Christmas Decor & a Whole Lot More!

It's Beginning to Look a LOT Like Christmas!

Or should I say...

It's already been a MONTH of looking like Christmas!

With Christmas (and Emily's 2nd Birthday Party) quickly approaching, I thought I'd take a minute to organize my pictures in anticipation of the photo-taking marathon that will soon occur!  As I was looking through the pictures, I realized how much fun we have already had this month, and so I thought I would take a minute to document our Holiday Festivites & Traditions thus far...

Tradition #1:

Picking out a Christmas Tree

We always go to pick out a live "Con Color" Christmas tree after Thanksgiving.  They are the BEST trees (in my opinion) as you don't have to water them and they don't lose their needles!  The downside:  you don't get that fabulous pine smell.  A small price to pay for a clean floor, in my opinion!  Several years ago, I started having the tree flocked and Noah continues to love our "white tree" and asks for it every year.  Here we are picking out our tree at the nursery....

And here is it flocked, lighted and decorated!

Tradition #2:

Ornament Collecting

My mom has always been a lover of ornaments and collections!  Therefore, she collected lots of ornaments for us as children.  Today, I have all of my ornaments from when I was little.  I love to look at them and be remided of my childhood loves (apparently I had an affection for the Peanuts characters.. see pictures below!).  Today, I still hang many of my childhood ornaments in this garland in my kitchen.  AND I always hang my childhood stocking... the one my mom made by hand for me the year I was born!

I still love to collect ornaments.  In fact, I would say that our family Christmas tree is just that... a collection of ornaments.  I don't have a "themed tree"... it is simply a tree that showcases my ornamnet collections from the years.  I love the "old fashioned" glass ones the best!  I document each one, theh year I received it, and what (if anything) it represents, such as:

Our First Pet, Lucy

Our First Home

My Sweet Tooth!

Our January Family Cruise Vacation

The Jayhawks

Noah's First Christmas

Emily's First Christmas

Sleep... what I used to do before kids!

The Pickle Tradition...

Whoever finds the pickle first on Christmas gets to open the first present!

I've started ornament collections for both kids too!  I found some really cute little "Ornament Books" that you can use to record every ornament that your child receives.  I love filling up those books for both kids!  It was also fun this year to read back through Noah's book as we decorated his little tree with his own ornament collection!

Noah's Tree

A collection of handmade ornaments and ornaments representing his interests year by year

His tree includes LOTS of balls and sports-related ornaments!

Emily's Tree

This is the first year for Emily's own tree!

Her tree represents her favorite thing as of right now...

CANDY!

Tradition #3:

Santa is My Dad!

Well, not really!  But he makes a pretty good impersonator!

The year that Noah was born, my dad got a very small Christmas "bonus" (he works in a non-profit, so he is not accustomed to even getting a Christmas "bonus"!).  Anyway, he proudly came home from work and annoucned to my mom that he was going to use his bonus to purchase something he had always wanted...  a Santa Suit!

And that is how the tradition began!  Noah has had personal visits from Santa every year since he was born!  This year, I was concerned that he would become suspicious (my Dad looks like a good Santa, but doesn't sound much like him!  Last year, in trying to disguise his voice, he took on a Canadian/Northern Minnesotan accent!).  So, in an effort to distract him a bit, while continuing the tradition, I decided to have a "Cookies & Cocoa with Santa" party for Noah and his friends.

We had a list making station...

And an ornament making station...

And, of course, LOTS of cookies!

And SANTA surprised everyone by knocking on the basement door!

Noah shared his list with Santa...

1)  Whistle

2)  Drum Set

3) Piano

And Sissy...

Well this is how is happened in 2009!

Tradition #4:

Dad's Snack Mix

Around Wichita, my dad is famous for his Christmas "snack mix"!  OK, so maybe not in the entirity of Wichita, but he is "famous" among our family and friends for the delectable concoction of crackers and cereals he makes every December!  As he would tell you himself, this is not your "ordinary snack mix"! 

He is so "into it" that he purchases his ingredients online from specialty stores and won't share his "secret ingredient"!  This year, he purchased 70 POUNDS of pecans alone!  Just imagine my mom's dining room table covered in paper with a literal MOUNTAIN of snack mix covering its every corner... that is what it takes to please his fans!  And his two biggest fans happen to be his grandchildren!

And I have to say, I am a fan too!  After having Emily Kate 2 years ago, Dad's snack mix is the very first thing I asked for to eat...

Tradition #5:

Christmas Decorating

I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas Decorating!  I love the house when it is decoratED, but sometimes I don't enjoy the decoratING!  I love the warmth and whimsy that the house has when it is all decked out for Christmas!

This year, I decided to try to make the hearth room a bit more fun and whimsical than in year's past!

I made the cone "trees" with wrapping paper and wrapped the balls with ribbon.

The tiny presents in the hurricanes are one of my favorie hurricane "fillers".

A bit of kitchen decor

As I mentioned my mom is a "collector" of lots of things, including they Christmas carolers.  She has started handing some of them down to me, and these are some of the carolers singing in the kitchen!

The Advent Table which I previously posted about.

Incidentally, both trees have made an impact on Noah this year.

The other night, he spontaneously started praying prayers of Thanksgiving to Jesus... all of which included items from our "Thankful Tree".  He has opened his heart in new ways and both of these traditions will be ones that we keep in the coming years!

This is what my nativity set looked like for several weeks.

And this is what it looks like now.

We had a "Bless the Baby Jesus" night at our church a few weeks ago.  Father Dan told us not to put the Baby Jesus back in our nativities. 

Why? 

Because we are still waiting! 

So, gone are the shepards, wise men, and Baby Jesus for it is not yet time for them to be included!  We will sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus on Christmas Day and place Him back in his spot in the nativity.  We will add the shepherds and wise men in the coming days too... keeping in line with the biblical story!  This is a new tradition for us and it's one I'm excited to begin!

A choir of carolers in the Living Room

A Few More!

Dining Room Buffet

The Dining Room Table

Tradition #6

Christmas Pictures

I know this tradition is not unique to us, but I thought I would include it anyway!  After all, I need someplace to showcase these cuties :) 

The "Waiting" is almost over!

Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas filled with memories and traditions that bring your hearts JOY as you celebrate our sweet Savior's birth!