Holiday Cheer Comes and Goes

Aside from the good coffee and the fact that it was Saturday, today did not start well. Clara was being so excruciatingly bratty that, in an unprecedented turn of events, she was returned home a day early from a weekend sleepover at Grammy and Grampy's. I began to ask around if anyone had ever heard of a child actually receiving coal for Christmas. And, while none of my friends had seen or done such a thing, one friend said that her sister-in-law had asked Santa to return three days after Christmas to take back all of the gifts he had brought on the 25th. And so he did.

I was feeling rather cheerless for the rest of the day. But the truth is, dwelling is not useful.

Chad had the festive idea of going to see a famously lit-up house in the area. For years, a man has been awing kids from one to ninety-two with his light show.
This is just a regular house with a regular yard, but every square inch of every surface is covered with lights. I think the sign said there were 301,000 of them.

We peeked into a room full of trains. Always a high point for our Train Man.

As an added bonus, S. Claus was there. Now I can be a slacker mom, avoid the mall, and still get a Santa shot!
I was tempted to ask him about the coal thing but I didn't.

On the way home, we saw this place:
How can you not get your cheer back when some humble homeowners are going to this kind of trouble to jingle your bells?