I'm not mailing you a Christmas card.

Can't do it this year.  If you live nearby you might get a package of cookie dough with a poem included about how the Baums hope the neighbors and Santa don't mind milk and cookies - the unbaked kind.  Don't be jealous that you have a kitchen stove and you don't get to write catchy holiday poems about the cold, blank hole in your kitchen wall.

Some of our highlights this December (and reasons you aren't getting a card in your mailbox this year) are as follows:

My Ezra - bottom left.

We have been attending preschool Christmas programs.

We have been rearranging furniture to make room for our new dining room table and not mopping the floor but lets focus on the table here.  My Dad made it for me for Christmas.  Jace found the carved post legs buried out by our barn when we bought the casa last summer.  Pretty sweet, eh?  It was exactly what I had envisioned.  Love it when that happens.

Mikael has her daily lunch date with the kittens, dogs, and peacocks at the back door.  And that white stuff on the ground is not going away.  Looks like a white Christmas here in Snowflake, AZ.

A cold, snowy December and 3 wood burning stoves has given our kids lots to do.  They make about 15 trips a day, down the hill, with the little red wagon full of firewood.  I love it.

Count those fingers.  This lovely young lady turned 10 yesterday.

What a stinkin' doll.

She is my shadow, my babysitter, my fashion consultant, and my reminder of how I want to live my life. Jace and I hit the lottery 10 years ago with one Macy Baum.

And because I'm in a holiday spirit tonight, I'll show you what else we have been doing but not before I remind you what it used to look like:

And my new office:

There is more to do and more to see in this new room but so far it is my favorite (warm) hangout.

The wood paneled entry before:

And now:

Ignore my attempt at being crafty.  Those glitter words spell "Cheers."  But the new wood floors, stair railing, paint and light fixture didn't turn out half bad, right?

Merry Christmas!