Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

We are BACK IN BLOGGING BUSINESS with a brand spanking new computer! Coming your way with all the photos and updates in 2019! I can't wait to share all kinds of fun news!

Introducing...

We added a new family member last week and the boys are just over the moon about him! We'd like you to meet Hank, our new baby boy!

The boys have begged and begged and begged for a dog all year long. In fact, James asked Santa for one last year (about 3 days before Christmas - and that was the first time ever!). Santa told James that a dog was a BIG responsibility and he needed to be sure he was ready for that commitment. He never told him no, but it was such a sweet conversation and I'll be forever thankful that he had that conversation with him.

So the boys asked about a puppy all year long. Our yard isn't fenced in and we've intended to fence it since we moved in, but other things have taken priority over that and we've just not had it done. But this summer, Scout (my 11 year old lab who lives at Grandmama's house - because they have a fenced in yard {and a playmate that she won't leave!}) got hurt and wound up having to have about 10 stitches and a drain. She couldn't go outside (except to potty) for two weeks so she came to our house and lived in the dining room in her crate. The boys LOVED. IT. They were so helpful. I literally didn't lift a finger. If she needed to go out, they walked her. They helped feed and water her. They followed her around and wiped up the floor where the drain dripped. They played with her and loved on her. We were so very surprised!  So when they continued to ask for a puppy (even more after Scout went back to Grandmama's), we began listening.

Every Christmas list James and Will have made this year had DOG at the top. James' list has pretty much been - 1. Dog, 2. XBOX One. Will's has pretty much been - 1. Dog, 2. Dirt bike. (#nothappening) Eddie and I went to Columbus a few weeks ago for his office Christmas party and on the way I brought up possibly giving them a puppy for Christmas or at least telling them that we would begin looking for one. He agreed and the search began. We started by looking in shelters, but puppies are HARD to find in a shelter. I think they get snatched up quickly OR you have to go through a foster home and they're just hard to track down (in my experience). We were completely open to adopting a puppy, but we had a hard time finding anything. 

We've always had pound puppies or dogs that friends had who were mixes. However, one of my teachers at school texted me one day that they had beagles and had one left from their most recent litter. Beagles? What??? No, we are a lab family. That's pretty much all we've ever had. And we're a black lab family at that. HA! A beagle wasn't even on our radar! I immediately texted another friend who had a beagle when we were very young and just asked if they'd had more and what their experience with them was. She responded very quickly that they've had SEVERAL beagles and that they LOVE them. She said her mom has always described them as a nose with four legs because they are hounds, but that they are very sweet and loyal and the perfect size for kids.

The Wednesday after that weekend we went to see this beagle baby and he was PRECIOUS. I honestly didn't expect to like him as much as I did. We played with him for a few minutes, asked some questions, and then went home to think about it. I let her know the next day that we did want him, but that we couldn't pick him up until December 17th, which was 10 more days. We wanted to give him to the boys the week they were out for Christmas so that he could get used to his new home while we were there instead of having to leave him from the beginning in a crate all day long. We also had our first round of Christmas this weekend, so we wanted to wait until after that so that we could enjoy those festivities without being distracted.

So the Sunday after school got out was the day! I distracted the boys while Eddie went and picked him up. We let the boys open a gift that had a stuffed animal beagle and a book about beagles in it. We told them that since we hadn't been able to fence in our yard yet, we would let them practice with the stuffed animal. Will immediately said, "I'm taking him outside to potty!" So out the front door they went to "potty" their "puppies" while the real puppy watched on from the porch, unbeknownst to them. It only took Will a few seconds to notice him and they FREAKED OUT. And so began our newest chapter with a sweet little love named Hank.

