Deck the Halls! My Favorite Holiday Decorations

As I stood beside holiday totes stacked to the ceiling last Monday, I vowed never to buy another Christmas decoration again. Seriously! How does a girl accumulate so much stuff? But, we all know I'll never hold myself to the rule because decorating for the holidays is one of life's simplest pleasures.

For me, it's the trip down memory lane that does it for me. Take for instance, this modest artificial Christmas tree I purchased the year I lived in my first apartment on my own. The cardboard tree box still says "Christmas 2003" stamped on its side, and every time I read those words I feel a warm tingle inside me. Christmas 2003? Was it really that long ago? It seems like just yesterday ...

This tree is a snap to assemble so when I'm the mother of a small infant and decorating for the holidays seems too daunting of a task (ahem, two out of the last four years), it's the main Christmas tree we put up in the house. In other years - like this one - when I'm willing to take on more burden, this is the "family" tree downstairs displaying all of our handmade and heartfelt ornaments. A few of my favorite ornaments on this tree are the glittery Eiffel Tower ornament which was a gift from my childhood best friend, Ashley. She gave it to me for Christmas the year Andi and I visited Paris (2010) and it's one of my favorite places on Earth. The little baby carriage is my "baby's first ornament" from 1981 passed down to me from my parents. One of the wheels is broken and it's super fragile, but I love hanging it on the tree every year. The salt dough handprint ornament is from Tory's first Christmas in 2011. I marvel over the size of her tiny hand every year. It's on my to-do list to make one with Aden's handprint this year, too. 

Several years ago, my parents downsized to a smaller house and they split up their many Christmas decorations amongst my siblings and I. I was gifted my parent's big artificial Christmas tree with all of its ornaments. My mom tastefully decorated this tree in gold ornaments and bows, and I've never changed it. This tree is a BEAST to put together though (I remember assembling it with my dad every year, and together it didn't seem like so much work), so I only put this tree up when I'm feeling ambitious. It takes an entire nap time to put it up, and that's precious time to spare! This year, the gold Christmas tree shines in front of the windows of our main level living room. It looks a little wonky because the bottom 12 inches are bare in an effort to deter a certain little boy from playing with the ornaments.

In the window behind the gold tree is one of my newest and most favorite Christmas decorations. Last year when I wasn't willing to put together this big kahuna of an artificial Christmas tree, I added hanging glass ornaments to the window. I was looking for a way to add some Christmas charm to the upstairs living room without displaying a tree in there. This year it might be overkill to have both the tree and the ornaments in the window, but I don't care - I love them. The ornaments are absolutely beautiful up close (though it's hard to photograph them against the window) and I love gazing past them to the snow-covered outdoors.

A few other holiday decorations in the living room / dining room ...

The kids' felt Christmas tree hangs on one of the living room walls, along with their Little People Nativity Scene. Tory received this nativity play set as a baptism present from my cousin Jen and it's so great. I store it with our Christmas decorations so every December it's something new and special to play with. This year, Aden particularly loves the Little People characters. When I snapped this picture, for example, I couldn't find the Baby Jesus but later discovered him in a bucket of blocks in the kitchen. A few days ago, Baby Jesus was having a sleepover with Big Girl in Tory's dollhouse. I'm glad they love playing with this nativity set because it's been especially helpful in explaining the story of Christmas to Tory.    

I received a holiday set of dishes from my in-laws for an early Christmas present this year, and I love them! It is so fun to drink coffee from a holiday mug every morning and brings a smile to my face whenever I use a Christmas plate for something like a regular ol' lunchtime sandwich. I plan to change out my everyday plates each December and use this holiday set.

 

Another holiday decoration I added this year are winter-themed apothecary jars. These sit on the countertop of the main bathroom and I filled them with tree ornaments and fake snow. I own several different apothecary jars so after the holidays, I'll repurpose them to display with some other decor and set them on the fireplace mantle downstairs.

Speaking of the fireplace mantle downstairs ...

