It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The boys went out with Lester this weekend and picked out a fat and wonderful-smelling Christmas tree. Gracious, it smells good in our house!

And then we spent the weekend decorating it, letting the boys hang bulbs and talking to them about some of the more personal ornaments and what they meant to us, like the one we made at a pottery shop in Fredericksburg, Va. on a little mini pre-anniversary trip we took in 2007. (I was pregnant with the boys and didn't know it!)

He was so deliberate about every bulb.

Mommy, I want this one to go up high! Way up high!

So far this holiday season has been really great because the boys have been really in to the whole thing -- from picking out the tree, to decorating the house to singing "Jingle Bells" and "We Miss you a Merry Christmas." (That's how they say it.) And we aren't spending every waking moment trying to get them to NOT TOUCH THE TREE! Even Clair hasn't been a problem. She crawls around and touches everything, but not the tree, for some reason. She likes to stare at the lights, though, and kick her little feet at how beautiful it is.
 

Best time of the day: When the kids go to bed! We like to just sit, and have a holiday-cocktail and just look at the tree.

Sunday, my friend Monica came over and had breakfast with us. She's from the South, so I used that as an excuse to serve some good, old-fashioned cheese grits, made with plenty of butter! Lester made pancakes, too (more butter, YUM!). So we had grits and eggs, sausage and pancakes and have never been so happy. :-)

Monica took a few photos of us while she was there, and I can't wait to see them. She's an amazing photographer -- really, simply amazing -- which is why I was so surprised when she told me that her favorite camera right now is her iPhone.

Really? She showed me some photos on her phone that she took with her iPhone and they were absolutely breathtaking! "How can I be down?" I asked her. How do you do that?

So she introduced me to some photo enhancing apps she uses, but most were still too advanced for my Mommy brain. I picked one to play with called Camera +, and I am now obsessed with it!

I apologize in advance for all the photos I'll be enhancing and posting. It's just so cool!

Here are a few existing photos I had in my phone that I enhanced using Camera +:

You're my...Bright-Eyed Girl. Sha-na-na-na-na-na!

Look at the color!

This seriously looks like it could be from back in the day. My boys look so dapper. Their look is what my dear old Grandmother would call "smart!" As in, "Don't those boys look smart?!"

I think this should be an ad in a magazine for something. I don't know what. But for something.

Focusing in on Cary and his favorite activity (after whining and arguing), and making everything else go softly out of focus. Cool!

Again, more color -- and light! And Deanie smiling! What's not to love?

I don't know if there's a filter I could use that would make me NOT love this photo of my two super cool dudes.

 Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, this is my new toy, so indulge me, please. I'm pretty sure this too shall pass. (Until the next thing comes along!)

Oh! Last thing to point out:

This morning, Dean seemed not himself. He was subdued and slow and said he wanted to go back and take a nap. He said, "My tummy hurts." At one point, for no apparent reason, he burst into tears.

I got down on my knees and tried to get him to tell me what was wrong. But he just sobbed.

Finally, I said, "Baby, please tell Mommy what's wrong, so I can help you. What do you need?"

And he said, through tears, "I-I-I-I.... I need a hug."

OMG -- I had to hold back the tears! Seriously, I can't tell you how much that tugged at my heart. My sweet boy!

I hugged him long and hard, and rocked him like a baby.

And it was the saddest and happiest moment I can ever recall.