So far, so good on the puppy chore front. We've pretty much had someone that is willing to feed, water, and walk him from the first moment he arrived. Sometimes they are too helpful. I'm sure that will wane, but hopefully they'll always take good care of him. The only problem we've had so far is that he has been using the boys as a chew toy. He likes to gnaw and gnaw and gnaw and they don't understand that he's playing and that he's teething. They have also been a little nervous about picking him up. I think it will all work itself out, but I've been reminding them that HE is not to be the master over them. (Hank means boss of the home, or something similar, so I'm hoping that it isn't a prediction of things to come! As bossy as my children are, they don't need a dog telling them what to do!)

As for Hank (whose full, registered name is still being debated but may be Hank Elvis or Prince Hank Earl of Lakewood - because he must have an E middle name like the rest of us), he is doing pretty good so far! He has lots of energy until he doesn't and then he completely passes out. He's the best napper I've ever seen. The potty thing hasn't exactly been worked out yet, but we're hoping he catches on soon. Please. His crate is too big and we know that's an issue so tonight we got a smaller crate for him. He has also been spending a little time in our outdoor pen (it's like a 12x12 fenced in area in our backyard so he's able to move a little more AND we aren't constantly wiping up tee-tee {GLORY!}) when it's been warm(ish) outside. We are also looking into the wireless fence/collar systems that would allow him to be all over our yard but not in the street. OR a fenced in yard. Let me know if you have some pros/cons we haven't thought of.

He weighed 9 pounds, 6 ounces at his first vet checkup. Overall, he seems to be a happy, healthy boy! He is mostly black with brown on his nose and legs and white on his chest and paws. He doesn't have the typical "saddle" look that a lot of beagles have, nor does he have a white tip on his tail. The breeder we got him from likes the darker back so that's what they try to achieve. The top of his head and his ears are black and his ears have brown borders around the edges. His head looks to be changing from black to brown, which is sort of fun. (From top to bottom of this post is chronological order so you can tell how much lighter his head has gotten over the past week.) He may look completely different as an adult!

I'm doing a lot of reading up on how to train beagle babies. I want him to be friendly, but also polite. There's not much worse than a dog with bad manners! HA! James said earlier that he isn't a good listener and I told him that Hank fits right in with the other boys in our house.

James, Will, and Hank. Buddies for life!

5-8 Year Old Boys' Gift Guide

I'm joining you today to share my boys' Christmas gift guide. This list is an assortment of things we actually own AND things that are on their wish list this year. If you have a little boy you're shopping for, these are our tried-and-true (for the most part!) items. There's plenty more I could've added to the list, but this is a great start. If you need more suggestions OR if you have things you would've added, comment below!

Just as a reference, Will is a 5.5 year old kindergartener and James is an 8 year old 2nd grader. Will is VERY engineering-minded, outdoorsy, and busy. James is very creative and very, very bright.

1. VTech Star Wars First Order Stormtrooper Smartwatch. Neither of my kids have this watch, but they're both asking Santa for it! They both asked for a smart watch and I didn't want one with a phone on it. This one has video, a camera, games, and is a fitness tracker. This version is currently sold out, but I saw it on Amazon for as low as $31 this week! Keep watching!

2. Illustrated Harry Potter series. James and Will LOVE these and so do I. These are the original Harry Potter books that are BEAUTIFULLY illustrated. I love these so much that I'm about 99% sure I recommended them last year. Currently, there are 3 out (James gets one for his birthday each year because they come out in the fall). Each is just gorgeous.

3. Doodle Books! We have one of these books, but Will has asked for one for Christmas so I've been looking for another. Maybe Santa can help me find one. These either start the drawing for you OR tell you what to draw in an open-ended sort of way. James loves it. (I cannot find a link for these! I have no idea where the first one came from...)

4. Snap Circuits. Both boys love these, but James has spent more time playing. This is a child-friendly circuit board that you have to correctly connect for it to light up, play music, etc. There's a book of instructions but you can also make up your own circuits. 

5. Power Wheels 4-Wheeler. James got this for Christmas from Santa about three years ago and he and Will have driven it for countless hours. The worst thing we did was NOT buy a second one. It's a little bit of a battle. James is between 50-60 pounds and he can still ride it. Ours is blue so we don't have this EXACT model, but I'm sure it's similar. They love it!

