Christmas Decorating!

I love putting up Christmas decorations as early as possible so we can really get our fill of them! It's so much work to put them up AND take them down, so I like to stretch it as long as I reasonably can. Each year as the kids get older, it becomes so much more of an ordeal. I used to decorate after the kids were in bed. But now, it is quite the family affair! It literally took all day. We started at 9:00 am and were finished (including clean up) by 4:00! I was exhausted!

We started out with cinnamon rolls. Wish I could say I made them from scratch, but I went the the easy "Grands" way this year.

Going through all our Christmas storage bins is about as exciting as Christmas morning!

We have three wooden nativity sets, one from Gam and two from Grandma in years past. They are a total hit! Glad we have three...it eliminates some fighting. (if you want a kid-friendly set, there is a great deal with free shipping here mockstarbaby.com)

Even Peyton wanted to be a big helper in EVERYthing this year! (don't worry, the box is empty!).

We also made sugar cookies as part of our "opening ceremonies".

My mom asked why the "Halloween cookies"? ha ha. While they DO look Halloween-ish, I was actually trying for a pumpkin theme to not completely over-look the Thanksgiving holiday! (This was the day before Thanksgiving).

OK, so this year I did something that went against my prior beliefs. I bought a fake tree (pre-lit with multi colored lights). Gasp! But I cannot tell you how tired I am of dying Christmas trees year after year....and 1,000,000 needles all over my floor! I have had the worst luck the past few years picking out trees with longevity. So, I found a great deal on a fake one and figured we'd give it a try. The verdict? Well, it was a pain in the butt to separate and fluff each branch, but once we finished that, it looks perfect! And I love knowing it will look like that for an entire month. I DO miss the pine smell. I've been burning Christmas-y candles, but I might have to get a wreath with real pine or something to make me feel authentic.

This gingerbread house (made of ceramic) is one of the favs. We got it at Costco about 5 years ago, and each year the kids love it more and more. They daydream about eating it (and try to taste it every year just to make sure!).


This is also the first year we have two trees. Last year, as part of my post-Christmas-sale shopping, I found a smaller fake tree for like $5 that I thought would be fun for the girls to decorate. And they love it!

I love the magical feel the lights and decorations give our house. And it's not even December 1st yet!


If you look closely, you can see what Peyton chose to do to entertain herself while we were focused on decorating (in addition to breaking lots of ornaments....). Ahhh, the fun of a two year old.