Christmas So Far

We've made it through the first week of December, and the Christmas season is in full swing with all it's joys, stresses, and emotional meltdowns. Every year at this time, my kids really struggle, but with the parenting experience I've acquired thus far, I've learned that this is very normal. We'll get through it... I think. 

Here's a little glimpse into our Christmas so far...

I was a little late getting our basement tree decorated because I used all my tree decorations for our ward Christmas party. Daisy eventually snuck into the basement (while she was supposed to be cleaning her room, mind you) and took matters into her own hands by putting Squishmallows all over the tree with a sign that said, "Merry Squishmas!"

She (and my conspiring sister-in-law who was cheering her on via text message) thought I'd be mad and make her take it down, but I was like, "Cool! One less thing I have to do!" So the Squishmallow tree stays, but I did add some ribbon for pizazz (and because I have 60 spools of ribbon from the DI that I need to find uses for, some of which happen to be perfectly Squishmallow compatible).

The upstairs tree is a different story. A few years ago I wired and glued all my decorations to it, so now we just store it in our shed fully decorated, and all we have to do is carry it in the house, plug it in, and fluff a few spots. It’s AMAZING, and I highly recommend it (our tree is small enough, 7 feet, that it doesn’t take up much more space than a tree box).

Speaking of the ward Christmas party, it was last week, and I was in charge of the decorations. 

Really, I just used it as an excuse to go shopping at DI twice a week for two months. I bought old wreaths and cut them up to use as garland. I also rounded up a bunch of picture frames to put scriptures about service in. And of course, I was able to utilize some of my 60 spools of ribbon.

On the topic of DI wreaths and ribbon, I have some of each out in my yard:

Wreaths $1.50

And, because I just can't get enough of the DI, Nicky and I decorated my mom's front porch the other day. It just needed a little sumthin'.

Plus, she bought those stuffed animals from DI for my girls, and I feel like they were ready to go back where they came from.

A couple of weeks ago, Daisy and I went to see a movie with our friends Krystle and Jaye. It was one of those "one showing" "Fathom events" thingies. It was a Christian Christmas musical, and it was so cheesy in the way that Christian Christmas musicals should be. 

There were dancing shepherds and Bethlehem table drumming and all sorts of things that made me go, "Oh my goodness! Here we go!"

My mom surprised us with a delivery the other day. She made us all Christmas quilts and pillowcases for our beds! Even a Queen for Scotty and me!

Nicky's Christmas bed

I set to work making everyone's beds with intentions of taking photos, but I got distracted by all the messes and ended up hauling bags of crap out of everyone's rooms and washing bedding instead. But I did get a picture of Nicky's bed before I spiraled, since his is the only clean-ish room in the house.

A few years ago, Zoe saw this elf hat (at Target, I believe) and fell in love with it. I bought it for her (how could I resist?) and she wore it for a few Christmas seasons. 

Now Eva is wearing it, and I just adore it! Every morning when she puts on her elf hat for school, I just grin from ear to ear! She refuses to let me take a photo of her (ever!) so I had to sneak this one in the school parking lot yesterday. 

I will cry the year no one wears the elf hat.

I bought some new gift tags the other day, and in a close call, I learned that they are for indoor use only!

Good thing I noticed before I did something terrible! Like wrap my gifts in the backyard!

I hope your Christmas season is going well so far. Just remember... whatever horrible things your kids are doing to you right now might be seasonal. I will have hope on all of our behalves.