And it's tree time again...

For some people it's the first strains of Christmas music that stream through the overhead speakers in the grocery store.  For others it's the dark hour Black Friday shopping excursion.  For me, Christmas begins with the tree.

Growing up, it was a trip to the forest.  Now we live in the heart of Christmas tree country - no fewer than 30 farms within a 30 minute drive.  We can go out, cut our own, and still be home for lunch.  For the last two years we have loved visiting the Hamburg 4D Tree Farm - a great little farm with trees for $20, hot cocoa, cider, and chili. The family is friendly, and the trees are beautiful.  We love Noble Fir, and enjoy the search for the tree that is meant to be ours.

Here are a few shots from this year's trip:

Letters to Santa

Each day of Advent, the boys get to open a bag that contains a card with an activity for the day.  Day 2 was to write a letter to Santa.  While we've always talked about it in the past, this was the first time we've actually sat down and done it. 

Max is getting more and more independent with his writing.  While he will first exclaim that he can't do it, given a little prompting and time, he does fairly well.  It is so interesting (as a reading teacher) to watch him develop letter and sound ideas.  Luke is just starting to write his first letters - he's got "u" down, and is working on his name.  For his letter, I took dictation.  Here are the results:

 Max's letter reads:
     "Dear Santa
            I hope  you are having a good time.  Kud (Could) I hav hte Lego castle ples? Kud I hav a tooth bruhs (brush) ples?
                                       Frum,
                                       Max Y"

Lots of tongues sticking out in concentration.  This is serious business, people!