All Ready For Christmas

Our tree. Usually we go to a local tree farm Dad worked at when he was young, but the prices have gotten a bit steep for our budget, so we cheated and went with fresh from Menards. Surprisingly, this tree has lasted longer than either of our farm trees. We are slowly building up our homemade ornament collection, but in the meantime we make sure to use plenty of lights and tinsel (the downtown Salvation Army had tons of tinsel cheap!) so she sparkles. Try not to focus on the laundry and gifts in process on the counter behind the tree.

We tried a new setup for the kids' trees this year and all of us really like it, plus it makes the main living area feel even more festive. Each of their little (artificial) trees is put around the living room. They get to decorate their trees, and their gifts from us (Mom and Dad) are put under their own tree. I also decided to make new stockings for everyone, though only Lovely G has one of the new ones for this year (the green one in the middle). The previous ones I had made from felt, but was never happy with. These new are knitted and I love them, so far.

Here is Lovely G's tree and the Advent calendar. This year rather than put the surprise in the pocket for each day, just the bible verse is there, then after we've read it for the day the kids get to each have one candy cane from one of the trees. It has worked out really well. I also snagged a bunch of  99-cent poinsettias from Home Depot on Black Friday since it is right next to JoAnn's, where I was loading up on fabric for the year (which I didn't get nearly enough of-next year!). They are all over the house.
I am down to just a couple gifts left to make, most baked goods and one to buy after I decided I just didn't have enough time to sanely complete their handmade gift. I love this time of year, but have been busier than usual so changed things up a bit to relieve stress.