Gingerbread men, snow mountains, etc.

UPDATED TO BE INCLUDED ON BOOMAMAS tour of Homes - - Christmas Edition... Please go by there and see all the wonderful homes that are decorated for Christmas!!!



As previously noted – we were supposed to move – on Nov. 15.

We didn’t.

We have boxes stacked everywhere! This was causing a problem when I tried to create my Christmas decoration mental image because one set of those boxes, the ones in the living room, were just in the way!

I refuse to unpack the boxes though.... So, now they are magically transformed to a snow mountain - - decorated with ribbons, glitter, stuffed animals, and a nativity scene..

Why yes - - it is a bit junky looking... but much more festive than a bunch of brown boxes!!


We call it “making the best of a less-than-perfect situation.” One more reminder that we REALLY want a new house - - and I just am praying that I don’t have to unpack one more box until I am in a new house.

We also did our own Gingerbread house this year – My first one!

The last picture is the back of the house... looking amazingly like the front of the house. Its the pattern that came in the Walmart box - I don't know of many houses that have the same print on the front as the back... but these ginger people, I think they get in ruts too easily. They make up for it in their candy coated decorations though.

Ronnie was mostly in charge of decorations – his creativity amazes me. We had to buy extra icing in multiple colors so that there would be enough variety in color options. I wondered if that was the smartest thing to do, seeing as how this house has a history of ant problems. But, so far, so good - - and it made the house so much cuter!

He also roasted his own marshmallows.

And here is the mantle – looking majorly like it did last year.

Here is the tree - -

And one of the FOUR “first Christmas together 2007” ornaments that we have. Not that I am indecisive (well.. maybe) but more because we bought ours and then received three as gifts! Its great to have back-ups for when we break them… it always happens.

Anyway – it helped to get me more in the Christmas spirit – something that has not really happened to this point. Its usually my favorite time of year – this year it seems to be missing something. Not sure why – but just praying that the “wonder” of the season and the amazement at the birth of my Savior will come to be more than just a list of things to do as we go through this season.

Its beginning to look.... smell... a lot like Christmas

Ronnie and I decorated our house for Christmas Monday night. This was quite an adventure for the two of us. Being newlyweds, we are stil learning that there are somethings that we always thought the Christmas fairy... or Santa... did for us! For example, did you know, that Christmas ornaments don't come with HOOKS? You have to go buy those yourself! This discovery led to a 9:00pm trip to our favorite place to spend too much $$ - Wal-Mart. Then, you have to decide, do you want big green hooks? big silver hooks? or little gold hooks? I am sure there were more options, but since I am not a very good decision maker, I decided that three choices were PLENTY for me!

We returned to the house - when I walked in I was OVERWHELMED with the smell of Christmas. Now, I would love to tell you that this is because the wonderful real tree in our living room, however, we have a wonderful fake one... (it was a GREAT deal though!) The smell came from the "Yankee Candle" Christmas Wreath smell tarts that were burning in the living room... and the kitchen... and the bathroom... Did you know your nose can ACTUALLY BURN from the smell of those things? Our house may smell like this for MONTHS! I think my sense of smell has been damaged because of these candles. I LOVE the smell - it reminds me of Christmas as a child, but WHOA, NEVER burn three of those in a small house with only 5 rooms in the whole house!

In the end, our tree looks BEAUTIFUL! At one point I thought we would have the most pitiful looking tree and stuff in the area, but thanks to my family helping us to get some extra lights and giving me my decorations from their tree... and the leftover gift cards from the wedding that we saved so we could get some decorations, I would venture to say we have one of the prettiest trees in the area! (Not that I am biased or anything). We had a blast decorating, even with the moments of realization that came to us. We have a wreath over the mantle and one of my grandparents' nativity scenes on the mantle as well. There are other small decorations throughout the house - but I am so happy with the living room. I love my little house!