My Favorite Day After My Favorite Holiday

When we lived in the same town our family lives in, we didn't really get to do the holidays the way we wanted to do them.  It is fun spending the days with family, but when you have 3 places to be in one day, it can be stressful...then add kids to the mix.  So, since we couldn't really establish Christmas traditions of our own, putting up the Christmas tree became a yearly tradition I looked forward to.  We could do it our way.

This day is a stress free day.  Nothing has to be perfect, but there is an order to what we do.

We put up our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

First...cookies!

It is all about the kids getting involved...like I said nothing is perfect.  We had huge cookies, we had small cookies, but the kids had a blast.

Sutton Grace didn't want to help.  This is where I found her...snuggled in our bed watching Christmas cartoons.

And then we decorate the tree...it is not perfect, doesn't have a theme, and it is decorated in ornaments that were made, handed down, and picked up along the way of our many journeys.

I do the lights, my husband is a little too OCD to do the lights...the tree is pre-lit, and I put up the colored lights.  The kids decorate.  I NEVER redecorate after they go to bed.  This is for them...Christmas is suppose to be fun.

The ornaments are played with, and I find them all over the house, but it is ok...they are having fun.

(The big dark blob his my husband "eating' the tree.)

Usually Christmas music is playing, but Oregon was playing football, so we had football in the background.  Not perfect...just go with the flow.

With this being Campbell's first Christmas, I put her under the tree to see how she would react.  She likes lights, and of course, she was fascinated.

We end the night with our freshly baked cookies, new pjs and the movie ELF.

It is not perfect...it is not suppose to be.  It is about creating fun memories and traditions that the kids look forward to year after year. 

Like I said, it is not perfect, but it is perfect for us (insert cheesy music for the cheesy last line). :)