6. Classic Legos. So we have a TON of Lego sets that James has worked on over the past two years, but Will's favorite is the set of random Legos that isn't themed. He enjoys making his own creations. No limitations!

7. Hero series. James started this series earlier in the year and TORE through them. I haven't read them, but he was absolutely enthralled. (There's also a movie based on another book by this author - Max.)

8. Fliker Scooter. James rode one of these at a friend's house in September and then he asked for one for his birthday. This is really cool, but I cannot ride it to save my life! I cannot make it go!!! Eddie and the boys like it, though!

9. Osmo Genius Starter Kit. So this is another item that we don't have and haven't tried, but it has rave reviews from some friends. The ONLY reason my boys aren't getting this for Christmas is that we have the ORIGINAL iPad and it isn't compatible because it doesn't have a camera. If we had a new iPad, we'd definitely be getting this. It's awesome educational games that you can connect to your iPad to play.

10. Over-the-Door Basketball Goal. The boys got this about 3 years ago from my cousin and it has brought HOURS of entertainment in our playroom. It is INCREDIBLY well-made and the boys love to play. I will say that it's LOUD. It hasn't left any marks on the door, but it does bang and rattle when they play.

11. Ramona series. Will LOVES these books. Think it's because he can relate to Ramona's accidental-mischief-making? I had several of these as a kid and we've added onto that collection in the past few years. These are so cute. And honestly, ANYTHING Beverly Cleary is a favorite around here!

Hope this helps if you're looking to shop for some little boys in your life!

* affiliate links used *

Merry Christmas!

I know I've been MIA, but I wanted to pop in and share our Christmas card with you for 2016! Every year I've ordered a card and have taken a screen shot of it on my computer to share with you here, but Shutterfly has blocked that feature this year (I get it, I do...), so this is a picture of our card with my phone. Lol! It looks great! ;) I JUST got these in the mail yesterday and today so they're on their way, but they are late this year!!! These are not my favorite cards we've ever sent. Every year I say I don't need to get a photographer and every year I kick myself for not doing it. Oh well. Maybe one year I'll learn!

I hope to blog again before the end of the year, but in case I don't, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

North Pole Breakfast!

This year's North Pole Breakfast was less put together than in years past. For the past two years, the boys have had to wake me up to share that GEORGE IS BACK!!!! I totally stayed up WAY TOO LATE the night before. I need to get it together. I am such a night owl and it just messes up mornings like this!

George sets up a fun breakfast for us and brings a few little goodies to kick the season off and typically he comes the Saturday after Thanksgiving (it is sometimes a little later depending on when Eddie and I are out of town - December is BUSY).

This year, both boys got reindeer legos and an ornament for their Georgia tree that's in the playroom.

And some Charlie Brown jammies! These are SO CUTE!

George and Clark W. Griswold. 

(That plant is not dead...it goes to sleep at night. I've kept it alive longer than any plant EVER so I just wanted you to know. We got it as a gift from one of my students at St. Patrick's Day this year!)

The boys were THRILLED with George's return and have anxiously looked for him each morning. George is not the most ambitious elf. He just moves from place to place without much fanfare. He did, however, get a little lazy this year. One night he didn't even move AT ALL. I told him that the boys weren't big fans of that and that he needed to move, but he didn't promise it wouldn't happen again so we'll see. These elves have minds of their own, you know.

(I have it on good authority that Santa is sending George a few things to perk him up this week via Amazon so we'll see if that makes it a little more fun.)

Christmas!

I need to get my memories down on paper before it's Valentine's Day and I forget them all. We had a great Christmas this year! The boys have always been excited about Christmas, but it was just HUGE this year for them and I'm so thankful for that.

