Deck the Halls and all that stuff

We've really been trying to get in the Christmas spirit around here lately. True, Christmas decorations are not nearly as abundant in this country as in America, but they can be found. The trick is sifting through the mounds and mounds and aisles and shops of decorations that seem chintzy, cheap and tacky to find those very rare indeed diamonds in the rough.

Not to say that I have entirely succeeded; in fact, I think I have succumbed to the pressure of a chintzy Asian christmas. My tree is not the towering and full-looking evergreens that exist in the States. It is a tree that is rather short, thin and - I'm sorry, Mrs. Wind, so say - that it reminds me rather of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. You know how those look...not so many branches, you can kind of see the wires in between. But my tree cost three dollars, so what can you really expect from three dollars, I ask you?

I also have not found any white lights, which I am quite fond of. Something about the soft glow of those little lights just pleasantly makes me think of jingle bells and mercy mild and harkening to hear angels sing. I cannot seem to find them anywhere except on this commercial building down the street from me - they have a little christmas montage thing set up on thier lawn. I thought about sneakily going in the night and nabbing thier lights since I can't find my own...but then I reconsidered after contemplating what a night in an Asian prison might look like.

So we are making do with what we have. We found some cute little snowflakes and some cute little snowman-stuffed-animalish things that we are using as ornaments. As Emma helped me "decorate" the tree, she loved putting the snowmen in and out of the tree. She especially loves anything Frosty the Snowman, thanks to my parents who had a lifesize, motion-sensored snowman that delighted Emma to no end...even in March...even in July...even in September. Fortunatley, it is now December again, and Frosty has had a whole year to stretch his legs. Come January, he will probably go kicking and screaming back in that box!

Anyway, so I think as we proceeded in our decorating extravaganza, emma thought that since frosty was a stuffed animal and HE went in the tree, perhaps all her stuffed animals should also go in the tree. So, it started out innocentl enough, as she went to go get her beloved dora doll and put him in the lower branches of the tree. I snapped a picture so you could all see Dora cozily nestled in the branches. Then came blanket. Then caterpillar, zebra, giraffe, bear, and finally lamb. It was then that the boughs were so stuffed with animals that the tree (remember it's a cheap asian tree) could no longer withstand the weight of so many freeloaders that it tumbled to the ground. At that point, mom called a halt to all the fun and sent all the stuffed animals back to their room.

As I picked up the tree, Emma decided she had had enough of decorating, and decided instead to see how much of herself could fit inside the christmas tree box. She stayed entertained that way for a long while and then she was willing to play with samantha while we tried to get a few christmas pics out of the evening. The best one, though not GREAT, is posted at the top of this post. They still both look cute, so I thought it would pass for now. :)

In other news, mantha's skin is doing much better, thanks to the snake oil and vasoline. She is also now sleeping officially 12 hours through the night - 8am to 8pm! What a great thing for all of us! I have also busted out her 6-9 month clothes because all her other clothes were too summery for what is now getting to be a very chilly city, so she looks really grown up and especially cute almost every day. Don't you agree...?

More from us later. Hope you are all eating lots of christmas goodies and hitting all the good sales for me!