Christmas Home Tour!

With this being our very first year in our new, forever home I knew I wanted to document lots of Christmas decor and happenings around here. This Christmas is just a super special one. Not only are we home for the holidays for the 2nd year in a row now that we're back in the hometown, but we're also home in the sense of finally being settled in the place we plan to stay from this point forward. The home we're looking forward to celebrating many, many Christmases in. It's a sweet, blessed, exciting feeling.

So here's a little peek into our home this Christmas. Our very first Christmas here.

This is walking in the front door... where you'll find our most bare room of the house. Haha. Eventually we'll get around to decorating and "furnishing" our dining room and foyer a little more, and eventually I'd love a small tree in here, but for now, this is it... 

My favorite view this Christmas from my kitchen sink. Of course my little loves hanging out in there playing and getting along and being sweet little angels is the BEST view, but it's also pretty nice just like this. =)

Santa pictures from the past 3 years are displayed on this table. Looking forward to visiting the man in red this Saturday!

We still love our tree! Especially since we haven't had any other issues with it. =)

The mantle is simple but sweet. I love all of our stockings. They're from Pottery Barn and my mom has gotten them for all of us, including Anna and her fam. In the future I'd love to find some ornament filled garland and a Christmas sign of some sort to put where the window pane mirror is. Don't tell Terrell about all of my future plans. Ha.

This is the very first year I wasn't able to put out my real Nativity scene. Unfortunately it was just too risky. Between Layton and Baby A I think it's safe to say I made the right decision. So this year we're just using our Fisher Price Nativity. And it never looks like this for long but my big boys do love to arrange everyone just so when it's clean up time. 

The boys' favorite Christmas decoration is this carousel and Layton is also a huge fan of the pillows because of the pictures. =)

I traded my pumpkin for a snowman up on my mini gallery wall.

And of course the countdown to Christmas is highly popular. Austin reminds me to change it every single morning and is absolutely thrilled with the number growing smaller.

Our kitchen...

The boys most favorite thing we do every single morning as soon as they come downstairs is the Advent calendar. They LOVE it. They take turns and alternate who gets to open the door to retrieve the magnetic piece and place it on the Nativity scene and who gets to take out the Bible verse we read. Such a special way to start our day and keep our focus on Jesus and the true gift of Christmas. Also, I love displaying my Christmas plates each year. Just an easy, festive way to spruce up the kitchen counters. =)

Above the stove I placed Austin's sweet little Christmas gift to me from when he was 2 years old. =)

The star is battery operated and just adds some festive light when we're all done in the kitchen each night.

This Christmas centerpiece on our kitchen table is still around after 10 years. Haha. It was one of the first Christmas decorations we bought for our very first home. Can you spot my baby playing out in the backyard? He wasn't out there alone I promise... Terrell and the big boys just weren't in the picture.

Every year I add a few Christmas touches to the boys' rooms too. On the big boys' dresser I have a little family of snowmen plus Christmas plates that Garrison and Austin made at our old preschool. 

And on top of their bookshelf is a small Nativity scene plus a Santa snow globe.

And an up close look at their tree which they pretty much decorated all by themselves. 

Layton's dresser has a Nativity scene that was given to me as a baby... which makes it 32 years old. So it's sentimental and will always be displayed somewhere every Christmas. Plus I added 2 small Christmas trinkets. 

And my baby's tree which is similar to his big brothers' but also has some subtle differences. We are all boy around here, that's for sure. =)

The night time view is my most favorite I think. Christmas movies, Christmas books, quiet evenings and not so quiet evenings all take place here. It's where we gather before bedtime and where we wind down as the day comes to a close. Where we snuggle and cuddle and also where we play and make messes. This room... plus our kitchen... is just one big blessing filled with so many memories already. I'm loving experiencing our Christmas season here. In our hometown in our home. 

Decking the halls is a ton of work, but always worth it. So thankful for home, for family to share this season with, and for the celebration of the birth of our Savior.

Friday Favorites: Christmastime is Here!

This week we've jumped right into all things Christmas! Christmas movies, Christmas books, Advent, wrapping presents, Christmas cards, Christmas shopping, you name it. It's been a fun week and such a sweet start to the season. Life can be so heartbreaking and our world can be such a scary place, but I'm especially thankful for this season of hope and celebration. We love doing all kinds of Christmas things with the kids and soaking up every bit of festivity and fun that this season brings, but the reason we celebrate is Jesus. He is the gift of Christmas. He is the hope and the light of the world. He is the reason we're here and He is what makes this season special and this life livable.

Here's a look at my faves from our week...

