Then, on my way to pick up Tabby from preschool I saw an egret (heron? I’m looking around trying to find the definitive difference between heron and egret and it seems to do with plumage. or feet color.)right on the edge of the road. I’ve seen them by the river lots of times, but never one so close. I promptly stopped, tried to back up, and grabbed my camera (and of course suddenly there were many other cars trying to get by, stopping to see if I’m ok, etc.). Here’s what I got:

Then on the way back I drove along slowly hoping to see it again and there it was! This time I got out of the car and was able to walk up pretty close to it and then catch this lovely shot of it flying away (it didn’t fly very far-apparently it was really interested in finding food in the marshy watery runoff.)

Look at that wingspan!

Update! I had more wonderful animal encounters. On my way to bring Tabby to a friend’s house there were a bunch of cows eating. They looked great all lined up with their heads sticking through a fence. They were still there on the way back and I got out.  Unlike the heron they were not frightened of me and I even pet one.  Alas, I really wish I had the good camera with me, but I only had my phone.

Then, closer to home, next to the field where I walked Pippin this morning, I saw a big beautiful hawk on a telephone pole. I really do love where we live.

Then it was off to the Pinewood Derby.

In case you’re not familiar with this Boy Scout event it is held each year and the boys take blocks of wood and make them into cars which are then raced on a downhill track.  There are rules about weight and dimensions but other than that the boys can get very creative with their designs.  Clark had a good time working on his car with Paul and had designed a dragon type thing.  Clark designed, but Paul did the saw work.  He drew some wings and a crazy tail and then glued them on, painted it, and glittered it.

He loved his design and was sure he would win for “most original.”  [In addition to the winners of the most races there are awards for the different kinds of designs.]  There were lots of really awesome cars and it was interesting to see that the littler boys went for wild or funny designs whereas the older boys were all about streamlined cars weighted for speed.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and at the end of the night, just like he hoped, Clark won for Most Original!! (oh, the voting was done by ballot by the scouts.)  He is so so proud, which of course makes us proud and happy too.  He is just thrilled that he has a plaque and Tabby was so excited for him that it was just adorable.

Well, this would have been a little bit more relevant had I posted this on the actual day, which was Tuesday. But you know how things go.  Anyway, here we are a blushing bride and groom on a beautiful wintry January afternoon 8 years ago.

We have a tradition of celebrating our anniversary with the “traditional” gifts for each year. This year is “pottery”.  Last Saturday I surprised Paul by taking him to Art Attack, our favorite local paint your own pottery place. We’ve been a number of times with the kids, but I thought it would be fun for us to have time to ourselves so Paul could really enjoying painting.  I can’t wait to get back the things we made. Here we are having a nice time:

And then went out for dinner at the Melting Pot and had a wonderful time remembering having fondue together in Brussels.  Happy 8th anniversary, Paul!

A couple of other notes.  I am going set crazy in Flickr! In addition to “Skies“, I added new colors, so now I have red,orange, yellow, blue, green, pink, purple, and white.  I’m envisioning a set of mugs, each with a different color theme (but who needs a whole new set of mugs? Not me.) Aside from just liking looking at the pictures grouped by color, I find it interesting to look and see how many different types of things are a certain color, i.e. they are not all flowers, or all clothes-pretty much each color includes man made objects, people, and things in the natural world.  Clark asked me to make him a mug of his own (because he admire the orange one I did for Paul) with pictures of his choosing. Sure!

Finally, when I did my Project 365 Year 2 look back I had a picture in mind which somehow I didn’t see when looking back, so assumed it was from 2010.  In fact, it was in 2011 and I loved it so much that I’ll add it in right here as one of my very favorites of the year:

Almost the whole time we were walking around searching they continued to honk and fly through the air, like airplanes circling an airport waiting to land.

The weather was simply beautiful and of course there were lovely things to photograph in the woods.

We tried another destination in a nearby park and couldn’t find the treasure there either, but the kids were excited to play on the playground.

Today we headed down to the aquarium and had one of our best times ever. There is a new crocodile there, Mighty Mike, and they are remodeling and putting in a new exhibit, so next time we go there will be even more new stuff. Our favorites are the jellyfish, petting the stingrays, the big shark tank, the hippos, and the hammerhead sharks. The giant lobsters were more active than we’d ever seen before and all in all everything was beautiful and interesting. Do I have awesome underwater photographs? No, I do not because it’s near impossible to get a decent picture inside the aquarium. However, I did manage to get a nice picture of the biggest group of seashorses I’ve ever seen.

