O Tannenbaum!

Oh, the unbridled stress joy of finding the perfect Christmas tree!  We went to a local tree farm in the hopes of cutting our own.  In reality, the precut trees were in much better shape.  So we strolled around, saw-in-hand, playing the part.  But in the end, it was a precut tree that caught our eye.

Charlotte wanted a tiny one.

Nathan found a "wand," and kept jumping out unexpectedly to cast spells on me. This kid cracks me up every minute of the day.

Gavin was just happy running through the rows of trees.

Based on something I saw on Jami's blog, we saved the sawed-off bottom of our tree to make a little ornament.

All in all, a good day.

One final note:  look at our elf zip-lining across the family room!  That crazy Jay.  Michael and I were cracking up hanging him on the fishing wire.  Ok, I was cracking up.  Michael was shaking his head at my insanity.  Really, how can you not laugh?!?!?

Christmas Decorations That Make Me Smile

You know how sometimes you put on a pair of jeans that you haven't worn in a while, and when you reach into your pocket, you find money??  It may only be $1, but it's still exciting to find something valuable you had forgotten about.

That's how I felt this year when I pulled out my holiday decorations.

My mom, my aunt, and I made a trip to our favorite flea market in September, and while I was there I picked up a few vintage decorations.  I packed them away, and promptly forgot about them until we brought the Christmas bins out!  It's just like finding a dollar.  Or maybe a five.

I instantly fell in love with these place card holders.  Aren't they cute? I'm glad I saw them first...pretty sure Mom would have scooped them up had she been the first to spy them.

Also, I've been looking for bottle brush trees forever, and they've been hard to find.  Then I came across these.  I bought all 6 for $10 -- a major score.

More holiday photos to come!  :)