Getting Ready for Christmas

As soon as Thanksgiving is over, we are in full Christmas mode.  The weekend after Christmas is always our special time to visit the tree farm and pick out our real Christmas tree.  As North Carolina natives, we require a beautiful Frasier Fir from the North Carolina mountains to make our Christmas complete.  We love the look, feel, and smell of a real tree.  I love that we do not have to store a tree somewhere all year, and I love the tradition of picking out a tree together.  The kids love running around the tree farm and hiding in the Christmas trees.  Luckily, we found a tree farm here in Georgia that gets their trees from North Carolina and takes very good care of them.  Even Georgians know the best trees come from North Carolina and specifically advertise their trees as North Carolina Frasier firs.  Most tree stands just pile the trees up which leads to broken branches and days without water so the needles will begin to dry out very quickly.  Around here if you want to cut down your own tree, it will not be a Frasier fir which we feel is the quintessential definition of a Christmas tree.  It is what fake trees are based on.  I cannot bear the thought of decorating a cypress tree for Christmas.  Yes, I know I am a bit of a tree snob, but I am married to a forester, you know.

The boys loved posing on these tree trunks at the farm. 

Brody was very excited.  

And Mattox loves copying everything Brody does.  Yes, he has learned some less desirable skills from him. 

Hiding in the trees. 

Pictures with Mommy and Baby Maggie. 

And some family pictures. 

Grandma and Papa James joined us on the trip. 

Evan helped me catch a runaway Grayson. 

Brody was just up to his usual crazy self. 

At home, we begin the fun but tiring task of decorating the tree. 

The boys help hang some of their special ornaments on the tree. 

Some of our special yearly ornaments depict our growing family. 

We love our traditional colored light Christmas tree.  I love all of our stockings hanging on the mantle.  They are one of my favorite decorations. 

We tried to get the kids to cooperate for a picture with a big tree in the lobby of our hotel while we visited NC. 

But Mattox was not cooperative.  Haha! 

We had an early Christmas family gathering on Grayson's birthday.  

Ice Cream for Christmas?  Yes, please.  The boys enjoyed going to our local ice cream parlor for a special visit with Santa. 

Oh Brody.  Sigh.  What a face!

Evan did pose for a sweet picture with me.  That is rare.  I love Mattox's little tongue licking his ice cream cone. 

Mommy had to get in the picture with the boys because Mattox and Grayson would not cooperate.  It did allow Maggie to be a part of the picture though.  

Our Elf Brewster showed back up from the North Pole and brought some yummy snowman treats. 

He was immediately up to his old tricks hanging our underwear from the mantle instead of stockings. 

Our favorite past time is just hanging out on the couch beside the tree watching a Christmas movie. It was probably Home Alone since the boys love it. 

Brewster brought the little boys a special tree to decorate. 

We decided to wait in line for a family picture with the mall Santa.  The line for the pictures moved quickly and didn't take too long.  The boys enjoyed their candy canes.  Unfortunately, we didn't know the line to actually get the printed pictures would take about 2 hours.  Sigh.  It was ridiculous. 

Candy canes for everyone. 

My Grayson was looking so big hanging out with his big brothers. 

Brody wanted to give the big inflatable Santa a hug.  Haha! 

The mall decorations were pretty. 

The boys really wanted to ride the train, but by the time, we got our pictures it was too late.  

The boys did enjoy playing on the ATV's at Bass Pro, and Mattox saw some of his favorite Disney characters. 

I guess our family picture with Santa was worth it.  This was just a quick picture I snapped of it on my cell phone. 

Brewster also redecorated our tree with toilet paper. 

He brought the boys some special Santa treats and then he took a little trip to the moon in the boys' space shuttle. 

Christmas parties at church was plenty.  The ladies had an ornament exchange, and the church party had an interesting present opening competition.  The kids performed some sweet Christmas songs for the church. 

The teenagers had a fun get together too with some crazy games.  The picture of Evan playing with his friend Jamin makes me sad since Jamin has moved away. 

Brody enjoyed his activities. 

Candlelight Christmas Eve service was very special. 

Family pictures at church for Christmas.  The boys were all wearing matching navy and green plaid shirts. 

Trying to get a picture with the Grinch before lunch, but my boys hate the sun.  Haha!

The halls are decked out in shades of bright red and green.  I love a Christmasy house! 

I love our special and meaningful decor.  The paintings on the right were made of each kids' handprints.  I will have to add one more next year for baby Maggie. 

Simple decor in the dining room with some shiny ornaments as a centerpiece on the table and a sweet and simple nativity set that matches the white angel that topped our first Christmas trees. 

I made some simple Christmas ornaments for Evan's teachers and a big door hanger for Brody's teacher. 

I loved this little letter Brody wrote to "Santy" asking him to make it Christmas every year.  Haha!  I think he can handle that.  The little bag was Brody's school made Christmas present to us. 

Daddy started the Christmas baking with some sausage balls while I wrapped presents.  We also prepared our gingerbread houses to decorate later.  Making them and letting them set for a while really helped make our project a success. 

Time to decorate.  Everyone got a little house to decorate. 

Grayson and I worked together on our house.  Mattox really loved the colorful gum drops for his house. 

I loved this time together. 

Daddy helped too.  Mattox's faces are the cutest. 

I think our houses turned out so cute.  Mattox really did most of his himself, and I was so proud of him. 

Presents are under the tree on Christmas Eve, and we enjoy having Papa read us the Christmas story. 

And finally it is sleepy time.  Only one more sleep until Christmas.  Our cookies, milk, and carrots are out for Santa and his reindeer.