Tis the season...the WHOLE season

I'll admit - we've had our Christmas tree up since Thanksgiving and will be leaving it up until well past the new year.  Because CHRISTMAS AIN'T OVER!

Pete and Pete say so.
As does my family.

We celebrate from Dec 5th (St. Nicholas Day) all the way to January 11th (Twelfth Night).  That's right.  A whole month (plus) of gift giving extending after Christmas culminating in a night of celebration complete with games, a baby cake, and a "king" who makes the rules (last year it was Colt!).  I love being able to continue looking forward to celebrations after the 25th.  It makes for a holiday season and not just a holiday.

In the spirit, we bought pizza for a tire business up the street from our neighborhood.  We always see them working so hard that it inspires us every time we drive by.

Christmas day was overwhelming for the baby.  The stimuli coming in from all angles was pretty intense at this age and our Christmas day goes from 9am-9pm with very little breaks.  I found myself buried under a huge pile of gifts.  Having an under-3 means their gifts are basically your gifts and just as much fun for you as all the kitchen stuff you're bound to receive.  Case in point:

Some other photographs from our day:

Zuko was gifted a hand-made leather dog collar from my brother.  SO AWESOME.

Sunrise from bed this morning.

I hope you all had a good holiday and are inspired to continue giving small gifts for many days to come.