The good picture fun comes at the end when we go outside and take pictures outside with the lovely Philadelphia skyline behind us.

A second year of a picture every day!  Time to take a look back at my favorites.  Before I get into some narrative I’ll start us right off with my all around favorite picture of the year (shown above.)  Not only does it have happy memories of a day at Ocean Grove, but the whole framing and motion and joy of the scene is an all around pleasure to me.

Last year’s look back post was pretty massive as I analzyed my photos and also reflected on my year.  I’m afraid this year’s is going to be quite a bit shorter, even though I certainly took as my photos.[Update: I'm halfway through and I'm thinking that sentence might not be true-I intended not to include lots of links to pics, but I am!]  This year I got a bit lax about getting the picture posted on the actual day and often posted the next morning.  I’m not sure I challenged myself often enough, though during a slump I created a challenge for myself (Household Object Challenge!).
I did not complete SMERSH, the photo scavenger hunt of 101 items that my friends started.  I hoped to go back and pick photos to match the categories, but I didn’t. But who says SMERSH can’t keep going into 2012? I vow to complete it! In the meantime, this is what I had.
This year I also started using Flickr.  It made choosing which picture to post easier because I knew that my other runner up photos would be seen and commented on in Flickr. Librarian me loves the tagging/sets/collections way of organizing and accessing your photos (I initially didn’t like the photostream, but the other organizing aspects won me over.)  Other photos news-things I did with my photos.  Both Paul and my mom received mugs that I made at snapfish.  I did a collage and because you could import from your Flickr account it was super easy to grab a set.  Some of my sets are color themes and I love looking at the photos organized like that-Paul’s mug has all orange photos, mom’s is all pink.  I also made various calendars for people-a wall calendar with family pictures for Paul to keep at work, and chic vertical calendars for mom and a friend that featured botanical closeups.  I was so thrilled with them-I thought they looked like something you might buy in a shop! I definitely would like to have more stationary products made this year with favorite prints.  The other awesome thing I bought with my pictures was stickers made at Moo.  They are a beautiful quality and completely reasonably priced-I got a book of 90 stickers (with up to 90 different images-I grabbed 40 from a Flickr set) for something like $6. I’d include a photo of it, but I seem to have misplaced it.
Now, on to the photos!

Favorite Nature:  This year I had pictures of deer, pheasants, turtles, frogs, and various birds (backyard or otherwise.)  This darling fawn was a favorite:

Favorite Chicken:  I couldn’t choose between two.  This lovely springtime one, which features our dear departed Blackie, and this vibrant garden one featuring our handsome black and white rooster:

Favorite Miscellaneous Category: This was a favorite photo of the year and it’s part Tabby-part action-part family-part black & white. Whatever it is, I love it!

Favorite Motion: With kids it seems like an awful lot of our pictures are action shots, running, leaping, splashing, and so on.  I liked this picture an awful lot only in part for the motion-mostly for the composition, bright kite, and sunshine.

Favorite of Clark: I think this is my favorite picture of Clark this year

, but somehow it was not chosen as the picture of the day(from the same activity, I picked this one. I wonder why?)! Clark had many great faces and actions photographed this year, as well as ones showing significant milestones, like Cub Scouts and bike riding.  Choosing from just Fairview pictures, I would choose this one, which I called “Carnivorous Clark.” We were having a nice hot summer day barbecue, which I think is captured nicely here-you can see the sauce on his face, his summer haircut, and his scrunched up face as he gnaws on a bone.

Favorite of Tabby: I confess it is harder to choose Tabby’s best picture of the year.  There were so many great ones and she indulged me in many photo shoots while Clark was at school.  She looked precious in her Christmas program outfit, intense in this action shot,  sweet as a kitty, and nifty in the air.  I’ll go with this as the favorite:

Favorite Flower and Garden:  You can see all my garden shots in a handy dandy garden set on Flickr (I just love looking at the sets en masse) When I compared this set to my project 365 pics, I was surprised to see that some of my favorites hadn’t made it to the picture of the day (specifically, this.) I usually take pictures of just a single bloom, but I really loved this one this year-the filling of the frame with the buds, the clear focus in front, and the dots of bright yellow:

Favorite Garden: We didn’t have any success with our corn this year, so I guess it’s ok that this naughty scamp was in there gobbling up what he could.