On Christmas Eve our tradition is {normally} to go to our church's Christmas Eve service and then have Christmas Eve with Mom and some of her friends. On the years we were with Mom for Christmas Eve, that's what we always did so we did this every other year. When we lived in Perry the tradition died out for us for a few years {when James was two-three} because we wanted to have Christmas morning in our own home. Now that we live much closer to "home" we spend Christmas again with the same people that I did growing up. Last year it was a little bit crazy because we tend to go to the early service {4:30} but those with grown children like the later service better. So we wound up waiting around for a while last year between church and the "party" and then it was late and our kids were wound up and blah, blah, blah...Eddie boycotted it this year. BUT THEN {gah, this is the longest story ever that wasn't even supposed to be a story} Melissa {the daughter of one of mom's friends - her sister Mary Beth was my college roommate...Melissa is Anna and John's age...we've known her forever} said it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't do it and what if we just did it with us and them. So we did. We had Christmas Eve supper at Mom's house with my four, John, Kayla, Mom, Mrs. Lynn, Mr. George, and Melissa. It was so nice!

All of my friends were posting these beautiful photos of their children on Instagram and I was like, here's ours! This is on the church lawn, by the way. There were probably 100 people milling around. #whosekidsarethose

James tracked Santa on Norad's Santa tracker ALL night long. He kept informing random people where Santa was. The excitement was OFF THE CHARTS. At one point we were trying to gather things up to leave and he shouted, "There's no time to waste!" HA! Boy was PUMPED. Eddie and I put them in their jammies and planned to drive and look at Christmas lights until they fell asleep. Will did fall asleep and was out for the evening, James was WAY! TOO! EXCITED! to sleep! FINALLY he fell asleep and we could go to bed so that Santa could come!

Santa {tries} to go small in our house. We figure we're going to get 1,000,000 toys from so we ask Santa to bring three things. In this case the boys each got a set of Legos {the Raptor Rampage was the hit of the show!} and they got a Wii U and Paw Patroller to share. He also brought books and stuffed their stockings to the brim!

On Christmas morning, I set my alarm at 6AM to get up and start breakfast (I made monkey bread in the crockpot and Kayla brought a hash brown casserole over). I was back in bed by 6:15 or 6:20 but by 6:30 someone was bouncing off the walls. We finally woke Will up a little before 7AM and let them see what Santa brought.

I got a selfie stick in my stocking so we have a lot of pictures similar to the following:

After we played with what Santa brought we opened our presents to each other. James gave Will a trapeze for the swing set, Will gave James a telescope for the swing set, and we gave the boys a football goal post for the back yard. I made a big push for OUTSIDE toys this year.

Around 8, Kayla and John, Cacky, Grandmama and Granddaddy, and Kelly and David all came over to see what Santa brought. We had a little impromptu breakfast. If we do that again next year I'll try to remember to have more!

After we showered and got ready we made our way over to Eddie's parents for Round 2. The boys got a basketball goal as their big gift over there. #outsidetoys I got the Uggs featured in the ONLY picture I took while we were there. How sad is that? Those Uggs have been on my feet 24/7 since Christmas Day. I take them off when I leave the house or shower and that's about it! They're so cozy and I didn't realize what I'd been missing! We had a fun, laid back Christmas afternoon eating and opening gifts.

The day after Christmas Dad and Laura came down to our house to spend the day. John, Anna, Kayla, Lance, and Merritt all came over. We opened gifts first because the boys (who had opened 1,000,000 by this point) were too excited to stand it. Eddie scored a Big Green Egg that we are looking forward to using! He has it pulled into the garage until he gets a chance to stain it. We've been looking at all sorts of Big Green Egg recipes online, but send us your favorite if you have one! James also got an awesome toy called Snap Circuits. I highly recommend it for all kids. It comes with a book of diagrams for building different circuits that make lights come on or doorbells ring (on the toy, not in your house) and James has had the best time with it. It says 8 and up, but he's able to do it by himself for the most part. I'm not sure I could.

