A Decorative Day Off

People.

Peeps.

M’friends.

The kiddos and I had the best day today.

Thanks to a day off school, a productive evening yesterday that took a lot off my plate, an absent phone (thanks to an upgrade that left mine out of commission for hours and hours), and...a whole lotta holiday cheer.

Basically, it was the perfect storm of events, designed to let us bust out some decorations and be totally immersed together, without distractions.

And the result was glorious. :)

After a delightful (cheesy wording, but totally accurate) early morning of family snuggles in bed, the kiddos were chomping at the bit too get their trees out. So I was digging in the attic shortly after breakfast, and we happily powered through with the fun until mid afternoon.

And just look at my sweet, silly babies—and please note Little Man’s favorite new forced grimace smile that’s hilarious. :)



We started with the tree assembly, and then dug into the kid-specific boxes of ornaments.

My crazy nuggets were adorable this year, holding their hands out with their eyes closed while I took turns placing ornaments in each of their hands. And the utter joy over each and every one was priceless.

And in no time, we transitioned to the Hallmark-specific boxes that required a bit more care and delicacy, but offered up just as much fun. :)



Closed-eyed cutie...



I got the most pics from Little Man’s room because the light was best, and his silliness was at an all-time high. 

But I seriously love how each of the kiddos’ trees so perfectly expresses their personalities and their rooms. 

You might recall that last year was our first to have individual trees in each of their rooms, and it honestly began as a bonding exercise to help us connect with this new house a bit more, as we were still settling in from our tough move.

But the end result was so fun and perfectly tailored to each kiddo that it’s hard to remember a time when they didn’t each have this holiday expression (and, yes, I’m so very aware of their blessed and indulged status!).

Little Man’s is all black and green and bold and superhero-y.









And Chicklet’s is so fantastically ice-princess-y.

Major Elsa vibes going on—which probably has a lot to do with her super-cool white-with-ice-blue-lights tree. 

You’d think she’d be all rainbows and nuttiness (and she does have a multi-colored tinsel garland that you can see when the lights are on). Though, in a way, her ornaments are by far the most diverse—princesses, animals, food, movie characters. Just a whole slew of things that she’s drawn to, without rhyme or reason. 

But this snow and ice vibe goes so well with her blue-walled room, and she definitely had a lot of Frozen representation, so it all works. 

And she’s my one of the three that absolutely prefers to keep her room completely dark for optimum tree ambiance and enjoyment, hehe. 

And then there’s Chica with her multi-colored flair. 

Lots of liveliness to match her bright and bold rug. And totally and completely skewed toward Harry Potter and princesses for the time being. :)

It really was such a beautiful day to tackle this fun activity together.

I know it’s so early in the season, but the day off school—and everyone’s happy moods—lent itself so perfectly to a lovely family day. Even with Daddy stuck in the study on a ton o’ conference calls, it was so nice to have our whole crew at home while the joy was unfolding.

And I seriously can’t wait to see what new ornaments end up coming home with us this season. Such a testament to the things they love each year and such a fun way to track interests over time.

I foresee some Mario in our near future....

Hope you all had a lovely, random (but not at all when it’s an Election Day) Tuesday in November. 

Over and out.