Favorite Weather/Natural Phenomenon: I saw my first beautiful full rainbow this year, but was stuck taking pictures with my phone. Plenty of snow, ice, rain, and floods provided opportunities for many pictures of Mother Nature.  Early in the year I took this shot of frozen droplets on the clothesline and it remained a favorite all year:

Little Droplets of precipitation are definitely a favorite thing to capture-I just love their delicate, and often fleeting, beauty.

Favorite Food: This was probably my favorite food picture, but it did not make it into Project 365.  Of the photos that did, I love the seasonal appeal of this one

Favorite Object: The Household Objects challenge helped me find some very interesting shots inside the house, including this broken lightbulb.  For novelty’s sake, though, I just loved this picture of tiny things:

I also loved these flapping flags in the Asia section of Disneyworld’s Animal Kingdom:

Finally, a favorite picture of myself.

And with today I begin year 3 of Project 365! Fellow photographers, a happy snapping New Year to you! And to everyone who follows The Fairview, thank you so much for checking out my photos and all of your comments.  It means so much to me to share these photos with you.

–Sarah

Did I succeed? Hmmm….yes and no. I think I am still way too cross with the kids and should slow down and be nicer to them and promote more harmony in the household (something that would be easier to do if a certain 6 year old could just get along with his sister.)  I did not get my etsy shop going the way I thought I would, and we only canoed once. Booo!

Here’s my hopes for this year:

• to keep up with running
• to organize my recipes (I thought of this one a few weeks ago and honestly if I can’t succeed at this then there’s really no hope for me)
• to build up a supply of sewn items to sell and hopefully do a craft fair with my mother in November where she will also sell her adorable felt doll animals
• I don’t know if these two are realistic, but—buy a new car and get rid of the horrible family room ceiling and get some lighting in there.
• get up to date on my book blog
• make jam, etc. with in season produce even when I did not grow the produce myself
• to plan a family vacation in advance
• and I’ll add in last year’s again-to get my kids hiking and canoeing

I’m thinking I might need to print out this list so that I can actually try to adhere to it!

Happy New Year!

In 2011 Clark finished kindergarten and started 1st grade, I worked as a blog manager, I quit working as a blog manager, I had the first time in 6 years of overlapping times of the kids being out of the house, I did not use it to sew as much as I thought I would, I sent out my first invoice using PayPal, we lost several chickens, including dear Blackie, Tabby’s eye crossed, she started wearing glasses, and ended up having surgery, we took three trips, our cat got lost and came back, Clark learned to read, Clark learned to ride a bike without training wheels, Tabitha started dance class, Paul left the library and got a new job, Paul built us a treehouse, and I learned how to run and ran three 5ks!

All in all, it was a good year.  I am especially thankful for the fact that we did not suffer severe damage or lose power from either Hurricane Irene or the October snowstorm, as so many of our friends and neighbors did. We were truly quite lucky.  And lest you read through the favorites below and think it’s all sunshine and roses here, rest assured that 2011 included plenty of temper tantrums, yelling, crying, and fighting from both the adults and the children in our house.

Favorite Book:  This year I simultaneously fell behind on my book blog and started using GoodReads. I resolve to get caught up on my book blog this winter. Due to that I had a hard time this year counting exactly how many titles I read, but I believe it was 75–not bad!  That does not count all the audiobooks we listened to-this was the year we enjoyed listening to children’s stories in the car.  I loved the Beverly Clear books narrated by Stockard Channing and also by Neil Patrick Harris.  As for myself? Top reads were All Clear by Connie Willis, I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson, What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, and Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan, Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld, Cleaning Nabokov’s House by Leslie Daniels, and The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall.

Favorite Sewing Project: This year it’s easy to look back at what I sewed because I cleverly made a “2011 Sewing Projects” set in Flickr! I made aprons, blouses, a dress, jewelry rolls, star hot pads, oven mitts, and more. I have two favorites.  First the red party dress I made for myself (still no good pictures of me in it, though.)  I was really pleased with how it turned out and two years ago couldn’t have imagined making this for myself.  The other favorite is really two-the quilts I made for my friend Megan and then for myself.  I really enjoyed the simple design and having fun with scrap fabrics.