We had soup for lunch and then everyone stuck around for boston butt for supper and Papa and YaYa spent the night. Because Christmas weekend is a whirlwind, we ate breakfast with Papa and YaYa Sunday morning and then went to Mom's for ANOTHER Christmas. 

We gave Merritt a hand sewn cloth baby doll dressed in Minnie Mouse ears. I told her it was her own Minnie Cate and apparently she's a pretty big fan. Anna said she got mad at her the other day because she wanted to chew on her ears and they wouldn't stay in her mouth, but for the most part their relationship seems pretty solid. I will be tickled if she loves her. Anna was worried about her loving the doll TOO much, but I will just get another if that's the case so that she can be rotated. :) 

I have to work pretty hard for this girl's smiles and when my phone is out she won't do it. She has her mama's very stoic face. When Anna was little she would give you a death stare. Merritt seems to be following in her footsteps! HA! Will is constantly asking why Merritt is mad.

Both boys got UGA uniforms at Cacky's. I suggested she get those even though Will is digging in his heels at being a Georgia fan. I'll support my children's decisions for a lot of things, but being a Florida fan is not something I can support. Sadly, Will is determined to make all of us crazy and insists he likes the Gators. He opened his uniform and told Cacky he didn't want it. So James opened his and IMMEDIATELY suited up. Cacky told Will she'd be happy to return it for an FSU uniform (random side story is that we were FSU fans first *gasp!*...we grew up going to FSU games, not UGA games...and Eddie used to be a HUGE FSU fan before Bobby Bowden retired so FSU is something we are certainly ok with). He agreed to get an FSU uniform until he saw James dressed and he decided he wanted to be "wike Names." So we have two Georgia football players in our house A LOT. James even fell asleep in uniform with his helmet that night. 

Christmas was fun this year! It was pretty chaotic, but that's just what it is, right? I STILL have my {undecorated} tree out and a ton to put away, but it will get put away at some point. I may only put my tree and stockings out next year and Bah-humbug the rest.

Hopefully I will update a few more things on the blog today so be on the lookout!

Christmas Eve Eve Words.

Does it feel like Christmas at your house? Because it is MUGGY here. Welcome to the south, I suppose. Someone posted on Facebook yesterday that the farmer's almanac predicts long, cold winters when it's warm on Christmas. I'm perfectly ok with that. Bring on the cold! I need a blanket and a fire and I am a happy girl! I just wish we would have that ON Christmas Day. A few years ago we drove to Roswell on Christmas Day and it started snowing on us on the way and it was WHITE by the time we arrived. So cool. Will is just beside himself that there won't be snow on Christmas. Something tells me he lives in the wrong part of the country if he's going to cry about no snow on Christmas.

We have been busy folks around here, but there's nothing exciting to share. Our Christmas break began on Friday afternoon and we have ENJOYED ourselves. We played Upward Basketball over the weekend. James' team looked great on Saturday and we had a fun time watching. James even had a cute little cheerleader (Merritt) in the stands watching him. It has been SO fun to watch him play a sport that he is supremely interested in. Gone are the days of laying in the dirt at t-ball games. He is INTO basketball. (We do think we're going to try t-ball again this spring. And maybe art and piano if we can find teachers. Suddenly my children have busier social calendars than I do.)

We had Bowen Christmas over the weekend which I didn't even take a single picture of. The boys racked UP at that Christmas and each came home with a bucket of Legos, a bow and arrow, puzzles, an indoor basketball goal, etc. James has pulled his Legos out 4,543,423 times already. They also put up the basketball goal and have been playing. It has kept them busy for sure!

 James and I dropped by our preacher's house for their annual Open House. We enjoyed ourselves and James was quite the little gentleman while we were there. He got a cookie and a cup of water and climbed up on a chair to read a Christmas book while I was chatting. I am so thankful that he's easy! He's my grown man in a child's body and that comes in handy a lot of the time. (Don't worry. He gets plenty of time to be a kid. And has been showing that side a LOT at school recently. Giving me a run for my money in kindergarten lately!)