The most thoughtful gift I've ever received are these Christmas stockings from Andi. He gave them to me on our second wedding anniversary (the traditional wedding present for the second year of marriage is cotton). At the time, I was eight months pregnant with Tory and the stockings adorning "Dad," "Mom," "Tory" and "Chloe" (our dog) were so special. It was really the first time someone called me "Mom." We added Aden's stocking after he was born last year. If there were ever a fire and I was only able to grab one thing, (aside from the obvious stuff ... my family was safe, etc.) it would be these Christmas stockings. LOVE.

A decoration that makes me smile every time I pass by it is this framed photograph of Andi and I. It's not a holiday picture, but one of us at Gooseberry Falls near Duluth, Minnesota shortly after we began dating. I remember Andi asking me if I owned winter boots and I responded with an "of course!" He was referencing real winter boots required for survival during Minnesota winters and I was thinking of my tall black go-to-the-bar boots. Ha! After I moved to Minnesota to be united with him for good, Andi's question suddenly made more sense. #itsfrigidhere

 
One final decoration that's fun this year is this Santa Claus advent calendar hanging on Tory's bedroom door. We're having fun moving the wooden candy cane to the next space each day. Bright and early every morning, she exclaims "It's a new year, Mom!" and it took me a bit to understand what she really meant. "It's a new day," I remind her, and we count how many days are left until Christmas.

I promise she's more excited about it than this.

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Linking up with Sweet Turtle Soup, The Chronicles of We and Our Pretty Little Girls for a holiday home tour. Thanks for organizing, ladies!

Santa's Shopping List: What My Kids Are Getting For Christmas

I'm a complete slacker in shopping for Christmas gifts this year. Usually, I've got a list populated by October and presents wrapped and under the tree by mid-month but this year, the countdown to Christmas Day is creeping up on me. Alas, I do have a list of presents Santa Claus is bringing my little elves this year ... his workshop just hasn't made them (ahem, purchased them) yet.

Last year, I tried the now-famous Want / Need / Wear / Read gift giving philosophy, and it worked out really well for us. Tory and Aden generously receive so many gifts from family members over the holidays, they don't really need more stuff. Santa Claus will leave his gifts proudly displayed in front of the tree on Christmas morning and that'll be it. They won't receive additional gifts from Andi and I, though I will admit it takes mad will-power skills on my part to contain the gift-buying to only four items per child.

Tory's big Something I Want gift this year is a beauty vanity. She hasn't asked for this gift specifically, but I know she'll go nuts over it. One of her little friends has a similar toy vanity and Tory bee-lines for it the minute we enter her house. I hesitated buying this gift because we need another big plastic toy in our house like we need a hole in the head, but Santa Claus shows no restraint. It's Christmastime!

Tory (Age 3)

For Something I Need, Tory is getting a Melissa and Doug brand My First Calendar. This is perfect timing because she is so interested in the days of the week, months of the year, etc., but still needs a little practice in what order they happen. At preschool, the kids sing a days of the week song to the tune of the Addams Family theme and it's just the cutest thing. Anyway, I'm hoping this calendar helps her.

Tory insists on wearing dresses near daily, so that's what she'll receive for Something to Wear. 

And, for the Something to Read category, she'll be thrilled when she discovers a new collection of Fancy Nancy stories waiting for her under the Christmas tree. Fancy Nancy is one of her newest obsessions and I secretly enjoy reading the books with her, too.

Aden has been a very sweet boy this year, so Santa Claus is bringing him lots of fun things as well. For Something I Want, Aden is getting a collection of Little People toys. He is obsessed with all of Tory's little dollhouse characters and crawls around the house with them clutched in his cute, chubby hands, so I think he'll like the Little People Tow and Pull Tractor (we already have the barn) and the Little People Wheelies Airport (we already have the airplane).

Aden (Age 1)

This is a bit of a stretch, but for Something I Need, Aden is getting a set of musical instruments. This boy loves our weekly music class so much, I think he'll enjoy the toddler-friendly maracas, shaker eggs, bells and drums. They're somewhat educational, and I know Tory will get a kick out of playing with them, too.

