4 Great Reasons Why My Christmas Wreath Is Still Up

Yes, I know Christmas was nearly 5 months ago, but I have 4 great reasons why my Christmas wreath is still up on my front door.

I can imagine the conversation some of my neighbors are having.

"Mom, are the Monaghans nice people?"

"Well they seem to be. Why do you ask?"

"Because it's May and they still have a Christmas wreath on the front door. That's pretty weird."

Well, there's actually a good reason for that. In fact, there are four reasons for that.

We have visitors.

I usually put our Christmas decorations up in early December. This past year, I actually had most of them up on Thanksgiving weekend.

I don't do anything as outrageous as Florida Man and his holiday decorations, but there are wreaths on all of the windows in the front of the house, and a couple of potted poinsettia plants on the front steps.

I put lighted garland on all the fencing around the backyard, and a few spotlights to brighten things up.

Oh...and that wreath on the front door.

About two weeks after Christmas, I took all of the decorations down with the exception of the poinsettia and the front door wreath.

I figured, why not have some color to the front of the house for the month of January.

When February came, I went to take the wreath down, and that's when I realized that we had some new visitors.

Or should I say, we were about to have some new visitors.

At the top of the wreath, it seemed that some birds had started to build a nest.

Well far be it from me to wreck their home, so I left the wreath up.

When the nest didn't appear to get any bigger, my family thought they had abandoned the idea.

And that's when we noticed that there was the makings of a second nest in another part of the wreath.

Over the course of the next few weeks into March, the nest continued to grow, and one morning we noticed four small eggs in the nest.

When my sister and I were little, a couple of robins built a nest in our backyard and every morning, my sister and I would look out the kitchen window to check on their progress.

My sister called them the "birnies" and we took great delight in watching them lifting their heads up to be fed.

Well, that's where we are right now, with four small birds crammed into this nest on the Christmas wreath on our front door.

There’s been so many Christmas movies on TV and the streaming services it’s almost overwhelming. I’ve even done a few lists of some animated Holiday films to check out and movies that take place at Christmas time that aren’t necessarily Holiday films. Today though, I’m going to give you Mike Anthony's Top 5 favorite Christmas movies OF all time, in no particular order of course.

Christmas movies are a lot of fun for most people to watch. These movies are positive and hopeful. Plus, they give you a sense of wonder and help you feel like a kid again.

And who doesn’t like that? Times were easier when we were young. Worrying about whether or not a toy was wrapped under the tree when we woke up on Christmas morning was one of the biggest concerns we had as children. No anxiety over looming credit card debt, mortgage payments, or prices from our mechanic. But things change, sadly.

I don’t know when things change exactly, but as we get older, there are bigger concerns. We worry less about what’s under the tree and more about our jobs, fixing up the house, and making sure we can pay all of our bills. And that's no fun!

So, these silly, fun, and larger-than-life Christmas films help remind us of that feeling we had growing up. Waiting for Santa to come to the house to stuff our stockings and leave us our most coveted items. Sure, maybe it’s not toys in the traditional sense that we really want any longer. But maybe an electronic gadget, appliance, tool, or even a cool jersey of our favorite team.

Either way, it’s time for me to let you know Mike Anthony's Top 5 Favorite Christmas movies of all time are!

And I reiterate, these are in no particular order!!!!!!!!!!!

This has so many quotable lines it's ridiculous. My wife and I watch it every year and usually laugh at a different part we never noticed.

Vince Vaughn always makes me laugh.  And this movie has some out there moments.  Jon Favreau wrestling Vaughn to the ground is a great scene!

Who would think that an 8 year old could thwart two criminals from breaking into his house.  Ok, maybe it's a little far-fetched, but I dig it.

There's been so many adaptions of this story, but this one is fantastic.  George C. Scott as Scrooge and the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future.  It's a classic!

If you're like me, just looking at Will Ferrell makes you laugh.  He does a great job in this one, acting like a real life elf.  This one makes you want to believe in Santa!