Christmas Prepping

I can't believe Christmas is only a few days away... I feel so behind!

Josh and I agreed to no go overboard with gifts for Lane this year, as a) he won't remember it, b) there's nothing he really NEEDS, and c) all of our family is flooding him with gifts already.  But, we did want to get him a few small things.  So, I bought him a book, a CD, and some adorable camouflage boots, plus things like new pacifiers, Level Two bottle nipples, etc. for his stocking.  Josh bought him a CAT hoodie (grey, not blue) and Carhartt overalls.

We have yet to get a Christmas tree, and if it weren't for Lane, I probably wouldn't.  But I feel guilty if we don't have one this year since its his first Christmas. 

I (of course) waited until this week to start Christmas shopping, so I'm now rushing to get everything done in time. 

I'll post Christmas photos of all of Lane's new loot after this weekend!

Molly's First Christmas

Seeing as how this is Molly's first Christmas, I've gone all out with buying her things, personalizing her stocking, and taking photos of her in Christmas-related situations.  She doesn't always like it.

Case in point:

This is Molly's "Mom are you done taking silly photos of me wrapped in Christmas lights yet?" face.

Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This past weekend, we went and got our Christmas tree! Now, in my parents' house, we have 16 foot ceilings in the living room. And every year, I try to get the biggest tree possible. Well this year, I succeeded! Our tree is a whopping 12.5 feet tall, AFTER we had to cut 12 inches off to fit the trunk in the base! Here are some photos from our tree-getting experience.

These trees made us all laugh so much.  They were tall trees, with the lower limbs cut off.  We called them ostrich trees.  Then Nathan had the brilliant idea that these trees looked like ladies lifting their skirt bottoms up so they didn't get them dirty or wet.  That kid cracks me up!

Check out my photography blog for the above photo of my dad, edited in a different way!

My Christmas Craft Project

I recently completed a project inspired by an idea from Jessica Sprague.  I wanted to do something crafty and homemade for Christmas, and this is what I ended up with!

I started by painting some terra cotta pots a deep red color.

After they dried, a put a clearcoat on them, which had red glitter in it.  Who doesn't like glittery Christmas decorations?!

I cut Christmas scrapbooking paper into strips, and started layering the strips around the trees, according to color/pattern.

To assemble the trees, I pained wooden dowels a dark brown, for the trunks.  I placed rocks in the bottomof each pot, because the trees themselves are a little top-heavy.  I put Styrofoam in each of the pots, and covered with artificial moss over the Styrofoam.  Then I just jabbed the dowel into the tree Styrofoam and the pot Styrofoam.

I finished by putting silver bows on the top of each of the trees.  I ended up with 5 trees in varying heights.

These trees are by no means perfect or professional looking, and I like that.  They are uneven, maybe a little crooked, but they are mine.  And I love them!