For Something to Wear, Santa is giving Aden a cute little outfit. Mama, err, I mean Santa has no trouble buying adorable little boy clothes for him.

To add to our growing book collection, Aden will receive Roadwork and Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site for the Something to Read category. I love adding little boy books to our personal library and I hope he enjoys reading these as well.

Christmas Advent Calendar: Days 1-4; Baking, Decorating, Christmas PJs

I've got another year's worth of Christmas advent calendar ideas lined up for our family to enjoy this year. I love the way these activities pump me full of holiday spirit, and this year should be even more enjoyable as Tory is really starting to understand the meaning of various events and celebrations.

Day 1 included several activities, partly because December 1st fell on a Monday and Mondays are my "stay home" day when we have no extra-curricular activities scheduled. I had yet to decorate the house for Christmas since we'd been to the lake cabin over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, so that was on the "to-do" list. Tory was very excited about decorating the Christmas tree with me. I think most of her anticipation stemmed from her near-constant viewings of Mickey Mouse Christmas episodes on Netflix as of late. She kept asking me if she'd be able to put the gold star on top of the Christmas tree ... except, we don't have a gold star in any of our decorations. Luckily, she was happy to help decorate with other ornaments.

Tory's idea of how Christmas "works" is funny to listen to this year. While we were decorating the Christmas tree downstairs, she asked "Mom, what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas this year?" Oh, a new purse, some new kitchen towels for the cabin, I said. Tory responded, "Well, I'll tell Grandma and then you put it on your list and then it'll be under the Christmas tree for you!"

Also on Day 1 of our advent calendar, Tory and I baked Christmas cookies. I normally would've spaced the two activities out, but my annual holiday cookie party was coming up later that week and Monday was the only day I had time to bake. I loved how as I was pulling ingredients together, Tory laid out a long piece of paper towel underneath the mixing bowl "so we wouldn't make a mess." I thought it was so cute and resourceful of her to think ahead in the baking process! And, I suppose her technique helped somewhat when she dumped half the measuring cup of flour all over the countertop. Tory and I mixed the dough for sugar cookies together, then the dough chilled in the refrigerator for a few hours. I rolled, cut and baked the cookies later that night after the kids were in bed.

I remember when this red Christmas apron reached Tory's toes ...

Tory and I also made a new White Chocolate Peppermint Oreo recipe. Tory wasn't as into helping with this cookie because she doesn't like to get her hands messy. She dipped the first few Oreos in melted white chocolate, but soon lost interest. Though, not before devouring a few creamy centers of the Oreos cookies first.

Day 2 on the advent calendar was an easy "Open a Christmas present!" activity. I found holiday pajamas on clearance at Carters last year and I've been waiting all year to see the kids wear them. I wrapped the pajamas in holiday gift bags and had them waiting at the kid's morning breakfast spots ready to open first thing on Tuesday. Tory was so excited to see an unexpected present! She pulled the  pajamas from the bag and exclaimed, "New jammies! Uh, that's it?" I'm not sure what she expected the gift to be, but apparently pajamas weren't what she had in mind. Aden was as happy as a 12-month old is about any present. He threw the pajamas off his high chair tray and started chewing on the gift bag.

Being the smart mama I am, I pre-washed the pajamas before I wrapped them so the kids could wear them right away. After baths that night, I dressed Tory and Aden in their holiday pajamas and we staged a little photo shoot by the upstairs Christmas tree. It's impossible to get both kids to look at the camera, of course, and now that Aden's mobile he kept bailing out of the picture. But! We did get one acceptable photo of the kids and a few funny outtakes.

This one of Andi and Tory cracks me up ... 

After Andi and the kids were in bed, I completed one my favorite holiday traditions -- homemade Chex Mix. In the past few years, I've had Tory help me with this but this year it was kind of nice to spend the evening by myself in the kitchen baking with sitcom television and wine.

