It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

Only seven days until Christmas! :D (Well, for us, since we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. It's so much more fun that way. We get to open presents early and stay up late)! :D Our house is decorated for Christmas. Is your house decorated? Here are some pictures of our decorations.

A pretty wreath on our door

Scout wants to help!

So cute

A Deathly Hallows ornament from Harry Potter World!!!! This is our first year that we have gotten to use it.

Looking cute

Ornaments

Ornaments from places we've visited all over the country.

Boy, all of this not helping to decorate sure makes me tired.

Our tree full of memories.

Snuggling on our new blanket.

Posing for the picture.

Our pretty Christmas tree.

The village.

Home made Christmas presents made by yours truly.

(Sorry about the picture being sideways). I made snowflakes and put them on the windows in my bedroom.

Another snowflake.

A post about Percy, our Elf on the Shelf, is coming soon! :D

12/12/12

Today is December 12, 2012 or 12/12/12. Today will be the last day where the date is the same three numbers until the year 3001 (1/1/01). Just a random thought I had. :D

OPERATION: HELP THE ELF!

A writing blog I follow called "The Bookshelf Muse" had this great idea to create this sort of contest where you help out one of Santa's elves and put a post on your blog about why a certain person you know should be on the nice list. So I decided to do it and the person I think should be on the nice list is my brother, Maxim. Read on to find out why.



Why should Maxim be on the nice list? There are a hundred reasons why, but I'll narrow it down to just a few reasons, for now.

My brother is nine and just three years younger than me and is probably my best friend. I'm probably his best friend, too. He wants to do everything with me. He constantly follows me around and wants to play with me. He'd probably play Yu-Gi-Oh! with me all day long, if he could. If something exciting happens he rushes straight for me to tell me. He randomly comes up to me, Mommy, Daddy, or even our dog, Scout, and gives them hugs and says, "I love you."

Maxim is very giving and empathetic. When someone is crying or upset, he immediately comes over to see what's the matter and tries to make goofy faces and uses funny voices to make us laugh and cheer us up. He makes gifts and cards for people and always wants to show me, Mommy, and Daddy a new Lego creation he made or a song he wrote.

Sometimes Maxim is so giving, he makes me feel selfish. If I'm playing a game with him I'll be the first one to ask, "Can I go first?" And he doesn't object at all. He just say, "Okay, Kate. You can go first." Whenever he does this I make a mental note to be more like him.

Ever since Maxim was little he has stuck up for me. If he thought anyone was being mean or unfair to me he would immediately jump in and say, "Hey, be nice to my sister!" And I've always done the same for him.

One time we were playing a game and we were on the same team. After we won he turned to me with a big smile on his face and said, "Hey, we make a good team!"

Yes we do, Maxim. Yes we do.

I hope you enjoyed my post! :D Who do you think should be on the nice list this year?

PS: Just as I finished writing this post Maxim came up to me and said, "Hey, Kate, look at this! It's this new Lego creation I built!"

A B See Photo Challenge- A is for Apple

According to my poll on the side of my blog, most of you wanted more posts with pictures, so today I'm continuing my A B See Photo Challenge! :D Between NaNoWriMo and the Gratitude posts in November I didn't have much time to continue the challenge. (If you didn't read the first post, click HERE). But I did do this one. Please comment and tell me which picture you liked best! :D

Name: Black and White Spots. Where I took the photo: The Kitchen (Which is where I took all of these photos) What I like about the photo: I like the clarity of the spots and the simpleness of it all.

Name: Spotted Green. What I like about the photo: I like the contrast of the brown spots and the green apple. I also like the lighting.

Name: White Beacon in a Black World. What I like about the photo: I like how all of the apple's surroundings are dark and shadowy and the apple is very bright. It reminds me of a ghost in a haunted mansion.

Name: Shadow. What I like about the photo: I like how the apple's shadow is very obvious and large.

Name: Tower. What I like about the photo: I like how the photo makes it looks as if you are looking up at the tower of apples.

Name: Crumbling Pillar. What I like about the photo: I like how the photo looks like a pillar that is falling apart.

Name: Crumbling Pillar In Color. What I like about the photo: I like this photo just as much as the other crumbling pillar, but this one is in color.

Name: Alone. What I like about the photo: I like how this photo tells a story about a lonely apple.

Name: Hi. What I like about the photo: I like how the apples spell a word.

Name: Bright spot. What I like about the photo: I like how the apple's surroundings are dark and the apple seems to be creating a circle of light.

Name: Speckles. What I like about the photo: I like how you can see the apple's white speckles really well and I also like the shadow it's creating.