We made our gingerbread houses over the weekend. I would post a picture here but Will is looking a little scandalous in a pair of too-small undies that he's wearing backwards. (Or bat-wads as he says.) We use reusable plastic houses every year and this year I pulled out the two small ones, iced them for the boys, and let them go to town. We aren't going to win any awards for them, but they had a blast. Will complained that his stomach hurt when it was over. Ya think? Quit licking your fingers!

I watched the first Star Wars movie this week when I had a spare minute two hours. I thought I was nerdy enough to REALLY geek out about it. My consensus is that I really like the story and will watch the rest FOR SURE. However, I also think I would be geeking out more if I'd watched the movies twenty years ago. I'm sure that for 1978 the effects are AWESOME, but for 2015, they are not. I love, LOVE movies from the 70s and 80s so I know that special effects have come a LONG way, but I also watched those movies growing up when they were still super impressive. Jaws is one of my favorite movies of all time and that shark doesn't look real anymore. But I've been watching that movie since I was TEN so there's a huge difference. I've only watched the original first movie. I was told to watch the original three first, then the three prequels, and then the new one. I've actually seen the first prequel and I was NOT impressed (saw it in the theater years ago). Surprisingly (to me), Star Wars fans don't recommend that you even watch that one. 

Eddie and I went to a John Berry concert one night this week with some friends. We had a great time! A local couple's child died over the weekend and the concert took donations for them. They wound up raising $5300 for the foundation that has been started in his name. My understanding is that the family is donating 100% of the donations to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital where he died. They raffled off about 10 gift cards and then a guitar was raffled and the winner donated it to be auctioned off. It was neat to watch that unfold. It went for $1100. We wound up going to dinner after the concert was over and we stayed out until 11:30! That is late for the old folks. 

For the first time since 2002 I missed our annual girls' Christmas party. We bought tickets to the concert thinking the Christmas party would be on the night it always was and it got changed. I was sad not to be able to go, but I guess it had to happen sometime. 

I've spent the morning watching Christmas movies, drinking coffee, making a grocery list, and wrapping gifts. My house isn't clean, but it's pretty close. The boys are SO STINKING EXCITED about Christmas this year. I have a feeling that sleeping on Christmas Eve is going to be hard to come by. Hopefully I can wear them out tomorrow during the day. We have BIG plans in the next few days and the boys and I haven't crossed everything off of our to-do lists yet so I'm thinking we'll be celebrating Christmas through next week. It snuck up on us this year!

In case this is my last post before Christmas, I just want to say that I hope that you and your family have a VERY happy, healthy, MERRY Christmas. There is so much that we have to be thankful for. This Christmas, more than any other, I've been aware of the blessings that I have in my life. Our neighbors lost a grandfather this week and watching the cars coming and going to bring meals and offer condolences the week of Christmas has been a good reminder of how quickly things can change. The little boy I mentioned above was 17 months old and got choked on food at the mall a few days ago. NOTHING was wrong with him. Their lives changed in an instant. It could happen to any of us. I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer on Christmas, and I'm really not feeling like one, but I want to soak in every second of every day because we just never know. On James' first Christmas we drove to Tifton and had a really special visit with Eddie's Uncle Jimmy. James comes from a long line of Jameses. He is the fourth (but not the IV) behind Uncle Jimmy, Eddie's granddaddy Jim, and Jim's daddy (I'm not sure what they called him...). Uncle Jimmy drove down to meet James at Christmas and while he was here he passed away. It definitely will change Christmas for you. Christmas isn't all lights and Santa. And the truth is that the first Christmas was probably pretty dark and messy, too. The first gift of Christmas wasn't wrapped in pretty wrapping paper with a gorgeous bow and placed under a perfectly decorated tree. We get so busy sometimes that we miss the first gift of Christmas. THE gift of Christmas. The only reason we have Christmas. We glamorize all of it, but if you get right down to it, Christmas isn't glamorous at all. My hope is that that's what I can impress upon my kids. In all of the Santa and reindeer hubbub (and we do get on board with all of that!) that the TRUTH of Christmas, right at the HEART of Christmas is the gift that is Christ. I pray he doesn't get lost in my Christmas this year.