Christmas advent calendar Day 3 was a simple holiday craft. I purchased a holiday sticker kit at Michaels Craft for a few dollars and Tory had a blast decorating her gingerbread house. The house looks nothing like the picture because she used all the stickers AND the sticker "outsides" but it's wonderful in its own way because Tory made it herself. It now hangs proudly on our refrigerator door.

Tory has preschool drop-off on Thursday mornings, so Aden and I took advantage of the Mommy & me time and played with the felt Christmas tree on Day 4 of the advent calendar. He isn't so interested in the felt tree this year, mostly I think because he can't stand up or walk on his own yet. But, Aden does love the Little People nativity set and plays the little characters daily. Santa might be bringing Aden some Little People sets of his own this year, and I think they're going to be a big hit.

More advent calendar activities to come!

Thanksgiving Weekend; Lefse Making; Pipe Dream Christmas Concert

I'm way behind in writing, but I want to document our fun holiday happenings this time of year, so...

We left Thanksgiving with Andi's family that holiday afternoon and drove east to our Wisconsin lake cabin. With remodeling projects there this fall, various travel for Andi and I in the last few months and Aden's birthday weekend in the Twin Cities a few weekends ago, it felt like we hadn't been to the cabin in ages. And, everyone knows how well our family functions without the cabin in our lives ... [insert buggy-eyed emoji]. It's safe to say, Andi and I were itching to get to the lake as soon as possible to enjoy the long Thanksgiving weekend together.

Thursday evening we lounged around and early Friday morning, we pulled out the holiday decorations to "deck the halls" of the cabin. We don't have many Christmas decorations there since last year was the first year we truly owned the cabin as our own and the first time we frequently came to the lake during the off-season. We have an artificial tree and a few mantle adornments; enough to make the place feel festive. Our recent cabin upgrades created a fresh, new canvas of decorating opportunities so I see myself going nutso buying all the adorably rustic decor I can fit into my virtual and real-life shopping carts for many years to come.

Andi doesn't love decorating for the holidays so I don't force him to participate, but he was kind enough to hoist Tory up high to top the Christmas tree with its star. Tory must've seen this somewhere because she's been so excited to place the star on our three (!!!) Christmas trees this year.

I couldn't help but feel sentimental about Thanksgiving weekend last year as I decorated the cabin's Christmas tree and swooned over ornaments and momentos. Every year, the beginning of September gives me deja-vu memories about Tory's first days of life (the smell of our three-season porch at home, the start of school-days, etc.) and preparing for the holidays at the cabin flooded my heart with similar emotions for one-week-old baby Aden. Weep!

In other news, Tory and Aden are fascinated by snow globes this year. I picked up this musical reindeer one at Target last year and both kids requested to watch its magic at least a dozen times throughout the weekend. I remember loving snow globes, too, as a kid. Once again, witnessing the wonder of the holidays through the eyes of my children proves to be so wonderful. I could watch her watch the snow globe's twinkling flakes fall for hours.

Friday afternoon, Andi's parents Jim and Janie joined us at the cabin for a 24-hour stay. Janie brought the makings for lefse, a soft Norwegian flatbread. Making lefse around the holidays is a tradition in Andi's family, stemming all the way back to Janie's paternal grandmother. Janie's taught many friends and family members how to make lefse over the years, and she's continuing the tradition with Tory and I. Tory has a long wooden lefse stick with her name on it and the year "2012" marked from the very first time she participated in the tradition.

Typically, lefse is made from potatoes, cream, butter and flour which isn't compatible for someone allergic to dairy like Aden. Janie went the extra mile this year to make a special batch for Aden using real potatoes, soy milk and dairy-free butter. Afterwards, we enjoyed our lefse rolled up with butter and sugar sprinkled in its center. 

That night, Andi and I enjoyed a relaxing session in the outdoor sauna. With Janie and Jim there, we were able to take our time and not worry about the kids sleeping indoors. (Usually, we bring the baby monitors out with us.) I've missed our weekend evenings spent in the sauna! There's something fun and refreshing about dashing outdoors through the snow and hopping into a 175 degree cedar barrel. 