*This year we completed our 4th November of intentional thankfulness. I write down what the boys are thankful for every single morning for the whole month and it's a sweet little tradition they love. If I ever forgot they were quick to remind me and say Mama! We didn't tell you what we were thankful for! I wrote down their exact words every morning and never prompted them at all. It was a quick and simple little routine most mornings but it also gave us an opportunity to be intentional about gratitude and to talk about all the ways God has blessed us and that the Bible says that every good and perfect gift is from Him. Hopefully Layton will be able to participate next year!

*We loaded up the fam one night to drive over to my parents' house to see their huge light display (hopefully I can get a good picture soon!) plus cruise the rest of the neighborhood and see all the lights. Most of the families in our subdivision seem to really decorate the exterior of their homes... so we've got to capitalize on the after Christmas sales so we can be prepared for next year!

The boys LOVED seeing all of Granna and Papa's lights and our special little trip around the neighborhood. 

*Oh Christmastime how we love you. =)

*My favorite Christmas gifts ever... and 3 of my most favorite ornaments on the tree. Left to right, Garrison, Austin, Layton. 

*The beginning of the week was warm enough to get in some outside time. I decided to pull out a chair so I could read some while the boys played. (Remember all those books I placed on hold at the library that came in at once?? Haha. I'm on my 3rd one and haven't been overdue yet!) Layton played some and then wanted a chair to sit in too. Then he watched his big brothers play soccer just like he was at a game or something. Ha! It was pretty precious.

*So this year I stole an idea from a fellow blogger and decided to get the boys Pottery Barn Christmas pillowcases! The sheets are crazy expensive and probably never gonna happen (ha) so we went with pillowcases instead. A compromise my sweet husband agreed to. =) The big boys' reactions were PRICELESS. They were just thrilled and sooo excited. And mama's heart was happy. The Christmas spirit sure is special. 

Of course we had to get a "sleeping" picture too. Haha! Layton isn't pictured with his because he won't pose for a picture in his bed, but he seems to really like his too. =)

*On Tuesday we started our Advent calendar! This is a favorite for my big boys and a sweet tradition for us as a family. They take turns opening the little door and getting out a magnetic piece of the nativity scene each morning. I also put in a Bible verse from the Christmas story, (in order, taken from both Luke and Matthew), inside each little door and so Garrison has been reading that to us every morning. It's the best way to start our day and a great reminder for us as we await Jesus's birthday.

*Speaking of Advent... This book was a Christmas gift last year and I've waited all year to read it. It is sooo good. I can't recommend it enough. I'm using it every morning for my quiet time and love it. I've looked forward to it every morning this week. I see myself doing this every single year. It's just really, really good.

This weekend is going to be a little busy. Terrell and his dad will be working in our backyard most of the day tomorrow on a Christmas surprise for the boys while I try to finish up all of our Christmas shopping. Then on Sunday after church the Children's Ministry is taking a little field trip to the nursing home to sing Christmas carols and perform during their little Sunday service they have there. Even though it will be a little full, we're looking forward to extra time together and maybe a Christmas movie or two, too. =) Happy Friday!!

The Plight of the Live Christmas Tree

Ahh, the plight of the live Christmas tree. Almost every year we have a story to tell when it comes to our tree... and it's not always a pleasant one. I've never gone into great detail here on the blog about the unfortunate happenings we've experienced almost every year with our tree because honestly they aren't our fondest moments... or memories for that matter. But this year I've decided I want to remember. One day we'll laugh about it after all. 

I must begin by saying we really do LOVE our tradition of cutting down a real, live Christmas tree every year. We for sure the love the idea of it. Haha. Terrell and I both grew up doing this with our families and we want the tradition to continue. It's fun, it's festive, it makes your house smell like Christmas, it's a tradition. But man oh man is it work. And unpredictable. And frustrating. And challenging. 

This year would be no different. Ha.

We always go to get a tree the day after Thanksgiving unless it's supposed to rain in which case we try to sneak away on Thanksgiving Day. We went out on Friday afternoon this year and AnAn and Frankie decided to partake of the tradition with us. I was filled with the Christmas spirit and so looking forward to the fun, the family time, the memories, etc. And other than it being a little on the warm side, everything started so promising. 

Half of our crew making the trek to our fave leyland cyress trees.

Sweet girl was oblivious. =)

Somehow it worked out that we were the very last to choose a tree amongst our group. I think we needed something a tad shorter than the majority of trees available and I was looking for something full so that I felt confident about all of our ornaments going on just fine. My indecisive trait came out, and with it, the complaining from my loves. Oh at first all my boys were having a ball and filled with joy just like me. But as we warmed up from the higher temps and walked lots and lots, the complaining began and all of a sudden things weren't quite so fun. Haha.

