"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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Hmmm....

Definitely real Christmas tree smell (not fond of pine scented candles....just not the same).  Also not so much the year that we got one that smelled like dog pee. 

Also the burning wood/fireplace/campfire smell (also something you can't truly duplicate)

Hot Cider with Cinnamon

All kinds of holiday baking....chocolate, vanilla, almond, marshmallow, cinnamon.....yummy!!!!!!

The fresh, clear scent of a snowy winter night.....

Thank you guys!  This just makes me so excited for Christmas!  I love it when we get just a little snow coming down on Christmas.  We definitely have enough on the ground for a white Christmas.  It's so fun to see it sparkling like diamonds on a sunny day, and to have slow, soft, big flakes floating down on Christmas.....I love that.

And yes, I know that last part has nothing to do with favorite scents, but what do ya do?

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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Hmmm....so many great memories as a child....decorating the tree, the year that my dad got the call that he was officially accepted on the fire department while we were decorating the tree, spending Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family and Christmas day with all of my cousins on my mom's side of the family....playing the "nativity game"- we had a hand-painted (by my mom) porcelain nativity set, and when we put it away we wrapped each piece separately in newspaper.  Then the next year when we went to pick it up, we would each pick up a piece and have to guess what it was before we opened it.

And of course, Christmas 2000 will always be special, as that is when Randy proposed.  And each year seeing the kids' eyes light up with all of the lights and decorations, opening presents...it's so fun!  And there is a house that we can see from my parents' window that is always beautifully lit, and my kids insist that it's Santa's house.  They tell all of their friends that Santa lives next to Grammy and Pa.

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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I agree that it really depends on the child.  Emma was a July birthday.  She had been in preschool for 2 years, and her teacher said that she didn't really have an opinion either way, that it was really up to us and either way would be fine.  We decided to send her, and she is doing great and loving school. 

When we made our decision last spring, she was doing well with the social part- playing with all of the kids and interacting well, and VERY independent when I would drop her off at preschool (most days she was in the room playing before I even had a chance to say goodbye).  She was also doing well academically.  We decided that it would be easier to let her repeat kindergarten if necessary than to try to have her skip a grade later if we waited a year and regretted it later.

So, talk with the preschool teacher, and ultimately, you know your child best.  It is hard to send your baby off to school, but don't let that be your deciding factor.  If your child seems like they are doing well in preschool, then they are probably going to be ready for kindergarten.

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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I also am not a fan of the Bratz dolls.  That is a word that we don't use at our house.  But even if they had a different name, they still are barely clothed.  I have no problem with Barbie and dolls like that.  Emma would much rather have a doll dressed like a princess than one dressed like a stripper.  That being said, Emma really is not very into dolls of any kind.  She has a Cabbage Patch Kid, several baby dolls with accompanying stuff, and a couple of Barbies, but rarely plays with any of them.  She has always been more into animals than dolls.  She always has stuffed animals in her bed, and pretends to bring them to the doctor and that sort of thing.  She asked for more Barbies for Christmas, but we didn't get any for her.  She will play with them for a day or two, and then take their clothes off and leave them on a shelf.

Timothy is actually more into babies than Emma.  Sometimes he will play with Emma's dolls when she is at school.  He isn't into dressing them or anything, just pretending they are real babies.  I am not really concerned about it.  He is also all boy, and in love with anything that has anything to do with trains, trucks, cars, tractors, tools, etc.  He just really likes babies, and that's fine.

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

glitter-graphics.com ...

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

glitter-graphics.com ...

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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Like others have said, I think it really depends on the child.  Emma (age 5) still needs a little nap on rare occasions.  Timothy (age 3) hasn't really taken consistent naps for about a year now.  We are mostly through that yucky phase where they still kind of need one but won't really take one.  If I could get him down for a nap, he would be up late (and we do bedtime by 8), but if I didn't put him down, we would be falling asleep while I was making supper.  And having to wake them up from a nap is just a bear!!!!!  So yeah, for us, we make sure they are in bed before 8, and if things are getting crazy, we will put them to bed a little earlier (the shorter days make this easier too). 

Also, Timothy will frequently fall asleep in the car when we are driving around.  And like others have said, if they are really struggling in the afternoon, we will have "relaxing time" either lying on the couch and watching a movie, reading books, playing quietly on the bed, etc.  And yes, definitely calling something other than sleep, rest or nap really makes a big difference, and they often will fall asleep while they're "relaxing".

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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I completely agree!  I...

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

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