decking the halls

I used to be a firm "don't decorate until after Thanksgiving" kind of person, but last year I decorated a few days early and this year I started a week early!! Who knows what next year will bring, haha.  It took me a LONG time because my energy level just isn't what it used to be, but I eventually finished with some help from the kids. 

The kids had a few fights about who was going to arrange all the nativity pieces, but they eventually came to an agreement.

The real reason I think I was eager to decorate was because our new tree, in it's gigantic box, was sitting in the middle of the hallway.  We sold our old tree at the end of last year since some of the lights weren't working, and had to shell out nearly twice the amount of money we paid 8 years ago for an equally tall tree.  It's a little slimmer, but has the most amazing mini LED lights. I prefer them white, but the kids always go for the color. 

Not sure what I love more about this pic:  Colby's pose, or the fact that Brooke was stripping down her fleece pajamas because Kevin had a fire blazing for ambiance.  Thankfully, Kevin took the pictures before Colby was shirtless. 

One reason why decorating took forever was because this kid needed a LOT of help with the Harry Potter Perler beads he started working on.  My patience was wearing thin, but thankfully I didn't completely lose it because that night, as I tucked him into bed, he informed me that I was the best mom in the whole universe.  When I asked him why, he replied, "Because you helped me make Rubius Hagrid." So there you go, I'm the best mom.  Love that kids and the stuff that comes out of his mouth. 

A week later, we decorated the outside of the house.  The kids were especially excited for Jingles the puppy to make his debut. 

Since we were heading out of town, I decided to put Jingles and the other lights on timers so that it looked like we were home, but turns out one of the timers didn't actually work while we were gone!  But at least we tried :)