Wow Jeanne! I love these pictures of your tree...its Magnificent with the blue lights and all the Lovely Angels. I mentioned in another post to you how I enjoy seeing Mr & Mrs Claus....as a Holiday Tradition here! Love their 'Group of Friends' too. TFS jane

Thanks for the feedback. My husband hasn't said anything regarding my proposal yet (we will discuss it tonight when we have some time to really talk it through). I guess I feel like I'm tired of taking the high road and tired of getting sucked in to her dysfunction and manipulation and games. I told my husband, instead of telling her, yet again, "the ball is in your court" in terms of reaching out for a meaningful relationship, maybe it's time to say "I now need some time and distance from this and I think you need to take time and space and careful think about your behavior over the last couple of years." As for the stealing and lying.....my husband had a discussion with her when I first told him she took my necklace.....he then came to me and said "she did not take it, I could see it in her eyes, she was crying and upset that you would think this -- she is not lying to me." Then I went to talk with her about it and why I think she took it....my wonderful husband decided to go out to her car to look around just to make sure it wasn't there and low and behold....there was my necklace! Her response "oh THAT necklace!" He told her to stop lying and how he could not believe how convincing she was when she was lying. Ever since then he understands that she just lies and lies more to cover the lies. I do have his full support....though I'm not sure he is yet ready to tell her to stay away. I'll update you all over the weekend....if he doesn't not want to do this, I may do it on my own -- go to my sister's house alone (though I don't want to punish him and not get to spend Christmas with him -- plus he loves Christmas with my family!). By the way, 2 years ago when the kids went to Christmas with us at my sister's house, the SD went back to her mom telling her it "was the worst Christmas ever!" (despite the pictures and video of her singing Christmas carols, etc.!!)I guess I'm also still stinging from that -- my entire family trying to include her and make her feel at home, only for her to turn around and bad mouth us! Did I mention our family BBQ where she stole my niece's sunglasses?!!! She makes a mockery of my loving family.....

Wow -- I want to thank everyone who recommended Thymes' Frazier Fir diffuser. This is our first year with an artificial tree and I really missed the smell. Knowing GW, I did a search and found this perfect thread (!); going to the Thymes' website I found a local (I mean a seven minute drive, door to door) charming shop I'd never seen before. It was incredible! And for whatever reason, they sold it to me for $30 (it should've been $60); I protested but they said "no, that's the price." So I bought a few other bibelots to ease my conscience (and it wasn't hard because it was one of those incredible shops where you want to just move in!). Right down the street from this shop a man was offering hay wagon rides, so my four and two year-olds, husband and I all hopped on and had an incredible ride around this sweet and historic downtown. Then we found an outdoor skating rink, so we rented some skates and pulled each other around. On the walk back to our car a man was handing out homemade candy canes from his candy shop. My four year-old loves candy canes! And all of these wonderful things happened to us today because the generous people here on GW shared Thymes Frazier Fir diffuser. So now I have this gorgeous smell, know about this wonderful local shop, and had a wonderful, serendipitous Saturday. Thank you!

Oh, Christmas Tree is one of my favorites, too.... My mother sang it in German (she was of German descent from Northern Ontario, Canada, and didn't speak English until she went to school), and that's how I always remember it - auf Deutsch. When I was in 5th grade our small class was a human Christmas Tree for the school Christmas program and we sang O Tannebaum. Being the smallest girl in the class, I was the angel on the top of the bleachers that formed the "tree", and the kids all held pine boughs. I was so tiny I needed a wooden box to stand on to be seen, and the teacher was so afraid I would fall off. I was so proud because I already knew all the words to the song (LOL)! Deutsch Tannenbaum TEXT: Ernst Anschütz, 1824 MELODIE: Volksweise (traditional) O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter! Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit, Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit. O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter! O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum! Du kannst mir sehr gefallen! Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut! O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum! Du kannst mir sehr gefallen! O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum! Dein Kleid will mich was lehren: Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit Gibt Trost und Kraft zu jeder Zeit. O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum! Das soll dein Kleid mich lehren.