Christmas time in our home…

Our home is decorated for Christmas, and it sure is cheerful around here! Well, most of the time, except when the older kids aren’t crying and in timeout from fighting. We’re averaging a timeout about every 17 minutes around here! Same for your house? Oh, good ;)

December, we’re so glad you’re here and that you’ve brought your cold, white SNOW!

Inside our home, it’s merry (usually, see above) and bright (for about 9 hours, then the sun sets) and full of color (I’m obsessed). I’ve mixed some of our decorations in between my plants: a red jingle bell, a gold glitter tree, a Nutcracker man. It’s like a festive game of I Spy.

We’ve been painting and making blanket forts and rearranging furniture. (What? It’s my sickness.) Last night we had Zuppa Toscana, tonight we’re having lentil soup, and once our leftovers are gone we’ll have crockpot meatballs and oven roasted potatoes. Homemade meals that are easy to make, easy to modify for our toddlers, and easy to re-heat are at the top of my list!

Everything from my Gussy Sews holiday pop-up shop has been packaged & shipped. HOORAY! That was lots of fun, and I hope to have another pop-up shop in a couple months. Do you have any product suggestions?

While decorating for Christmas, I couldn’t find our tree star. Bauer probably ate it, I vaguely remember having one made with little twigs with red holly berries inside. Instead of buying a new one, the kids and I went outside after naps and gathered a few sticks from our backyard so we could make our own. This was before the snow fell ;) I used bright red embroidery floss to tie the ends together, and then added a bit of craft glue and glitter to the front side of the branches.

And here’s a good chuckle: I couldn’t figure out why my star looked so funny, so I looked on Pinterest for “wooden Christmas tree star” and made a few adjustments to the shape. I think I just took things to the next level? (#PostpartumMemoryLoss) I tell ya, I’m not making this up.

Because of the cold weather, the kids have been pretty antsy being inside so much. And it’s still December!!! I’m trying to do a craft with them at least once a week, so we also made a paper chain garland for our tree. Max and Natalie painted a few sheets of red or green construction paper with white paint, and I did a few, too. The paint dried over lunch and naps, and once the kids woke up, we turned on a little Christmas movie and cut our strips, stapled the chains together, and then hung them on our tree. This will be a decoration I save for years to come :)

Marigold doesn’t know what’s going on, being eight months old and all, but I can affirm she’s doing a great job chewing on the wrapping paper. She has three teeth, and they are always searching for something to chomp on. Also, can we talk about how delicious babies smell? Her hair has gotten so thick, and it’s the prettiest shade of strawberry blonde.

Right now I’m feeling especially grateful for the piercing blue sky. It’s beautiful! The sun is shining, the snow is blinding bright when I look out the window, and the branches on our trees are mostly bare. Our backyard looks strikingly different from the Spring and Summer months, and I love it. Seeing the seasons change is pretty fascinating, something we didn’t get to experience while living in Los Angeles.

Towards the end of last week I had a nasty infection (Mastitis), and then over the weekend our tribe had the sniffles and coughs. I could not have gotten through any of that without Zack’s help. He always gives his best, but this time it felt especially great. So thank you, babe.

Well, I better get back to my sink of dishes.

Wishing all of you a cheerful and bright week as you prepare for Christmas on Sunday ;) minus all the timeouts!

xx