The Decked Halls

Jingle Pig.......push his foot and he oinks "Jingle Bells"....

Snowman garland made by Arlie a couple of years ago.......

Santas made in "toddler group" many, many years ago.......

Snowman with lighted snowball......kids love to leave this on till the batteries burn out

Penguin and snowman tic-tac-toe board......

Snow family candleholders that I never put candles in......

This little carousel plays music but is so old it sounds warped and tinny, and the kids still love it!

A family of sock snowmen the kids have made over the years at school.....

The stockings hung by the chimney with care.....you can tell Shade really cares!

This is our "Advent House" that mom bought us (at Ostrom's - love that place!). I fill it with candy or notes about what we're doing that night. The kids LOVE it.

Last year we bought this "extra" tree. We decorated it in a "gingerbread cookie" theme and put it between the kitchen and family room.

The tree on Christmas Eve...............

Frosty the Snowman - he plays music, but I don't think we played it once this year!

Nutcracker from Germany........

The glittery stockings.......we have an abundance of stockings!

Santa holding his list (notice no one is on it - haha!). He talks or something but again, we didn't "activate" him this year.......

Some little tiny stockings my mom made.........they were filled with candy canes, but as you can see, my kids like candy canes...........

Various other "ornamentals"....countdown calendar, Believe sign, Camel from Abu Dhabi......

I tape our Christmas cards to the back of the door...........

Harrison made this Santa when he was three........

Kids' artwork from school over the years.........

View from above Christmas Eve........lotsa presents!

I don't always remember to take pictures of our house decorated for Christmas so this year I made a point of it. We have SO MANY Christmas decorations, at least 8-10 large bins of stuff, and every year I try to weed some of it out, but some things I can't get rid of (the kids would KILL me!). But suffice it to say our house looks like a giant Hallmark store at Christmas. And we love it! It's always sad to take it all down, as I did yesterday, and look at the bare walls again. Makes me want to paint the walls and hang more pictures! There's just something so nice about having two lighted Christmas trees in the house. I wonder why we don't have something lighted year round - a tree or plant? January is such a letdown after the festivities of the holidays. At least we have Harrison's birthday to look forward to (and decorate for!), and then we can move right on to Valentine's day. This year, since we had a low-key New Year's, the bin of New Year's Eve decorations didn't get touched - much. We took out a few party hats and noisemakers, but we usually do a snowflake theme. Now it's time to vacuum, rearrange furniture, scrub floors. A fresh start to the New Year! Bring it on, 2010!