Decking the Halls

It seems like the holidays began early for us this year, and that December was full of preparations for Christmas - so much so at times that it's been rather exhausting. However, we also had a lot of good memories decorating and playing together along the way.

Knowing that I wasn't going to have a lot of extra time for Christmas shopping this year, I started early. I grabbed a few things here and there over the summer and in the early fall if something caught my eye, but really got serious come November. On one of those shopping trips, I found a tree at Costco that I really liked. I've looked for a few years for a full, pretty one but hadn't found anything until then. I knew from past experiences that Costco sold out sometimes before Black Friday, so I was hesitant to wait long. Sadly, I couldn't fit all three kids, my groceries, and this big ol' tree in my Pilot, so Mom made a special trip back one weekend to claim it for me. 

Being the big kid that he is, Dave was ready to get it out and put it up as soon as it arrived. Though it was the middle of November and we still had fall decorations adorning our home, we unpackaged and put up the tree. 

Hand holding :)

The tree had both colored and white lights. While I preferred the white, the kids loved the others. We switched it back and forth at times, but overall they won out. How can you say 'no' to those sweet faces? 

I love how excited she was.

Here Caleb is teaching Reid about bubble wrap.

As the first of December rolled around, we began getting out a few more Christmas things to add a little excitement on those cold days that were keeping us cooped up in the house. One of those items  we unpacked was the giant Rudolph that we purchased Caleb on his first Christmas. Hadley immediately declared it a horse and began trying her best to ride him. Rudolph wasn't a bucking bronco, but he wasn't very good at standing up either. Down she went, time and again. Caleb joined in the reindeer wrestling too, and they kept themselves entertained for a good while that day.

Another day, Dave found the Little People nativity set and unpacked it as well. Since it was a toy they hadn't seen since last year, there was a little bit of bickering by the kids at first, but I was happy they were so interested in playing with it. My mother-in-law bought this set for Caleb a few years ago, but since then, I've seen add-on sets advertised - one for the shepherds and another of the wise men. For the past few years, I'd debated ordering them or recommending to someone who was looking for gift ideas for the kids that these might be a good option. Finally, I just went ahead and purchased them, even finding a coupon code at the last minute that saved me a good little chunk of money. Adding a few extra pieces to the set made it somewhat easier  for everyone to share too I think.

The kids even decorated their baby brother a little bit. Reid didn't look too Christmasy, but he had a nice assortment of bug stickers on his back. 

Weeks after our Christmas tree had been assembled, we finally even got around to decorating it. With so many small hands in our home that like to explore, I thought it best not to pull out the majority of our ornaments. However, Dave took out one box of plastic balls, and we let the kids hang them on the branches. There was so many other things to get done before Christmas that beautifying our tree was not high on my priority list. I felt a little envious looking at other people's creativity and beautiful decorations but couldn't get motivated to do much in that regard at my own house. As a result, the bottom few branches of the tree were well covered with ornaments, while the top remained empty. It wasn't the prettiest of trees, but as long as the kids were happy with it, that's all that matters.

Four ornaments on one branch

Take note of how crowded the bottom is compared to the completely barren top branches.

Caleb made this ornament himself out of one of Hadley's monkey toy and a couple of my hairbows.

A new set of Christmas items that appeared in our house this December were three silly elves. At first I wasn't real interested in the whole "Elf on of the Shelf" fad everyone's been ranting about. Since we don't really "do" Santa, I didn't think it would make a whole lot of sense to have any elves, especially because I know many parents tell their kids that the elves are his helpers to find out who is being "naughty or nice." However, my mom found and bought a few cute ones when she was out shopping one day and suggested as an alternative to using them in the traditional way, we could just play a make-believe game out of putting them in places around the house.

Rather than pretending they were spies, we just pretended they were mischievous little characters playing hide-and-seek. I loved waiting in anticipation after I'd put them somewhere for Caleb to find them. Usually, he squealed, giggled, and joyously exclaimed something like, "Those elves are so silly!" or "Look at those elves!" We didn't tell the kids the elves were magical and couldn't be touched like is commonly done; instead Caleb even slept with his elf at nap one day and they joined in the fun, trying to help hide them themselves on occasion.  I think they had just as much fun with their elves playing this way anyway, and to tell the truth, so did I.

Lovin' it!

Caleb hid an elf in the couch and Hadley is trying her best to stick one under the cushions too.

When the kids were getting ready to go play in the snow, SURPRISE! Elves were waiting in the basket of mittens and hats. 

Elves get hungry too!

Daddy even took a turn hiding the elves.

Today being the first day of the new year, it's time to gather it all up again and begin repacking the boxes. Thankfully though, we can look forward to pulling out all of it again next Christmas and starting the fun again.