We have almost been in our new house a whole year. And I had been waiting that long to decorate! Anyone that knows me knows how much I love Christmas. There is so much nostalgia and joy when I think of Christmas. I remember magical visits to Bronners Christmas store, delivering cookies to family and friends, listening to Amy Grant as we lined Christmas bags up above the cabinets as decoration. I remember my cross stiched lion and lamb stocking, the smell of peanut butter fudge and hot cocoa, the glittering and twinkling lights from the fragile tree. And I want my kids to have all of that too. I want their memories of Christmas to be fond and sweet and sacred. It's a time of slowing down, of leaning in, and of finding joy. The decorations are fun and we all enjoy the twinkling lights, but I hope it goes deeper than that. I hope my babies know the reason we celebrate Christmas- it's family, it's love, it's memories, and it's Jesus. I am grateful to have a space to give them that.
We celebrated advent during the month of December with our own twist. Each day the kids had a little drawer on our advent house that had an activity written inside for us to do that day. Each day also had an accompanying book to go with it. They were so excited to open the little door every day and find out what we were doing.
But before that, we decorated. I'm the kind of person that decorates November 1st. The season is too short and decorating is too much work to just enjoy it for a month. So we squeeze two months out of our decorations. I was very excited to decorate this year!
When we pulled up to this house exactly a year ago, one of the first things out of my mouth was, "if we buy this house, I want a tree in every window". And like the good husband he is, Michael reluctantly agreed. So we bought the house and I kept my word. A tree in every room! Here's a little tour of our Christmas-filled home:
Living Room:
The heart and center of our home is our living room. It's where we spend most of our days. So it's our biggest and best family tree. My parents gifted us a brand new tree with some ornaments 8 years ago when we got married. And while all the pre-lit lights have burnt out and the top is forever leaning forward (thanks to the basement flood of 2020), it will always be our special tree. Every year we pick out an ornament that represents our lives that year. It's fun to look at each ornament as we decorate. This is the tree with all the Christmas morning gifts. And there is even a pickle ornament hidden somewhere on this tree.
Dining Room:
It's one of our family values to eat dinner together every night. Even on the chaotic, stressful days, a meal shared together is important. We usually light a candle and share our highs and lows of the day. During advent, we light a candle for every night in December. I wanted this tree to be simple and old fashioned. For my birthday, my parents gifted me a sparse tree, just what I wanted! We dried some oranges, made some cinnamon dough ornaments, and strung some pinecones. I'd like to string popcorn and cranberries too, but I'm afraid little hands and paws would eat them :)
Play Room:
The idea for the play room is whimsical, Seuss-like decor. I envision funky, bright, and cheerful. However, my Christmas budget is only so big and I'm out of funds for the season :) This year I strung up some colorful wool balls. Next year, this tree is priority!
Kids Rooms:
Each kiddo has a small tree in their window. Isla's is pink, flocked, and beautiful. Ewan's is the only colored light tree and filled with trucks. And Eleanor's is decked in pearls and snowflakes. My parents and Grandma get the kids an ornament each year, so their trees will slowly fill as time goes on. Isla's tree is probably one of my favorites in the house. The flocking and Eloise-like decorations are so precious.
(Elle's tree)
(Ewan's tree)
(Isla's tree)
Kitchen:
And the tiniest tree resides in the kitchen. It totally counts (until I can get a skinny tree for the corner). Now that our kitchen remodel is done, I can fill the kitchen with red! I like bright and happy Christmas in the kitchen. We even set our cabinet lights to red.
Front Entryway:
I have a Santa table in the front entryway for my collection of Santas. Each one is special. One belonged to my dad as a boy, another was gifted to us for our wedding, and many came from Michael's Grandma's collection.
Details:
The rest of the house is filled with Christmas everywhere. Many decorations are special heirlooms or gifts. And believe it or not, I have about 3 more tubs in the basement of Christmas decor that didn't get set out this year. They were either too fragile or I couldn't find a place for them. Maybe next year!
