- Trim Trim TRIMMING -

Welllllllll it's January 5 and we're taking down the Christmas tree tonight...

 ...so I guess it's a perfect time to post away about our Black Friday tradition of decorating the house for Christmas!

Trimming 'da tree with happy hearts:  THAT'S THE WAY OUR HOLIDAY STARTS!

 

 Harper nabbed the phone halfway through the decorating and snapped these beautiful gems...

...and severalllll hours later, all was calm, ALL WAS BRIGHT!  The kids had twinkling Christmas lights, LED headboard/bed lights, LED essential oil diffusers, dresser lamps, and flashlights on strobe mode and GOING STRONG until they were nestled all snug in their beds with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads [.....at which point Brian and I cut the power/batteries to everything immediately because hooooly stimulation]!

But Black Friday wasn't the end of our family's Christmas traditions! We jam-packed the rest of the weekend fulllll of holiday happiness by decorating gingerbread houses...

...keeping Cecilia Clare & Co. hard at work with designing/selling stocking tags...

 ...annnnnd starting on the kids' annual Christmas tree ornaments!  We decided to make button snowflakes this year, and they turned out so cute! Harper mastered the hot glue gun while Scarlett stuck to good ole' Elmers.

After the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, Twinkle Toes made his grand debut back into our home! The kids were SO EXCITED to wake up one morning and see him again...

  ...and they were alllllmost more excited than they were to see Santa and Comet!  Scarlett was not a fan of the jolly old man and made sure to cling tightly to Daddy.

By the end of the weekend, it was beginning to look/feel a lot like Christmas!  We pressed on the following week by deckkkkking the table with hundreds of Christmas cards, fa-la-la-la-laaaaaaaaaa...

...la-la...

...la-LA! After mailing our Christmas cards, we kept right in the holiday spirit by decorating our second round of gingerbread houses [#2020...desperate times call for desperate measures!].  We don't quite possess the patience to construct the houses and let the foundation icing set up before coating them with candies, and therefore the abodes usually end up in a collapsed clump followed by a meltdown from one or both kids.  BUT! On round #2, we quickly turned those frowns upside down by letting the kids decorate the boxes that the gingerbread cookies were in, LOL... Thank goodness for Brian's quick thinking as he was able to whip out a couple cardboard box roofs; immediately, ALL WAS SWELL IN THE WORLD AGAIN...

...and the houses turned out pretty cute! :) 

Throughout the rest of December, we had lots of family Christmas movie nights; Harper liked Home Alone best and Scarlett liked The Santa Clause!

We adopted a family again this year, and it was all thanks to everyone who purchased Santa sacks from Cecilia Clare & Co.! We took all Santa sack proceeds to Target and were able to purchase, wrap, and deliver a large box of gifts to a very appreciative mom! 

Very lastly! On the last day of school before Christmas break, Harper brought home this gift that she made for Brian and me, and I love it so much!!!

While the holidays certainly felt a lot different this year, I'm proud of my family for the ways we made the most of it and always remembered to focus on the REAL reason for the season!  Harper is learning so much about Advent and Jesus/the nativity in kindergarten this year, and it was so beautiful to see the whole Christmas season unfold through her eyes! :)