And Then There Was Christmas.....

......At least some preparation. 

I have been waiting for the holiday season for MONTHS!!!!  So happy it is finally here.  I can not describe my joy the day of Thanksgiving.  Now that joy gets to carry on for entire month!  Yay!

I have some things planned for this holiday season to really make some memories.  Hubby and I are and have really just made sure we do not go crazy with presents.  The kids get nice things but not too much......our families take care of that. :)  Mostly kidding. 

Anyways today we had planned to set up the Christmas tree.  Because we had cleared/rearranged the sitting room to make room for a Thanksgiving table to seat 18 we had plenty of room for a tree.  However, being the visionaries that we are, we had no tree.  That's right folks, the last two years our tree has had some lighting issues.  So we decided to throw it out last year and buy one when they were on sale.  Guess who did not ever get to those sales......  So in the midst of our Dave Ramsey makeover we had to make an "Emergency Fund" dip to buy a new tree.  Yes a tree with three kids is ESSENTIAL, and I will not back down from this statement.  We went with a white tree and not the most expensive option (which hubby wanted).  We bought some red lights and a red skirt.  I was hesitant because I really wanted the magenta lights, but this was the one stand against pink hubby has made, so I respectfully went with the red.  I am proud to report we ALL L.O.V.E. the result.  Even hubby sat and stared at the tree for a bit.  It seriously is gorgeous.  And any new moms with a fussy baby, I suggest getting that tree up and setting the baby in front of it to stare.  It has always soothed my kiddos just as it does me.  *SIGH*  I wish these pictures captured the beauty of the tree but they truly do not.  I hope you enjoy, all the same.  Merry Christmas season everyone, may the joy of the season bring peace to your heart!

Sad news, yesterday Blogger only allowed for one picture upload and now the upload window freezes and when it finally does allow uploads it does not use the new orientation saved.  Anyone else having these issues?.  Please forgive the abscence of photos in my post.  I will load them in another post.

Who Is Ready For Fall?

This baby is!

Yes it was so cold in Colorado last weekend that I had to bundle everyone up to go to the store. Luckily I hit a sale at Carters the week before and bought the cutest fleece outfit with little bear ears!

The foggy cool weather and the lack of summer has me really in the mood for the fall and the holiday season. Growing up I loved the holidays, the feeling, the Christmas pageants, just the whole mood shift the holidays seemed to bring to people. I am not sure I really experience the mood shift anymore, I live in a much bigger city than I did as a kid, but I still want my kids to have memories only the holidays can bring.

The Christmas traditions I remember from my childhood are Sunday dinners and lighting the Advent Wreath and opening one gift on Christmas Eve. My hubby hates the one gift idea and we do not have an Advent Wreath. The last two years I have been gung ho about creating traditions for my kids and I feel like I have not been very successful. Last year we made cookies and gingerbread house. Seeing as I am a horrible baker the end product came out less than I dreamed. So this year I am getting an early jump on things and looking for some traditions to create. I have a few in mind but will be doing more research. What traditions do you and your family have? Are any of you in the same boat as me?