It's beginning to look a little like Christmas...

The markets are full of Christmas wares now - lots of pinatas, oranges,

sugar cane (on the left, used for a holiday punch as well as eaten raw),

evergreen branches, tree decorations,

and more...

The streets are festive and colorful.  We decided to put these lanterns up in our living room too.

We're not sure how we feel about clubbing a Santa Claus pinata.  I guess nothing is off-limits when it comes to pinatas.

These "star"  pinatas are hung all over town.

We are dog sitting Indie for a few weeks.  She is great fun and a source of constant entertainment for the kids.  She is the dog of our friends the Hensley's, a wonderful family with three boys (can't seem to escape all the boys) from California.  Jenny (the mom) is crafty (to say the least, she is actually an accomplished, successful fabric designer) and has taught Alya and I to "felt".  We customized our stockings above.  Indie brought her own from home.

I just had to put these two close-ups in here for my "crafty" friends at home. (Anastasia - aren't you proud?)