It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday and the one I go all out for. I don't really decorate for the other ones but maybe that will change in the new place.  We got a jump start decorating this year because, well, it seemed like everyone was already in the mood and decorating so we jumped on the band wagon.  I almost always wait until after Thanksgiving, using the long weekend to place things in their correct places.  We started the weekend before this time. I figure, if we go to all this work getting things set up, we might as well enjoy them a little longer.

I purchased something I never thought I would:  A fake Christmas tree. My father will probably shake his head at this item in my home, but I just thought we needed two trees! One to gaze at from our main living space and one in our front room.

When we built this house, I knew exactly where our Christmas tree would go.  Justin picked the tree out this year from Dad's tree farm and honestly it was a nice choice. I knew it was a little bigger than what we normally pick but thought it would fit perfect.  Well, it's a good thing we ended up cutting some of the top off to shape it a little better otherwise it would not have fit.  It's big; maybe a little too big, but it's growing on me.

The other reason I felt we needed two trees is because we have so many ornaments. Justin and I have our own from when we were little, (both getting new ornaments each year), plus we have ornaments that we have obtained from being together.  (We usually get one from locations we travel to with the date on it).  The little ones also receive new ornaments each years so the number has grown.

The kid's ornaments are all on the real tree.  In all honesty, I probably should purchase more ornaments for the tree because it is a little bare but it's fine for this year.  We are pretty simple people, so lights and ornaments are all that go on our little (big!) tree.

Decorating the mantle was fun and I went a little non-traditional with the color scheme.  I went back and forth about where to hang the stockings and ended up getting new hangers for the mantle.  Caleb and Alena each have a little tree in their room, (next year I'll find one for Lauren).  While I was busy decorating the inside, Justin headed on the roof to hang a few Christmas lights. He also put lights around the deck.

We've had two weekends of baking and a freezer full of goodies. I purposely place these in the freezer in the garage so they aren't as convenient.  When we designed this house I pictured my three little ones sitting at a big island while we rolled out and then decorated Christmas cookies.  Having two ovens made the process go even faster.  I went back and forth about doing a gingerbread house.  In the end, I found a cute "gingerbread village" with 4 little buildings.  C missed out on this project as we was down for the count the day we did them.

My new favorite holiday cookie!

Elfie joined the family again on December 1st and I love each child's excitement every morning when they roam the house looking for him.  They are really getting into it this year!

Alena has her Christmas list all ready to go and has made one visit to Santa.  (She may need to revise this list as all she needs for Christmas are her two front teeth!).  The twins have no interest in seeing Santa although L did give him a high five when we ran into him at Home Depot a couple weekends ago.  C told me he wanted ME to tell Santa what he wanted.

I believe these lists are a combo of what Addie wants and what Alena wants!  Hope Santa can sort it out!

To help our little ones remember the reason behind Christmas, we are focusing on the four gift rule:  One thing they want, one thing they need, one thing they wear and one thing they read.  We will also have a few items for their stockings and maybe one or two other presents for them to open, but we really wanted to avoid going overboard with presents.

I love listening to what others do for the holidays and their traditions.  Do you wrap the gifts from Santa or not?  Does Santa bring many gifts or just one big gift?  Are stocking gifts wrapped?  What do you leave out for Santa and his reindeer?  Do you do anything special for Christmas Eve?  I will be honest, some of our traditions we are still figuring out. Justin and I came from two different families that each had their own traditions so we are trying to meld these traditions together.

I hope my kids continue to believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy forever!  Unfortunately, I know that once they get into school, rumors about these friendly visitors being pretend will come up. Alena is already asking questions so I have to be even more careful about things, (she found the wrapping paper "Santa' used last year!).  Please stay young with your innocent minds forever!  

Alena had her Christmas music program a couple weeks ago and we have already had one family Christmas. Another Christmas is this weekend. The month is going so fast.  Does anyone else think 2015 went by faster than it should have?!