Merry Christmas to you!

On the Polar Express!

Our town has the sweetest Polar Express that they put on every year. This is at least the third or fourth year we've gone...I'd have to look. The Santa is the best (he runs during the year so that he has room for all the cookies as he delivers presents), the train ride is SO fun, it's just a sweet way to see Santa. And bonus points because there are NO lines to stand in because you have to buy tickets ahead of time. And the tickets are inexpensive! We love this tradition with our friends!

Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt!

For at LEAST three years, but probably more, we have gone on a Christmas lights scavenger hunt with the boys. It's always fun, but this year TOOK THE CAKE. Will was SO into it. He loved it. I gave each boy a bingo board with pictures of things they were supposed to look for and mark off and that made a huge difference. In the past I've held the list myself. I highly recommend THESE bingo boards that are free printables with pictures. Will was thrilled that he could do it alone. We will very likely do this again at least once more this season just because it was so much fun!

Our town has Christmas lights, but no HUGE displays nearby like in a lot of towns. Our park put up more lights this year than ever before and our downtown area had some, too. We found a neighborhood that had a good many and then a farm that had a TON. 

Both boys marked off all but one thing on their bingo boards. James passed OUT about 30 minutes in. When he was two months old Eddie and I did a lot of Christmas lights looking while trying to ride him to sleep. Will didn't fall asleep (he's not our car rider!) and when we got home he climbed into my bed and watched Jim Carrey's The Grinch with me. I actually fell asleep with a horrible headache. Eddie ran to the grocery store but when he came back he fell asleep watching The Grinch with Will.

We all enjoyed our outing! Thank goodness for plans that work out and boys that aren't fussing or whining! :)

Christmas Movies!

Oh, mercy. I'm not even sure he's seen the whole thing. Just enough to be intrigued. I hear you all shaking your heads at my parenting.

ANYWAY...

Our FAVORITE Christmas movies. Those that are tried-and-true traditions for our family!

MY favorites as a child...

1. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

2. The Grinch

3. Home Alone

4. Mickey's Christmas Carol

5. Muppet Christmas Carol

MY favorites as an adult...

6. The Santa Clause

7. The Holiday

8. Love Actually

Eddie's favorite as a child...

9. Charlie Brown Christmas

Eddie's favorites as an adult...

10. Christmas Vacation

11. A Christmas Story

James' favorite...

12. The Polar Express

Will's favorite...

13. Elf

What we've enjoyed this year...

14. All I Want for Christmas is You

Random favorites...

15. I'll Be Home for Christmas

16. Prancer

17. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

18. Arthur Christmas

19. It's a Wonderful Life {haven't watched this one in YEARS!}

A funny note about Christmas movies this year. James thinks several are scary. Weirdest thing ever! When he was sick with strep we moved to the den at about 1AM. I turned on The Santa Clause and about 30 minutes in he made me turn it off because the grumpy elf scared him. What? I thought maybe it was because it was the middle of the night but he still insists that it's scary. Second funny thing is that he is also scared of Home Alone. He doesn't want to watch it this year {loved it last year!} because he's worried the same thing will happen to him. Ha! Eddie {who HATES Home Alone} has assured him that we wouldn't leave him home while we went on vacation. Eddie has always thought the concept was RIDICULOUS. What poor parenting! Hahahaha!

What movies am I leaving off? What is your favorite?

Christmas Card Carousel.

