notice his living room even has an icon corner. 
Then he made this tree out of cardboard 
which serves as a centerpiece for our dining room table.
Every year I usually let each child pick out an ornament for the tree that will become theirs forever to take to their trees as adults. This year the Christmas budget was a bit low so I managed to find a set of Orthodox shrinky dink icon ornaments. The shrinky dink sheets cost I think $14 and I paid that again for a set of Sharpie markers - which made my ornament total significantly lower than allowing each child a $10 ornament. Anyway, they turned out beautiful and we were all glad we tried this project. They are study enough to last for years and beautiful enough to be cherished for all those years. I have no idea where Ruth got to in these photos and no, I don't know what is on David's face.
This was another of Heidi's toys with which I was seldom allowed to play until she got a bit older and stashed them in the attic where I would sneak up to play. (And why is it that Heidi had all the cool toys....hmmmm?!) There was a mom and a baby and a dad and I think a grandma. I actually got a lot of dolls off of ebay to give the girls for Christmas but the poor dad in my lot is naked. The highlight of the Sunshine Family was the farm set Heidi had. The chicken actually laid eggs and the little pump actually pumped water. That chicken had to be the funnest thing going.
as a kid. My Snoopy was very spoiled and the instant I gathered enough money I would be off to the Hallmark Store to buy him more clothes. 
He had the fireman outfit, the sweater and matching hat, the dr outfit and lots more. I even made him a mummy costume. He's still here somewhere. I had thoughts of passing him on to the girls but I don't think they'll take very good care of him. I guess he'll have to wait a while longer before he gets loved again.
Today is the feast of St. Nicholas. We celebrate this feast by putting gifts in the children's shoes. It's nice that our habit is to line up all the shoes on the steps anyway - makes it much easier for St. Nicholas to come along and fill their shoes. 
They each got a wearable gift and a small bag of chocolate coins since St. Nicholas was reputed to have tossed bags of money through the windows of girls who could not afford a dowry to get married. Happy feast day to all you Nicholases out there!
Woohoo!! It worked!!! I finally have a card reader and I'm back in business with my photos - I'll be busy for a while since I've missed a ton of birthdays and other events (If only I hadn't left the camera in Ohio!!). In the meantime, enjoy this little shot of her Royal Plumpiness and this Birthday Boy Ben post!
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