Daddy noticed our neighbors' house was all decked out with lights so he made a mad dash to Home Depot to stock up on outdoor lights. Ella was happy to oblige when Daddy requested her help in stringing the red and white lights on our "popsicle" bushes out front. Mommy's friend Gerin says the bushes make our home look like something out of Whoville. And now that they're all lit up -- we have to agree. And now, inspired by a competitive nature or not, the sprit of Christmas is living in us all. God Bless Us, Everyone. Wait -- that's another holiday story. 
Redondo Beach does a very cool thing. Each year Santa, accompanied by local police and fire, rides down residential streets in his "sleigh". He hands out candy canes and poses for pictures with the kiddies, just a few steps from their own front door. We had already lugged her to the nearby mall for pictures with Santa but you can never see too much of the jolly ole elf, can you? She did not like the loud sirens that alerted us to his arrival, but Ella was happy to see Santa again and so we snapped another photo. It was dark so it's grainy, sorry. 
Daddy calls it our "redneck" tree. It's a Martha Stewart K-Mart special. The 4 1/2 foot pre-lit artificial tree glows forth with utter tackiness, but Ella loves it. No disrespect to anyone who has artificial trees, I've just always had live ones, even if they were sparse Charlie Brown trees.But, the fake tree does several things for us. It does not need water or shed limbs or needles, all of which would end up in Ella's mouth. And, it's charming in its own way. She adores all the lights so we had to put up something. 
Ella enjoyed helping Daddy put it together and she admired it with complete and utter joy when it was in place and all lit up. Tacky or not, against my rule book or not, it was all worth this face.
