Snippets of Christmas in Our Home

Well, I'm not sure why, but Christmas has felt a little hurried for me this year.  December is a month that I like to savor and I usually do my best not to get carried away in all the hustle and bustle.  This year I had to remind myself to slow down because Christmas was starting to feel like a checklist rather than a magical and peaceful month spent preparing for a celebration.  To be fair, my boys have been sick a couple times (Andrew seems to have the flu now) and Jimmy was out of town for 8 days, which set me back time wise.  I also wanted a little break after hosting Thanksgiving before I jumped into the next holiday.  Despite feeling a bit more rushed than I wanted to be, the last three weeks have also been filled with wonderful family memories and traditions, both new and old.  More than anything else, whether I'm decorating our home for the holidays or baking cookies or snuggling my boys while we watch Christmas movies and read Christmas stories, I do it all in the hope of creating a magical Christmas for them.  Here are a few snippets from the last couple weeks...

^^At the Holiday Dazzle downtown Cincinnati.  It was our first year attending and the boys loved it. We had dinner and drinks over looking Fountain Square where we saw Santa repel down a building and watched a fun firework display.  The boys liked meeting Mrs. Claus for story time afterwards and I liked hearing all the carolers on the square.  Every time I've put on my apron since, Charlie has reminded me I look like Mrs. Claus. Haha.^^

^^ Charlie picked out the tree from the Boy Scout tree lot this year.  The boys walked the tree home, too strong for pulling it in a wagon now. ^^

^^ I made the garland on the mantle out of clippings from our yard.  The greens were fresh when I clipped them. I soaked them in water for 24 hours, and misted them twice a day.  They stayed fresh looking for about 9 days and have since been replaced with artificial greens.  I know some people like the look of dried greens but saddly, I'm not one of them.  Once they look dry, they gotta go.  Next year I will leave the greens outside until one week before Christmas and then I'll bring them in. ^^

^^ ribbon source here ^^

I hope the hustle and bustle is behind all of you now too and you can just enjoy time with the friends and family before the magic of the season comes to an end. Merry Christmas!!  xx