Favorite Vacation/Travel Moment: We started 2011 with our first family trip to Disneyworld and had a wonderful time.  Mid-summer we visited my great aunt in Cape Cod, and we wrapped up the summer with a trip to Williamsburg, VA.  At breakfast this morning I shared one of my favorite memories–riding the LeScoot flume ride in Busch Gardens 4 times in a row and getting drenched.  The kids agreed and Clark added that he also just loved the dining room table where we stayed and could we go back there? Glad a laminate topped table was a highlight for you, Clark! After getting past the initial drama, we also enjoyed the solitude of our power-free resort.  Clark added that he loved the bedtimes and stories by flashlight.

I also loved climbing to the top of the monument in Provincetown on Cape Cod and finding horseshoe crabs.


Favorite Foods: Last year was the year of bacon jam, but this year didn’t seem to have any standouts. Paul got a smoker and we enjoyed smoking some things, but there didn’t seem to be any new recipes I found myself turning to over and over again. My favorite I made was probably Clark’s birthday cake. I was really proud of how it came out and it was a pleasure to make for him.

Favorite Song-Calamity Song by the Decemberists.  I loved this whole album (The King is Dead), but this song especially as it was the song I started running to.  I listen to it almost every time I run and it’s become very motivating for me.  Not familiar with it? Have a listen.

Favorite Craft Project: My favorite crafty project was the bunting I made for Thanksgiving.  I’m looking forward to hanging it up in our kitchen every November.

That about covers it-travel, kids, crafts, food, sewing, and family.  The part 2 of this post will be a look back at the photos, and that should be up in a couple of days.  Thanks for reading and commenting throughout the year.  I truly treasure every comment and appreciate friends and family keeping us with us all by checking in here.  For now, wishing you a very happy New Year’s Eve!

–Sarah

We had a wonderful Christmas starting on Christmas Eve Eve when our friends joined us for our annual get together, admire decorations, eat pizza, and play games.  I whipped them up a star hotpad:

On Christmas Eve I finished another one for my aunt.

I always think of Christmas Eve day as very long and slow, as you’re just waiting for the evening and going to bed.  Our day actually flew by! We had a pleasant morning baking and then headed out into the nice sunny weather to try our hand at geocaching.  We’ve never done it before and I’m so glad we did. Basically you follow coordinates and clues to find little treasures.  According to Paul’s app there are dozens nearby.  Although we did not successfully find the treasure (despite standing on top of it, according to our phone) we enjoyed tramping around the woods and having an adventure.  If this can get us out on weekends hiking around then I’m all for it! I enjoyed the nature:

and this, the single creepiest image I have ever come across in the woods:

After that we watched The Iron Giant, which was fantastic.  It’s animated and as Paul said it came out before animated movies were popular again, so it’s pretty overlooked.  I highly recommend it–we all loved it.  In the evening we went to my aunt’s for a merry gathering.  Then home to put out cookies and milk for Santa, the kids snuggled into bed, and Paul and I watching Elf.  Christmas morning we actually slept later than usual–7:25am!! We raced downstairs to discover laden stockings, notes from Santa, and a tree overflowing with gifts.  We had a wonderful day leisurely opening gifts, enjoying a big brunch of sticky buns, bacon, and eggs, and being together.  It truly was lovely.  Santa brought Tabby Baby Alive, which she has desperately wanted since her birthday.  She was thrilled and fed her many times.

Based on this Christmas I’d say if you are a 6 year old boy you are having the best Christmas ever-Clark got so many cool and neat loved gifts.  I wanted to play with them all myself!  He especially loved a big castle and beyblade stuff (which Paul and I had dismissed as “oh, tops” until we played with it-it’s awesome.)

Paul got me many wonderful tea related things, and I got him a ukelele to add to his musical instrument collection. And Santa shoved our family into the 21st century by getting our whole family a Wii.  I’ve never been a video game person, but I am loving it.  It’s really fun and although poor Tabby can’t really do anything on it, everyone else can and it’s fun to do together.

