge and he was scared shitless that he would get in trouble for snapping shots- they were pretty scary!

Sunday, we went to my daughter's first Christmas band concert... this is her first year playing the flute and, you know, they weren't half bad!


Now, I think this is funny, but apparently I have a warped sense of humor... so, if you love chipmunks... you might want to skip it, but if your kids have made you sit through the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie about 1800 times in the last year, I think you may appreciate it...