The O'Mary fam found their tree first! Piper's first trip to the tree farm was a successful one! =)

My parents found their tree next. And the Selph fam continued to search.... and continued to unravel. Haha! Austin was hot and thirsty and wanted to be held because he was tired of walking. Layton was just plain tired and sort of over the whole experience. And Garrison was just ready to hurry up and be done. #Goodtimes 

We finally went back to the first tree we really liked and had marked and decided to just go with it, imperfections and all.

Here we are with our tree! FINALLY. =)

Papa cut it down for us with the assistance of the boys and all was well once we could go play on the little playground they have, plus get water or hot chocolate before loading all the trees into Papa's truck and heading for home. 

Then comes the dreaded tree stand. We have almost NEVER had a pleasant experience getting our live tree into a tree stand properly without issues. Ughhhhhh. It's my least favorite part about getting a live tree. This year we had the help of both my dad and Frankie and it was still a bad experience. Gracious. Once we finally had it secure (or so we thought) Terrell headed over to my parents' house to assist them with getting their tree in the stand and then it was almost time to meet Terrell's side of the family for supper.

After getting the boys in bed Friday night Terrell and I set to work getting the lights on the tree. This isn't my favorite but I do love the tradition of it. It's just sort of special and brings back memories of growing up and watching my parents, grandparents, and even my aunt and uncle hang lights on their trees. =) Thankfully we had no issues with getting the lights on and were ready to decorate as a family first thing Saturday morning after breakfast.

We finally found a good system with the kiddos for decorating the tree that doesn't involve ornaments flying or being ripped out of boxes or broken, etc. Terrell prepares the ornaments and gets them out ready to be hung by me and my little elves. 

My big boys hanging the very first ornaments on our tree!

Layton even participated a little. (He was mainly just into everything though. Haha.)

We had Christmas music playing, lots of ornaments on the tree, everyone enjoying seeing all of our ornaments with their special and sentimental meanings, and just the fun of it all........ when the tree decided to FALL completely over. Basically on top of Terrell who was sitting in the floor with our boxes of ornaments and managed to semi catch it just as I was screaming out a warning, ornaments fell to the floor, and the big boys burst into tears. It was as pleasant an experience as you might imagine. Honestly I almost burst into tears with the boys. It was awful. And traumatizing for them. And who am I kidding? Me too. *Sad face*

We managed to get the tree upright and secured once again (or so we thought) and then ushered the boys to the basement so we could assess the damage and clean up the mess. The boys were pretty upset. We heard things like Christmas is ruined now. It's all my fault. I think I made it fall when I was hanging my ornament. Now we can't have a tree. It was all very dramatic as everything was said through sobs and tears. 

Thankfully the majority of our ornaments survived and we called my parents to tell them the news and ask for help. The tree almost fell again and we decided to prop it against the wall and Terrell went out in search of a new stand and then my parents came over to help. Between Terrell and my dad, we got the tree properly secured and in place and have been holding our breath ever since. 

Terrell and I both questioned whether all the trouble and headache and risk to ornaments and our sanity was worth it. Are live Christmas trees dead to us now? Can we continue on this way? Why???? 

But, alas we managed to finish decorating later on Saturday and the tree turned out beautiful. Like one of our favorites ever. And we were pretty much smitten and thankful we persevered and all was forgiven. 

The only picture we managed of all 3 babies in front of the tree. Layton wasn't exactly in a picture taking mood. 

I really do love this tree despite all it's put us through. =) It's full of lots of special and sentimental ornaments and the twinkle lights just make for a beautiful view from my kitchen. I can't wait to start wrapping presents!!

So thankful for all my boys and especially my big ones as they helped so much and were so into the whole experience. I'm counting on them to remain this festive from now on. =)

We also finished decorating the boys' little trees in their rooms over the weekend and they both turned out perfect. This one is Layton's and is just an overall "boy" tree with a mixture of sports, a tractor and a jeep, a Cookie Monster and Elmo, a drum, etc. So far it's the only tree to remain upright this Christmas season.

And this one is the big boys' and is also a mixture of anything boy. Sports, athletes, superheroes, etc. They leave theirs on every night at bedtime until talking time is over and they're ready to go to sleep. Both trees are pretty special as they both represent all the things my boys love. And Layton only pulled this tree over once as he was attempting to pull an ornament off. Sigh. Never a dull moment around here.

Christmas trees galore. One of my favorite things about the season. Even though the plight of the live one isn't always fun. =)