christmas decorating

I love to decorate for Christmas (who doesn't??)! And this year I had so much fun in our new home. For the first time I got to decorate stairs (ooohh) and a fireplace mantel (aaahh). I even got to hang stockings! I just love the look of greenery with little white lights. Joey always says I'm so boring ("Where's the big BIG colored lights?"), but I prefer the simplicity and elegance the white gives off. And the presents. Oh, it was so much fun to wrap the presents this year. Last year our tree (the first year we had this tree (an After-Christmas-$10-Special), we were using a 2 foot tall one...) looked so bare because all the presents were really little, wrapped up individually. So this year I stuck some of the presents into bigger boxes to help fill the void under the tree. I just love how it turned out! (And yes I've already been made fun of, twice. I know it was a waste of paper, but we do plan on recycling it all....) It has also helped detract the little one...a little. Marryn and I had wrapped up Reganne's present from Marryn one night (a Tinkerbell phone) after she went to bed. The next morning Reganne comes into our room saying, "My Tinkerbell phone! My Tinkerbell phone!" Joey and I shot straight up and sure enough, she had the phone, unwrapped, in her hand. I ran downstairs to check the rest of the presents (I had wrapped up some of Marryn's after Marryn went to bed), but luckily, she had only picked out the one to open. But then a few mornings later (oh the joy of her not being in a crib anymore!) I came downstairs to find another present unwrapped. But this time she unwrapped a 'Christmas light box' and stopped at that. Good thing too. The Tinkerbell phone I rewrapped and hid (obviously not very well) back under the tree was found again, sitting next to the unwrapped box. Still wrapped this time though. Maybe that was one present I should have stuck into another box....

Some of my other favorite things. Our Advent Calendar. I made it last year (from a Making Memories kit) and we love it! Every night we open a drawer, read a special Christmas scripture and then the girls each get a piece of chocolate. And then there is the "smell" of Christmas. I would love to have a fresh tree, for the smell! So instead, I melt my little tart candles. Aaaaah.

And last, but most importantly, our Nativity Set. My mom gave me this set last year (it was one from my childhood). I like it, but it's missing a few things... We have another one too (features the characters from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever). It's really cute, but most pieces are broken (?) and again, not the traditional Nativity Set I'm looking for. So that is my goal for the next year(s). To find the "perfect" Nativity Set. And a place to put it. We're really short on display space-our only spot is the table behind the couch (with the JOY candle holder on it), but you really can't see anything on it. So for now, this is our Nativity Set. Our gentle reminder of what we are truly celebrating throughout this time of the season. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.