Christmas Preparations

Lately, we have been getting into the holiday spirit.

It all started with the acquisition of our tree.And then there was the decoration process
(note the placement of ornaments 4 feet or higher).

The next wave of holiday spirit brought the random purchasing frenzy
common to a time of year when it is too cold to do anything else.
I bought Orin quite a few gifts, most of which I lacked the impulse
control to wrap and place under the tree for a late December unveiling.
Like these socks.

And, yes, they are real socks.

All you have to do is soak them in water and presto!
you have a full size baby knee sock.

(You wouldn't have been able to wait to try them out either,
just admit it...)
But eventually I got sick of shopping and immediately opening gifts
and decided it was time to bake Christmas cookies.
Orin was probably even more excited about the prospect of cookies
than he was about his expanding socks.
He decided that in order to speed up the cookie-making process
that he would help me by stacking the ingredients.
It was a tough job.
There was only one order in which the would all stack properly
so there were some botched attempts

before success.
But the kitchen isn't the only place that Orin has been able

to find a job,
he is also an excellent firewood stacker.
What he lacks in strength he makes up for in spirit.
Now, there is just one more job that we are going to need
his assistance with this holiday season:

Official Present Opener.
But first, we have to make sure that at least one gift
makes it to the big day.

While we are still a few days out,
the forecast looks pretty promising.