So now we’re still enjoying our gifts and the days off.  Oh, I gave several gifts made with my photos and I love how they came out and the recipients loved them too.  Our other big Christmas news was that on Thursday night our cat Sweetie fell out the dining room window and disappeared.  We hoped for a Christmas miracle but she was gone for 5 nights.  Yesterday morning she came back! (by came back I mean we caught her in a Havahart trap!)  She is very happy to be returned and has been insanely affectionate with us.

Hoping you and yours had a wonderful Christmas, too.  Now, time to start thinking of a New Year’s Resolution post…

A few years ago Paul wrote a post about the worst Christmas songs, and this year he updated it. His post includes my comments as well. But lest you think we don’t like Christmas music, I thought I’d do a companion piece about the BEST Christmas songs (or, more accurately, my favorites.) Around the house I listen almost exclusively to Christmas music during the month of December. I love Christmas music and we have a fairly vast collection, so it’s not like I’m listening to one disc on repeat for 4 weeks.
I’m very fond of pretty much all of the traditional carols-The First Noel, Away in a Manger, Angels We Have Heard on High, etc., so I’m afraid they are not even going to make my list. You can just know that I like them. You may not be familiar with many of the songs below-I encourage you to go have a listen. (and at the risk of being uninteresting visually I’m not putting in the pictures of the album covers.) Maybe you’ll find something new to sing along to. Here they are, in no particular order, my favorite songs to listen to at Christmas time:

“Christmasey”  (What I Really Want for Christmas, Brian Wilson)--  This album came out a couple years ago and it quickly became a favorite. He does some traditional songs (including versions of O Holy Night and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen that I love either in spite of, or because, of his very steady rhythmed way of singing them.)  Christmasey and What I Really Want for Christmas are both upbeat delightful songs. New classics!

“God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen” (Barenaked for the Holidays, Barenaked Ladies)–This whole album is just awesome.  Their version of “God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen” is sung with Sarah McLachlan and the harmonies and melodies are just beautiful and uplifting.  The song’s made it in pretty heavy rotation on compilations, in stores, etc., but don’t miss the rest of the album.  They’ve got the only excellent Hanukkah song I’ve ever heard (“Hanukkah Blessings”), “The Elf’s Lament” is pretty funny, and you’ll love singing “Deck the Stills”-Deck the Halls sung only with the words “Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.” Oh, and “Do They Know It’s Christmastime?” is sung in such a powerhouse ballad sort of way that you will at once sing along and also realize the utter cultural insensitivity and ludicrousness of that song.

“Masters in the Hall” (The Little Drummer Boy, The Harry Simeone Chorale) –Growing up we listened to two record albums-The Ray Coniff Singers and the Harry Simeone Chorale. Those records have long been lost, but I was thrilled to download this album a couple years ago.  I really don’t understand the song or why it’s Christmassy, but having listened to it during all the Christmases of my childhood it is now ingrained in me as a favorite.  Also from this album, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” I always liked the structure of the song and the build up to the big finish.

“For Unto Us a Child Is Born” (Messiah, Handel)–I listen to the entire Messiah recording a few times each Christmas season.  It fills me with joy, particularly  ”For Unto Us a Child Is Born”.  We sung it in choir in high school so I actually know the whole alto part.

“Jingle Bells” (Merry Xmas, ¡Esquivel!)- When I met Paul he introduced me to many new and wild Christmas songs and made me a compilation of his favorites.  This is bizarre (“boing! boing!”) and I love it. By the way, I never knew it was “Jingle Bells” because I refer to it as the “Space Age Bachelor Pad.” The whole song opens with Esquivel narrating your arrival at his space age bachelor pad to a swinging holiday party. Feliz Navidad, baby.

“O Holy Night” ( Maybe This Christmas Too , Avril Levigne)–I think you must have a heart of stone to not be moved by O Holy Night.  It’s just a gorgeous song and while there are a million and one versions of it, I’m going to come right out and say that I really like Avril Levigne’s version of it.  It’s not particularly flamboyant, very simply sung, and that is the beauty of it.  I also like Tracy Chapman’s version on A Very Special Christmas 3.

