The Great Christmas Caper

How does a family lose a giant box full of Christmas decorations?
Well, I'm not really sure, but we did.

I don't imagine it's an easy thing to do. I mean, a giant blue rectangular storage bin doesn't just get swept under the rug. All I do know is that it's gone. Our little treasure trove of every Christmas tree decoration we owned, every light, garland, you get the picture...

This leaves us with a tree that looks like this:

And it means have some serious making to do (as if we are not already doing some serious making?)

So we started with some of the classics—popcorn string and paper garland—and the tree is already starting to take shape. I bought some lights, and a kind friend is dropping off some unwanted ornaments tomorrow.

Although I am disappointed by the loss of some very special ornaments—some that the kids made when they were tiny, and others that were brought back from far away places— I am really enjoying the ornament-making frenzy we have begun. Each day when the girls get home from school, we start a new project. Before long, it will look a lot like Christmas again in our home. 

And the mystery of the disappearing bin? I think I figured out. I suspect it was mistakenly carted off by the charity that picks up our donations. That's what I get for being lazy and putting the Christmas bin in the front porch instead of back in the basement where it belongs. humph.