closing in on Christmas

As we get closer to Christmas, I find myself trying to snatch away moments for savoring the season.  I'm certain that the hours fly by faster in December than in any other month.  In between school, basketball games, and practices we've been:

***learning how to play chess....John and John Samuel have been challenging each other as often as time allows (this is a teaching set and it shows you the moves and directions you can make for each piece...very helpful for me!)

***putting finishing touches on my decorations....this little tree was blank and boring so I hot glued wooden hearts, gingerbread men, candles and pine cones to it.  I tied some homespun fabric to the branches and now it's perfect! 

 ***cracking up at our dog....the kids found her laying on the remote, looking at the TV and they said she was watching Animal Planet! (I think this whole scene interrupted our math one day! )

***adding Christmas lights to more and more corners of our house....it's just so magical with all the beautiful lights.  It's so special to check on my boy and finding him sleeping in the glow of his Christmas lights.  (I always unplug them before I head to bed :))

***reading mysteries and taking notes as we go...after listening to Andrew Clements' Room One, my boy decided to solve the mystery of his chapter book in a similar fashion....works for me, I just like to see him reading and having fun at the same time

 ***for book club we read the light-hearted book: A Redbird Christmas...perfect for holiday time!  One of the ladies at book club gave us each a box loaded with an assortment of cookies that she prepackaged and labeled for us in little cello bags!  What a work of love...a delicious work!

And I've been knitting some little last minute gifts....dishcloths and toasty fingerless mitts....nothing like watching TV by the glow of the Christmas tree and knitting.  Some of our DVR'd favorites include:  NCIS, Person of Interest and Blue Bloods. 

So how have you been savoring these days before Christmas?  I hope you're finding time to enjoy the moments before they fly by!  It's closing in on Christmas...stay merry!