Our Advent started Dec. 1st. Everyone was excited to get started. Some days were extravagant activities that required a lot of effort and other days it was pretty simple. We also ended up getting covid closer to Christmas which affected our activities too, but overall it was a fun experience together!
Here's our little advent setup. The kids would open their little door for the day, read the book, and eat their advent chocolate. I didn't get pictures of everything we did, but here's what I did get:
Day 1: Make a Christmas countdown chain
Day 2: Bake Cookies
Day 3: Watch a movie in matching jammies
Day 4: Shop for someone in need and deliver to homeless shelter
Day 5: Reenact Nativity story with wooden pieces
Day 6: Make Christmas cards
Day 7: Make cookies with friends (we ended up skipping the cookies and just having a playdate)
Day 8: Walk the neighborhood to look at lights
Day 9: Paint Christmas Ornaments
Day 10: Make goodies
Day 11: Drive around and look at Christmas lights
Day 12: Experience Christmas at the zoo
Day 13: Deliver cookies to neighbors
Day 14: Paint a nutcracker (I have the kids do this every year and now I have a little collection)
Day 15: Deliver cookies to friends, part 2 (We needed to drive all over town to get to everyone)
Day 16: Christmas crafts
Day 17: Isla's Elf Recital
Isla had been working hard all semester for her performance as a jack-in-the-box for the production of Elf. It was so special. She LOVED being a ballerina and even got to lead her class out onto the big stage. She was beaming and we were so proud of her! Her aunt Rah Rah and Nana came to watch and she was thrilled to see her people supporting her. Of course we all got covid from the production, as we would come to find out a few days later, but it was worth it for her to experience something so exciting!
(Isla is far right)
Day 18: Make a gingerbread house
Day 19: Watch a Christmas movie (the first of the fevers started this night)
Day 20: Paint a Christmas tree
Day 21: Christmas sensory bin (this is when I was a single parent because Michael tested positive for covid and started quarantining)
Day 22-25
The kids tested positive and had been showing symptoms for a few days beforehand. So I quarantined with Eleanor away from them in hopes of not getting covid. So the kids spent their days watching Christmas movies and getting lots of rest. Unfortunately, Eleanor and I both ended up getting sick too a few days later. We were really, really sad to have to change our Christmas plans. We had to cancel with our families and spend Christmas together a day later when I knew I was positive, as well. The performance was amazing and I was so glad Isla got to experience being a ballerina on stage, but next year I'm not sure we'll be doing the December performance. It was not fun having to change our plans. We ended up having a nice, quiet Christmas Eve (on the 25th) together where we spent the whole day in pjs. Then we ate a make-shift dinner, half of it brought over by our sweet Nana. We read the Christmas story and watched a movie before ending the night with reading the Polar Express. The kids were sent to bed and the parents got to work. It is so magical to be the parent on Christmas Eve ;)
On Christmas morning (the 26th for us), Isla was so excited. She sat and looked at the presents with daddy while I finished making breakfast. We had our Christmas breakfast and then opened presents together. SO FUN! I wish I could do Christmas morning every day with the kids just to see their sweet faces full of joy and expectation. The rest of the day was spent playing with the new toys and calling family. That night, Isla requested "fancy dinner" (cheese fondue) followed by time outside in the falling snow. It ended up being a lovely day.
We had to wait a whole week to celebrate with our families because Ellie was the last to get sick and she needed to get over her fever (which was scary for me to see!). But we were finally able to see my parents on New Year's Eve and Michael's parents on New Year's Day. And we still have one more Christmas to do with Aunt Rah Rah's family.
Ewan wore his daddy's Christmas outfit from 1994.
It was definitely an eventful December. I just love Christmastime with my kids. Here are more pictures from the month of December:
And now we are in 2023! We've undecorated for a clean slate. We have already been outside working towards our new set of 1,000 hours outside this year. We have spent time reading, snuggling, crafting, playing with friends, and we are excited for all the fun things to come! What a great year, let's have another.
This is one of my favorites of the blogs!
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