We started decorating our house for Christmas over Thanksgiving weekend and I have loved having all of our decorations out. We have been playing Christmas music non-stop and it has made our house feel so happy and celebratory. Charlie's favorites are Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells, and Rudolf, and we hear him singing those at all hours of the day (and night). There is nothing sweeter than hearing his goofy little "fa la la la la" running through the house. Charlie is picky about his Christmas music, though--if it's not a song he recognizes as a Christmas song, he will instruct me to move on, as "they're not talking Christmas!" We also broke out the Christmas books, and those have all of us in the Christmas spirit. It is so fun to experience Christmas through kids' eyes--it really is an amazing time of year!
Here is Clint putting up our lights. We had so much fun doing this, and both kids love our "Christmas house."
I can't remember if I've written about Evie's obsession with climbing, but it is out of control right now. She doesn't really play with anything, she just climbs. All day, every day. Her favorite thing is to climb up on the coffee table, the chairs, and our kids' table and bounce up and down. She also loves ladders or step stools, and so was really excited when she saw Clint had his tall ladder out. Here she is making a beeline for the ladder...
Clint was surprised to find that he had a tiny helper coming up behind him. :)
Charlie saw what was going on and had to be a part of the action...
Yes, Charlie, I caught you! :)
Isn't Clint lucky to have so much help?
I would love to say that we had a festive evening of hot cocoa and Christmas music while decorating the tree, but after our wild experience last Christmas, we decided that maybe 1 and 2-year-olds and a Christmas tree and delicate ornaments just aren't the best mix. So Clint and I had a lovely time decorating the tree by ourselves one night, and then let our two little elves come in the next night and hang our non-breakable ornaments. This was a MUCH better arrangement for everyone. Our only challenge has been keeping Evie away from the ornaments and presents (Charlie has shown an extraordinary amount of self-control thus far, to our surprise), but even she's been better than I expected. Only one present has been unwrapped thus far, but a few are fairly mangled. I apologize in advance if you are getting a present from us. :)
Here are our two little elves by the tree in their new Christmas PJs. Someone's gift is getting shaken wildly here--hopefully it's not one of the breakable ones!
Working hard to make my packages look appropriately hideous (never mind the fact that I worked hard to make my packages look nice so that I wouldn't be met with sympathetic looks and comments about sleepless nights and no time to get things done when people received my presents...maybe next year :).
Charlie wanted to give a "Ranger smile" next to the stockings. Not sure why. There has been a lot of discussion lately about what Ranger wants for Christmas, but I'm hoping that he doesn't expect me to have a wrapped gift for it on Christmas morning!
Our decorated house...
I love this tiny new nativity we added to our collection this year. My parents brought it back from Italy with them. Charlie is just fascinated with the super tiny baby Jesus. He is a bit of a choking hazard, so I'm hoping he makes it through this Christmas season intact!
Evidence that I do (did) have some nice-looking presents. :)
Charlie's excitement (and Evie's vicarious excitement (she knows there's something good going on :)) about Santa and the whole Christmas season has made our holiday season so fun so far this year. I think it just might be our best one yet!
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