My Christmas mantra this year is "let's do this!" I'm not waiting til the last minute on anything. I'm organized, I'm ready, and I'm going to make the most of my November so I can really relax (as much as possible, working crazy retail hours) and enjoy December. As usual, I want to create family traditions for the boys. Devon is old enough that he remembers EVERYTHING and looks forward to each event. Each Christmas event that we do is so special and I love to see the look of joy and excitement in the boys eyes!
The Santa at Phipps Plaza really is a magical childhood tradition. He is the REAL Santa Claus of course, traveling each day from the North Pole to visit hundreds of good little girls and boys. He is the kindest Santa and is so interested in talking to all of the children. Devon and Dean were pretty much in awe!
Devon worked very hard on his list this year...
And he even wrote his wish list himself...
Dean has only one wish this year... a tuba! I think it was from a Curious George episode, but he has been obsessed with getting a tuba. Have you ever tried to find a child sized tuba??? Looks like Santa had better work his magic!
In front of the Tiffany Christmas tree...
The we walked around Phipps to experience some Christmas wonder...
This is an elegant tree that my Mom would love...
So happy with their candy canes from Santa...
In my Christmas red...
We always start putting up the Christmas tree the week of Thanksgiving. We want to enjoy all the Christmas decorations for as long as possible and it makes the house so beautiful. Here's how it all got started...
With the boxes, brought in from our shed and some excited boys, waiting to begin...
With each ornament, the boys want to remember when we got it and is it theirs?!
So happy with our cheery little tree!
Our beautiful nativity, the centerpiece of our Christmas decorations.
Playing with the baby safe nativity. We wouldn't want baby Jesus to get broken!
My Russian nesting dolls. With sweet little Christmas fairytale scenes handpainted on each one.
Our Christmas book basket is finally full. I have been collecting books for the past six years, so I could read a different Christmas book for the entire month of December. The boys love reading them and looking at the pictures on their own too, so we put away the dinosaur books and keep these out.
Our downstairs has the new addition of a little Christmas village that glows.
For a special Christmas treat, the boys and I made "reindeer munch" together. Mmmm...
And of course, we had to continue the tradition of making a gingerbread house. But this year, we made a little gingerbread village.
And one of my favorite things to do is to change our my dining table decor to match the season. It is the first thing we see when we walk into the house and the boys even get excited to see the "new table." So, up went the Christmas tablecloth and candles.
With all the Christmas decor up, Firoze and I even had an all-day marathon Christmas shopping day and for the first time EVER, I can say "I'm done!" before November is even over!
All this shopping deserves a reward...
This was my favorite picture from the last two weeks. Firoze and I took Deanie with us for a little Farm Burger delight! Sometimes you have to grab your chance for a break, with the best burger and fries in town. It feels good to relax...
And now, I'm off to start enjoying December!
And if all this Christmas craziness starts to stress you out, remember, you can always turn your house into a 5-star resort and have a little pampering...
(I think this might be the happiest face I have ever seen on Dean!)
We went to Atlantic Station with Annie and Abigail to make some Christmas memories. I am so thankful for good friends that love my kids so much and don't mind driving in the crazy holiday traffic to make my Christmas dreams come true!
This girl could not get any cuter! We seriously had about fifty people stop us and say "she is sooooo cute!"
Little princess in Santa's sleigh
She has the sweet face of a little doll.
Somebody was crushing on Devon! Abigail insisted on holding hands with Dev for the entire night. If he wasn't into it, she would go and grab his hand and pull him along. Guess who's in charge here?!
And then the magic happened...
They made it "snow" in Atlantic Station! The boys loved running around like wild maniacs trying to catch snowflakes.
And he did it, he caught one!
Another day this week, we had such a nice family day together. We took it easy and stayed home and did the cozy things.
Dean looked so grown up in his little boots!
My baby... He melts my heart...
All month long, Devon has been asking "when are we going to make Christmas cookies?" Well, today was the day...
This year, he wanted to do almost everything himself. And of course Dean had to get in there and help too, but Devon was so good at being in charge and following directions.
This photo literally makes my heart constrict... the sweetest Christmas moment of the season! Totally on their own, the boys were hugging so sweetly while the Christmas cookies were baking. Can we say awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....
Enjoy every sweet Christmas moment!