Merry F**King Christmas (Mr. Hanky’s Christmas Classics)– Prepare to be offended by pretty much every one of these songs. Then prepare to find yourself learning all the words and singing along with them. All the time.  It’s not Christmas until Paul and I are alone in the car and listen to this album together.  I love musical parody and think Matt Parker and Trey Stone are genius at it.  So many songs on this album make you cringe and laugh (“Christmastime in Hell”, “The Most Offensive Song Ever”, “The Lonely Jew on Christmas”, and “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel”), but my absolute favorite is Merry F**King Christmas, in which Mr Garrison sings about going around to the other heathen countries and telling other culture’s to get off their heathen asses because it’s Jesus’s birthday.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year(A Shrift Remix)  (Andy Williams, Christmas Remixed)–Christmas Remixed takes traditional songs and, as the name indicates, remixes them.  So it’s definitely Andy Williams singing It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, but all groovy and jingly and funky.  All the songs on this album are like that and there are other volumes of Christmas Remixed as well.  I think this song is my favorite because of the delicate jingling bells that open it.  We used this track as the soundtrack to a Christmas home movie we made one year.   Another collection that has a few volumes that I recommend is Christmas Cocktails.  It is exactly what you might think–super swinging versions of Christmas music you might listen to when you pretend you are having a swank cocktail party in the 60s.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Tom Jones)–Speaking of swinging cocktail parties…many versions of Baby, It’s Cold Outside, but Tom Jones wins hands down for his smooth and easy sexy singing (there’s a reason ladies threw their panties at him!)  And, how is this a Christmas song? Poor cold weather songs (“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm”), just getting lumped into the Christmas tunes.  Anyway, I know that if Tom was singing this at me I’d certainly stay for another drink!

Two Can Have a Party (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Holiday Hits)–Another not really Christmassy song, I suppose the party in question is meant to be a New Year’s party? or maybe a Christmas party? Of course, if it only takes two to make a party then maybe no occasion is necessary! This festive tune is on a compilation I got years ago at Old Navy and I just love it and dance around to the kitchen to it whenever it’s on. Perfect cookie baking song.

O Come O Come Emmanuel (Ding! Dong!,Sufjan Stevens–If you’re not familiar with Sufjan Stevens he does all these mellow acousticy songs and he came out with a little album every year (some story here-recorded in his basement? made for his friends? I forget the details-we have the little boxed set that includes them all.)  I remember that we always sang this the first Sunday in Advent and I just think it’s a very peaceful beautiful song. This is a lovely version and you really don’t hear it much outside of church.

Gift of the Magi (Christmas Caravan, Squirrel Nut Zippers)–Do people still read O. Henry’s classic short story The Gift of the Magi? Well, here the story is captured in a twangy song that goes back and forth between the man’s and woman’s voices.  It’s charming and unusual.  This whole album is quite zippy and fun, actually.

Silver Bells (Time Life Treasury of Christmas, Earl Grant)–yeah, that’s right. I have the two disc Time Life Treasury.  It’s really the best for all the most traditional Christmas tunes-you know, the stuff you hear while you’re shopping (“as the shoppers rush home with their treasures.”)  I like other versions of this song, too, but this is the standard for me.

Cha-Cha All the Way ( Capitol Studio Orchestra, Holiday Hits )–I love this song about cha-cha-ing and South America. Somehow it’s right at home in a festive Christmas party.

Alan Parsons in a Winter Wonderland(Grandaddy, don’t know the album)–Yes, it’s totally weird that they’ve taken Winter Wonderland and made it into not only a super mellow dreamy tune, but also one in which they sing about Alan Parsons. Why Alan Parsons? I do not know.

Sleigh Ride-aw heck, any version! The latest one I’m enjoying is off of an early Christmas present from Paul-A Very She & Him Christmas.  She & Him are the singing duo of Zooey Deschanel and a guy who sadly I can’t be bothered to remember his name.  I’ve enjoyed Zooey Deschanel’s voice since she sang Baby It’s Cold Outside in Elf and this album does not disappoint.  Check out how many of my favorites are on it: Sleigh Ride, Rockin Around the Christmas Tree, Silver Bells, Baby It’s Cold Outside, and a lovely rendition of The Christmas Waltz (a song I was not too familiar with.)

Crank up the tunes this week and have a Merry Christmas! And what’s your favorite Christmas song?

*An Update: Paul just posted his Favorite Christmas songs post from 2008 with a few new updates. It includes my comments from three years ago and I’d have to say that they read an awful lot like my comments in here! Read mine and his and you can pretty much tell what Christmas in our house sounds like.