being brave

Ok, this isn't some really great or deep post.  It's just that I decided to be very brave in my Christmas decorating this year - to decorate for beauty's sake, rather than trying to be kid friendly or kid safe.

Yup.  I put my Nutcracker collection (19 and counting) around the upstairs tree.  I love how it looks... hopefully my kids really are now all old enough to leave it alone and it will survive my borrowed baby (who's going on 18 months)

Oh, and my fake tree looks pretty good for its 13th year, doesn't it.  We put a real tree in the family room later in the season, but I love having an artificial tree I can put up right after Thanksgiving and not worry about it dying.  It's small, but it has fit perfectly in all our small apartments and is just right for my cosy library.