Saturday morning, Andi and I ran into town for a quiet kid-free morning. I had an appointment to have snow tires put on my car, and since Grandma and Grandpa were at the cabin they offered to stay with the kids. Afterwards, Janie and Jim left to drive back to the Twin Cities.

It was an absolutely beautiful winter's day, so we headed outdoors with the kids for an afternoon of ice fishing, sledding and playing in the snow. There is about 8" of ice on the lake now which makes it safe for walking on the ice, ice fishing and driving on the lake with a snowmobile or the Ranger ATV. The lake is perfect for walking on right now because it's completely frozen and the ice is covered with a thin layer of snow so it's not very slippery. Toward the end of winter last year, the snow drifts were so deep it was impossible to navigate, but right now it's easy to coast along pulling the kids in sleds behind us. We own a baby sled we used for Tory a few years ago which now fits Aden perfectly, and a bigger kid's sled for Tory. The kids had a blast sledding from cabin neighbor's house to house and all along the lake. Several times, Tory dropped to the ground at a moment's noise and started flapping her arms and legs to make snow angels. It was the cutest (and funniest) thing.

Winter can be so fun when it doesn't burn your extremities being outdoors!

Tory is turning into Andi's little fishing buddy. She accompanies him from ice hole to ice hole, checking his tip-ups for fish all throughout the day. One time, he caught a Northern and it startled her enough she ran into the Ranger ATV to hide. Ha! I think Tory was a little befuddled to see proof the fish were still in the lake under the frozen ice.

That evening, we went to a Christmas concert at the Pipe Dream Center not far from the lake cabin. We attended this concert on a whim last year and it was so weird that it was awesome; I was dying to go back again. This year, we invited a few cabin friends to join us so Krista and her girls Hannah and Kate came along with Krista's mom Deanna and sister Brooke. We had a nice night! Tory and Hannah especially loved the Christmas music and danced in the aisles of the concert hall. Aden was a little scared of the noise at first, but then sat quietly on my lap and watched the lights and singers on stage.

After the concert when the kids were tucked into their beds, Andi and I sat by the fire, drank wine and shared a cheese plate. It was so cozy and wonderful, and exactly what we love about the cabin all wrapped up into one moment. Summer is fun at the lake for obvious reasons, but winter can be special, too. It's quieter in the wintertime; more peaceful and serene and still so beautiful.

Whew! This post only took me a week to write, but I finally published it! Winter is here and so far, we're embracing it with all the fun and smiles we can muster. I'm so thankful we have an amazing place like the cabin to force us outdoors to enjoy all of Minnesota / Wisconsin's four seasons. And, thankful for the holidays which make any weekend activity seem magical.

Thanksgiving 2014

So much to write about; so little time.

First, Thanksgiving. Oh, it was lovely. We staying in town this year to spend the holiday with Andi's side of the family. I love my family to pieces - love them - but, man, it was nice to wake up, drive 15 minutes to a relative's house and just be. No traveling. No airports. No long car rides. Granted, life with little kids means nothing is easy peasy, so it was still pure chaos packing up food and suitcases (we headed to the cabin afterwards for the long weekend) ... etc. Still, Thanksgiving was nice.

I contributed my mom's tasty mashed potatoes recipe which was a smashing success and my personal favorite Thanksgiving item - Corny Macaroni. If no one else ate a bit of that dish, I didn't care (um, more for me!) because it is to die for. No Thanksgiving is complete without it, in my opinion. I planned to blog my Aunt Cheri's family-famous Corny Macaroni recipe but ran out of time last week, so just picture piles of corn + cheesy macaroni = stick-to-your-ribs goodness. I overheard a few of Andi's relatives muttering to one another during a trip through the food line, "Is there corn in the macaroni?" Oh yes there is, and it is DIVINE.

I *may* have scraped the Corny Macaroni pan clean ...

Ain't no shame in my game. 

Then, seconds after Andi snapped this photo I spilled cheesy goodness down the front of my new sweater. Dang it. 

