It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

My posts have been sparse lately . . . life just has a way of getting busy.  I wanted to share  some pictures of our Christmas decor.  We will be traveling for Christmas this year so I did not put out too many decorations.

We got a Norway spruce this year with very sharp needles.  It was such a painful endeavor to put the lights on we did not put as many as we planned.  It's still makes the living room look all festive and "Christmasy".  Only 11 more days till Christmas!!  Where did this year go?

I'm linking to Honey We're Home - Christmas Cheer Link Party

Day Three-Hundred and Fifty-Nine: Merry Christmas!

Our morning started at 8:01AM.  One little girl in a pink nightie jumped out of her sleeping bag by the tree and went to make sure all the gifts were still there.  That little girl had not fallen asleep until 3AM making her parents very, very tired.

This was the scene at 8:04AM.  Everybody had taken their places and were ready to start.  One little girl was so excited she crawled back in her sleeping bag and covered her head.

And so it began, the ripping and tearing.  By looking at these pictures you can see our girls take opening their gifts very seriously.  i couldn't get them smiling in any of the pictures.

By 8:38AM it was done and we moved on to preparing breakfast.  On the menu.... American Girl Parfaits!  Natalie helped make them while Kaitlin went up to get ready for church.

A very joyful morning it was.  By 9:30AM we were ready to go to church! My only regret was not taking a picture of the whole family before leaving for church.  But I leave you with with this one of my beautiful big girl.

Tonight we will continue the celebrations with our big Secret Santa Reveal Party.  

Merry Christmas to All!

Day Three-Hundred and Fifty-Eight: Christmas Eve

... all is calm, all is bright?

Not much "calmness" going here tonight. 

The picture above shows the state Natalie was in a little bit before midnight.  She was literally busting at the seams with excitement.  

We had a nice dinner at my sister's house with family and friends.  It was fun and relaxing at the same time.  I wish I could show you pictures of the nice table decorations she set up, or the massive amount of desserts there were, or the fun we had playing Bible Apples to Apples, but I can't, because I left my camera at home. [sigh].

We came back home very late and hurried to open one gift [Christmas PJs] before it turned midnight.  Here is Joel in his overly tired, sugar-stuffed state.

  

These two little girls are growing up so fast! This is the first year their Christmas PJ's don't match.  Kaitlin is now out of most "children" sizes.


Wishing you a Christmas morning full of joy and wishes come true!

Day Three-Hundred and Forty-One: Deck the Halls

The tree is finally done!  Putting the lights on wasn't my favorite [grin].  I had this "vision" of a silver and red tree, but at the end I decided against buying new ornaments and instead just using the eclectic ones we have accumulated through the years. 

I'm not the sentimental type but here are a few of the ornaments that have more meaning for me.

I love this Willow Tree ornament Joel got us after Natalie was born.  I like seeing a representation of our little family of four.

I also love this Fontanelli a client from work gave me many years ago. 

A couple of years ago I started the tradition to get the girls a new Christmas ornament each year.  They now look forward to it.  Here are Kaitlin's from the last two years.

Natalie loved her first Barbie one so much, I decided to keep the tradition of giving her a Barbie one each year.

This one is a simple one a little boy from my Sabbath School Class gave me several years ago.  I love it because it reminds me that I do have some influence on the little people I minister to in church.  I remember his mom telling me how he chose to give it to me rather than a family member that year. I was surprised because he was one of those "little terrors" that you thought was never paying attention, but he was.

I'm also done with the mantel.  I have gotten mixed reviews on it.  Some people love it, some people think it is too much.  What do you think?

Day Three-Hundred and Thirty-Nine: O' Christmas Tree!

We started the tradition of driving out to the Tree Farm and getting a fresh Christmas tree the year Kaitlin was born. In 2004, after an unfortunate incident with our very naughty puppy, I went out and got our pre-lit tree and never looked back. Earlier this year our basement got flooded and the tree got damaged, so we decided to get a fresh one this year.


Today, off we went to the Christmas Tree Farm.

We decided we wanted a tall and skinny tree this year, so we got a Frasier Fir. It was a relatively pain free experience. [Specially since all I did was take pictures].

It was snowing and cold but that just added to the “magical” feeling. 

 Natalie really enjoyed the experience.

Here, thanks to the "magic" of photoshop is a picture of the four of us.

We got the tree home, trimmed off some branches and set it in place. (I even cut my hand with a knife in the process). It is a lot skinnier than any tree we ever had. Kaitlin came down after the tree was in place and declared it “anorexic”. After examining it for a few seconds Natalie had the following feedback: “Mom, to be honest with you, I liked our fake tree better”.

Personally I like it. Hopefully, once we decorate it the girls will like it better. Stay tuned for the reveal once that is done.
Do you use Artificial or Fresh trees at your home?

Christmas 2009 – A short recap.

The month of December is always such a whirlwind! I love the holidays but I’m glad when things wind down again. Here is a quick recap of our holiday celebration.

Dec 21

We met with my side of the family for an early celebration and the much anticipated Secret Santa reveal. This is our second year doing this and the kids (as well as the adults) love it. We draw names about three weeks before Christmas and send each other little notes or trinkets. The kids have a great time trying to guess who their Secret Santa is.

Dec 22

We drove to Lincoln, NE to spend the holiday with Joel’s side of the family. This is what the back of our car looked like!

Dec 23

Spent the day hanging around the house. We got hit with a huge snow storm that dumped 8-10 inches of snow. Natalie helped grandma do some baking.

Dec 24

Joel's family does not normally do much on this day.  We had dinner and just hung around playing games.  At bedtime the girls each opened a gift with their Christmas Pajamas.  We stood around the tree admiring the mountain of gifts and trying to guess how many there were.  Joel's mom always has a prize for the person that guesses the number closest to the actual one.  This year I won with a guess of 181.  I believe the actual number was a little higher.

Dec 25

Christmas Day!  The girls were so excited!  Normally we wait for Joel's brother to arrive before we start the gift opening.  However, he is usually two or more hours late, so this year we let the girls open their gifts from us first thing in the morning.  They were both so surprised at what they got.  Kaitlin got a laptop and Natalie the American Girl she wanted.  Both items were at the top of their Christmas List, but neither thought they were really going to get them.  

Once everyone arrived, the festivities continued. We all got some very nice and generous gifts and had a good time sharing with each other.

Joel's brother always put a lot of effort into his gifts and a lot of them are "interesting", if not very practical.  Every year he chooses to highlight a gift, which he normally wraps with extravagant decorations and even Christmas lights. To give you an idea of the nature of this gift, one year I was the recipient and inside I found a huge feather duster with the handle made out of bull pizzle.

Since Kaitlin has been in the picture, she has been the most common recipient of THE GIFT. When she was younger, I used to worry because a lot of the time the gift was not very child appropriate or turned out to be a joke that would leave her in tears. Through the years, she has gotten smart about it and now looks forward to seeing what crazy thing her uncle comes up with.

This year Natalie decided that it was not fair that Kaitlin is always the one getting THE GIFT. Joel must have talked to his brother, because this time THE GIFT was for Natalie. She was so excited to open it! Inside she found about 53 pounds of assorted candies!

For her part, Kaitlin won the “Most Ironic Gift”: Ten pounds of Jelly Belly Beans inside a big box of Crest Toothpaste. Got to love that McArthur humor.

All in all our Christmas was a fun one and a reminder of how truly blessed we are to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends. I hope it was also a wonderful holiday for you and yours.

It's Christmas Today!

From home

to home

and heart

 to heart

from one place

to another

The warmth and joy of Christmas

Brings us closer to each other.

~Emily Matthews~