Bonus Post: Christmas Trees & Lights!

Christmas is, by far, my favorite holiday! I don't necessarily love the snow, but on that first day of snowfall (as long as I'm not driving anywhere), when everything is covered in blankets of magical white snow, that's the moment I like snow. I also love knowing that I'll see my family and friends more during the holiday season, with a couple get togethers designated for Christmas. People are more kind, caring, thoughtful, selfless, joyful, thankful. Then of course, there are Christmas movies, music, traditions, etc.,  that remind me of Christmases past. 

And the one thing that really gets the ol' holiday juices flowing, for me, is putting up my Christmas trees. I just can't get into that holly, jolly Christmas mindset until my house is transformed into a winter wonderland.

These are my trees:

The 4ft tree

This little tree is in the dining room. I love this tree because I can display themes that I wouldn't be able to display on a larger tree because I just don't have enough ornaments to do so. Last year, I started collecting tons of silver ornaments. I'm thinking it'll take me another 2-3 after Christmas sales to get enough silver ornaments (that are not JUST balls!!) before I can decorate a tree entirely in silver, but maybe next year I'll do one of the bigger trees in silver and gold, or silver and red.

The 7.5ft tree

Pictures don't do this tree justice! It looks SOOO beautiful in the house, but it looks so boring in this photo. I have this bejeweled garland that when the little lights hit it, it goes into sparkle overdrive. I pretty much only go in this room to fold laundry, which I absolutely HATE doing, but I am starting to look forward to my most hated task just so I can be near the tree.

Anyway, this is the tree I always decorate with family ornaments. You know, the ones that Joe's stepmom, Karen, gets us every Christmas that commemorate what we're up to: our first Christmas, our first engaged Christmas, our first married Christmas, our first pregnant Christmas, our first Christmas with our kid, and so on and so forth. I look forward to them every single year and they always get prime real estate on the tree. I also have ornaments from when Joe and I were kids (the ones our parents were able to part with). And I have a couple my own kids made. 

As much as I love the beauty of the themed trees, I love the memories of the ornaments on this one. It is always my favorite, even though it's pretty much the same every year. And the best part: I had the kids help put ornaments on.

The 9ft tree. I put up two pictures because I couldn't decide which one I liked better.

This is the prelit tree that we have in our great room. Last year, I really wanted to put it in the front living room, but was too lazy to move the furniture. This year, I was not so lazy! It looks so great in the front window, as opposed to the side window. And I can ogle it all day from my vantage point on the couch. 

This tree is decorated in gold, burgundy, and brown ornaments. It's a theme I've used in the past, on the smaller tree in this room. But I don't mind re-doing old themes, especially this one since the color scheme in this room is brown and burgundy.

The 1.5t tree

At some point, I'll figure out a good way to get this little guy lit.. 

The tree, I mean.,. 

with Christmas lights... 

Anyway, I've been feeling quite sick this past week. I had a fever and a headache. My throat was sore. There was a dry spot in the back of it that no amount of coughing would fix.  And then the inevitable happened: I lost my voice! As I'm writing this post, it's been 4 days since I have been barely able to talk. I haven't been able to sing with my kids, or read them books, or have conversations with them during play time. I've had to change how it is I interact with the kids. I've tried to make whispering seem like fun. I've tried to make guessing my hand gestures a game. And when Quinn was on the brink of boredom (since Mitch is a little easier to entertain at 2 and 1/2 yrs old), I gave Quinn this little tree and those ornaments and let her take an entire afternoon decorating it.

Thank you, tree, for allowing me to keep some sanity this week!

We've also been having some mild weather for this time of year. Many years by this point we've been buried deep in snow. But this year, we've had days that don't even require heavy jackets. I definitely took advantage of the nice weather and had Joe throw some lights on some of our shrubbery outside:

Boring, but it's a good starting off point.

The lights are always the toughest Christmas decoration to get at the after Christmas sales. By the time I get out there, the only lights that are usually left are the ones that are still grossly expensive, even on sale. But I've been stocking up when I can. 

I also bought a Christmas light timer thingy, so I don't even have to remember to plug them in or turn them on or off. It's like magic and I love it! I'm hoping that we'll have more fabulous displays as time goes on, but I'm not disappointed at this very bland set up. It's better than what we had last year, which was just a couple strands of lights around the railings on the stairs.

I hope everyone has a glorious holiday season! Snuggle up with loved ones, sing like you know all the words, and don't worry about the calories!! Love to all!!