Aden was a shining star on Thanksgiving Day, of course. Last year, he was only a week old on Thanksgiving, so this was truly his first *real* Thanksgiving holiday. At least one where he got to eat real food. 

This is a picture of Aden and his Great-Grandma Marion. When I heard Andi's Grandpa Jerry (Marion's late husband) used to wear newsboy caps like this one back in his day, I knew Aden had to wear his to Thanksgiving at her house. Marion got such a kick out of seeing Aden wearing it. 

Tory had a blast at Thanksgiving, too, playing with her little cousins. Surprisingly, she loved the Thanksgiving meal itself (surprising because the girl survives solely on PB&J sandwiches, yogurt and Eggo waffles). Andi's mom Janie's favorite Thanksgiving food is some sort of green Jell-O salad with carrots and a dollop of mayo on top. Grandma Janie talked it up to Tory all morning and it turned out to be one of Tory's favorite Thanksgiving foods, too. She also devoured her turkey, bun and mashed potatoes.

Lindsay and I

He's only officially been in the family for a month, and Kyle carved the turkey(ies!).

Andi carved the ham.

The Thanksgiving spread. Actually, this was only half of it.

So thankful for this little family of mine.

Shortly after dinner, Andi, the kids and I left Grandma Marion's house for the lake cabin. I was so looking forward to spending the long weekend at our favorite place on Earth to recharge and reconnect. It's been a brutal few weeks of work travel for Andi and long weeks without much family time for all of us. And, of course, our weekend at the cabin didn't disappoint. More on our time there coming soon....

Aden's "Have a Ball" 1st Birthday Party

The house is a mess after hosting company all weekend and I should probably be cleaning instead of blogging ... but I wanted to share the details of Aden's "Have a Ball" birthday party.

As Aden's first birthday approached, I thought about some of his favorite things and I kept coming back to one item -- balls. Our boy loves bouncy balls! Aden flashes his beautifully big grin any time a ball is rolling his way, so I thought a "Have a Ball" birthday party was a perfect way to celebrate him.

I purchased this raglan birthday shirt on Etsy and based the party around its fun, bright colors.

To get things started, I hand-cut circles from card stock for invitations and enclosed the party details. We kept the event on the small side by inviting only grandparents, aunts and uncles so there weren't too many invitations for me to assemble.

I also made a "Happy Birthday" banner from card stock cut into circles and a "ONE" banner for Aden's high chair (which I completely forgot to stick to the tray before he ate his birthday cupcake!). I also made paper lanterns to resemble bouncy balls from strips of paper and hung those beside the banner as well. I loved his brightly-colored party decorations so much, I put them up on Aden's birthday-eve and kept them displayed in the dining room right through the party. Birthdays are week-long celebrations in my book!

 
What first birthday is complete without a month-by-month glance to see how much the baby's grown? I crafted circle identifiers next to a photo from each of Aden's 12 months of life.

And finally, ... the food. It was pretty easy to brainstorm a menu packed with circle-shaped foods. We served meatballs, chicken wings, a dried-beef cheese ball and crackers, spinach balls, chips & dip and fruit and veggie sticks. For dessert, I made cake pops, peanut butter balls and dairy-free cupcakes. If you're in the market for dairy-free chocolate cake, I highly recommend Cherrybrook Kitchen boxed cake mix.

Andi grilled chicken wings outdoors on our snow-covered deck ... a truly Minnesotan thing to do.

Tory assisted Aden in blowing out his birthday candle ...

And, Aden was a big fan of his cupcake. He crumbled it to smithereens within seconds and did the classic baby-shudder when the sugar high hit his system. 

Our boy was spoiled with some great birthday presents. We gifted him his very own ball pit, and it's been a bit hit with both Tory and Aden alike. He also got a Dusty Planes 4 in 1 ride-on toy, a ride-on car wagon, boatloads of adorable clothes and books and his very own personalized library bag. 

Of course, the big box one of the ride-on toys came in was most exciting for Brooke, Neeley and Tory.

Hard to believe Aden is ONE! What a great day celebrating our new one-year-old.