So what did Mary & Joseph do while waiting for baby Jesus??

Apparently they played Bakugan!!  I thought this was funny.  My 8 year old left his Bakugan balls here before he went to school.  I did a double take when I walked by...it really looks like they are playing doesn't it???

Christmas time in NYC!!!

About a week and a half ago, I got up early in the morning and went to New York City with some good friends.

We had a great time.

Here are some of the pics!!

The sunrise on the ride up to NYC.

Here we are...we've finally arrived!!

A cool Christmas sculpture.

Flags in Rockerfeller Center.

The famous ice rink & tree.

The tree up close.

Check out that tree topper!!!  It's Swarosky!

St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Some of New York City's finest.

The Empire State Building.

Inside Grand Central Station.

The stores were all decorated beautifully...this is the outside of Lord and Taylor's.

This is the inside of L & T.  Check out that garland!!!

Then we went to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes!!

This wooden soldier number was my favorite!

As part of the show, they had an incredible live nativity.

The finale.

Here we are in front of Macy's!

This is where everyone stops and performs during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  It was so neat to be there in person!

This is the crystal ball that is dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve.  It is on display, inside of Macy's.  I was surprised at how small it is.  (I'd say, only 4 or 5 ft in diameter!)  The cool thing about it is that it changed colors every 30 seconds or so.

Lastly, we made our way to Time's Square!!!!

Do you see this sign???? Lost...coming January 21st!!  I can't wait!!!

It was a great day!!! I can't wait to go back with the kids.

Christmas Tree, Take 2

For the second year in a row, we've had to redecorate our tree!  Last year, we had a real tree that fell over.   This year, we bought an artificial tree that was 9 ft tall to go in our FR with 10 ft tall ceilings.  We brought it home, set it up, and guess what??  Our ceilings are only 9 ft tall, not 1o!!

The tree went all the way to the ceiling.  We tried to live with it, but couldn't stand it.  So after a couple of days, we bought a new tree.   We took down the old tree  & put up the new tree in the same night.

Don't you just love how they stand on the couches to reach the high spots??

Here it is!! 

Isn't it pretty???

Next year, we're hoping to only decorate our tree once!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house!!!

The Nester is having a "Show us Your Garland" day....so here's mine.

She has an awesome tutorial on how to make a fancy swag type of garland on her blog.  We have our stockings, so that wasn't going to work for me.  Instead, I just layered mine on top of the mantel...and voila!

I also did a cute little garland on our Dining Room light fixture...again, it's just layering.  So easy!!