I'm linking up with Faith once again for another year of Christmas Card Carousel. I LOVE our Christmas card this year. SO love it. I thought I was going to hate it because I took the picture all by myself. I ALWAYS say I'm not going to hire a photographer because I can do it myself and then I regret that in November so I'll scurry around and get one at the last minute. Well, I didn't get to do that this year so I just snapped this in our backyard and I LOVE it. Thank goodness! I got a postcard this year from Minted and they were a cinch! No stuffing envelopes and the stamps are cheaper. The downside is that Christmas postcard stamps are hard to find!

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Christmas Home Tour: Den

I'm doing my home tour SO out of order this year. But y'all, ignore the porch and the foyer and come on into the den! :) Our den is small cozy so it doesn't take much to get it decorated. I started by doing LESS this year and I think I wound up putting more out than in previous years. I really don't know. I honestly had a TON of fun decorating this year. Hope I enjoy packing it up just as much.

I mentioned to Eddie that I wanted to collect a Christmas village and because I'm VERY mature {ma-TEW-er as my mama would say} I decided I wanted EITHER the Christmas Vacation village OR the Christmas Story village. Either one would do. Eddie must have mentioned to his mama that I wanted a village {and let it be known that he didn't want to pay the price tag of the other two} so she gladly passed one along to me. I got it here and started unpacking it and HOLY COW those things are HUGE. Also, I didn't realize that it wouldn't work on a dining room table. First, you cannot USE the dining room table AND there are cords ev.ery.where. So I put the little pieces away and moved the buildings up to the top of Grandmommie's desk in the den and I love it. Clark and George loved it, too. {Clark and George have since been asked to go back to the North Pole, but that is a story for another day...}

The desk is also home to three Christmas canvases that were painted by the boys, a hand-carved-by-my-dad Nativity, and a hand-painted-by-Eddie-circa-1980 Santa boot. I'm nothing if not an eclectic decorator.

My tree turned out PERFECT this year in my eyes! I love, LOVE it. We got this one last year at Lowe's and I have decided I am a huge fan of the slim tree. I may get another to go in the dining room next year to replace my smaller 12 Days of Christmas tree {which I didn't put up this year and have been told that was a mistake...}. I opted for burlap ribbon in the tree this year and just put all of our family ornaments on. I don't have a color scheme for ours. All of our ornaments either have meaning, were given to us, or were made by us. No color coordinated balls here!

On the shelves behind the tree you'll see a few things...Top left is a cross-stitch Santa that I *think* my mama made. Under that is another canvas from preschool and my pajama-clad carolers. I started collecting the same kids for Halloween a few years ago and Mom found the carolers a few years ago for me. She gave me one and I bought two on Zulily a few months ago. On the right side of the shelves is an angel balance toy. We have several of these and they're cute. I put this one away after Christmas every year and I always like pulling it back out.

Over on the other set of built-ins we have our "real" Nativity {my main one} and then another canvas and a bowl of ornaments. I love, LOVE Nativities and this one was bought in Israel. If my house burns down I want to grab this one as I run out. Sonny bought it for me either when I was in college OR when I had just graduated and I've put it up every year. It's one of my favorite Christmas things. Bought in Bethlehem! Just so neat!

My canisters are always on my mantle and I just switch out what's in them based on the seasons. The only time I have trouble coming up with something is in January-March. WHAT should I fill them with? At Christmas they are full of ornaments and this year I added battery operated LED lights to make them sparkle. I LOVE them.

I never, ever, ever have my coffee table "styled." Why? Because it doesn't STAY that way. But I made an effort here and I've liked it so far. Antique/Vintage/Eddie's old books on the side over there {don't tell him I called them antique!}, our Advent devotions on the center, and a bowl of old and new Christmas cards on the right. Also, a precious little nativity that we got about a year after we got married {as a wedding gift!}. It's the same brand that my mama had when we were growing up and she ALWAYS let us play with hers. Mine is hand carved from Israel and it is a don't-touch piece so this is the one I leave where little hands can play.

So there you have it! Our cozy little den! I still have the outside, the foyer, the dining room, and the kitchen to share of the decorated spaces!