'Tis the season

All right, one holiday down, on to the next! This year, the kids did the outside lights all by themselves!! Aren't they amazing? I was impressed! I didn't get a picture of the lights at night, but they were very similar to last year's, except most of the colored lights didn't work, so we didn't do the tree out front, just a few more on the palm tree.

Indoor decor makes for a good chore, so they did most of that by themselves too! We were on the fence about doing all the decorations this year, since we wouldn't be at home during the big day, but I'm glad that we did.

Hadley and I went on a holiday home tour to support the high school's Project Graduation. Mostly, it was fun getting to walk around inside some fancy-schmancy houses! The kind where you say, "this house can't possibly still be going," as you turn a corner and find another hallway or a third living room...

One of the houses even had a Santa photo op. Hadley humored me by posing with Santa by the fireplace. Had I known, I might have had her wear some more festive clothes. Later, in another house, we found several creepy, Hadley-sized Santas! They had to be documented.

And finally, we made it to our annual holiday tradition of Handel's Messiah, put on by our church. Stunning as usual. Alleluia!