oh christmas house

This weekend Ray put the finishing touches on what has to be our best Christmas House ever.   It's lovely, and very well lit, but not in a Clark W. Griswold kind of way. 

I love the giant ornaments on the front porch.  Yes, they take up lots of storage room, but so worth it. 

I went biblical with the front door.  When I heard Carter refer to the people in one of our nativity scenes as "action figures" I realized maybe we weren't going biblical often enough. 

In all fairness to Carter, I have to say that yesterday, completely out of the blue he wondered, out loud, what the God's Christmas tree in Heaven must look like.  Grace quickly chimed in that they did have plenty of room up there and it was, after all, God's son's birthday.  They both agreed that Christmas in Heaven must be on heck of a party.  To tell the truth, I've never thought about Christmas in Heaven.  I'm so glad my kids' hearts and minds are capable of such wonderful thoughts. 

Inside, the lights from the garland and the tree cast a soft glow over most of the house.  So warm and cozy. 

Meanwhile, Charlie spent his first week in our house hanging out in high, or out of reach spots.  The kids know that touching Charlie will take his magic away, but Charlie wasn't taking any chances.   

Finally, this morning, the kids found Charlie hanging out downstairs with the Santa's in the big red dining room box.  Both Grace and Carter were touched by this sign of Charlie's trust.  They were happy to see him up close but very careful not to get too close. 

I think it could be time for Charlie to start pulling some crazy elf stunts...