Decorating the Inside

So it turns out that we don't have nearly as many things to decorate the inside of our house as I thought we did.  Most of the Christmas boxes in the garage contain items to decorate the tree.  As Doug pointed out, this is probably because we lived in a much smaller house last year during the holidays.  We now live in a home almost double the size, so we have a lot more space to decorate and a lot fewer items to decorate with.  That means more shopping (yay!) for decorations.  In the meantime, I have pictures of the few decorations we do have.


This is our fireplace and hearth.  The long red thing is a book that unfolds into a little Christmas album.  We also have a framed picture of a snow family that reads "...the greatest of these is LOVE". 

When I got my first full-time job, I saved money up for this Santa and reindeer set.  I saw it at Hallmark and liked it.  Unfortunately, it was a lot more expensive than I thought it would be, so it took a good long while to buy all of the pieces.  Therefore, it's coming out every Christmas until it gets broken or my children throw it away. Haha.

These are candle holders that my mom bought us a few weeks ago to go on our hearth.  They are a cute little addition.

These are our stockings (L-R: Doug's, Weston's, mine). Weston's was actually purchased last year when we didn't know what we were having.  I still think it's cute, even though it isn't personalized and isn't a "First Christmas" stocking.

Because we have a gullible Great Dane, my mom found this and thought it would be fun to mess with Hattie.  Scooby Doo sings a song and dances and Hattie HATES it.  She tries to carry it around, even while it is singing and moving.  When I pulled it out today, Weston thought it was great.  He was grinning and giggling watching Scooby do his thing.

Finally, here is our tree stand.  My parents found it last year and I thought it was different than the normal round one and pretty cute as well.  Since it will be difficult to get a good picture of the stand after the tree is in it, I figured I'd take a picture now.

Here's is day 7 of the Advent tree.

It's another very cold one here.  It didn't get above 30 today.  I'm waiting for snow, but it seems that rain doesn't coincide with freezing temperatures.  Maybe this weekend I'll have better luck?

Cuddle up with your loved ones and have a great night!

Monday Adventure with Doug, Ellery and Weston

Three days after we began, and many snow flurries later, Doug and I finally have 99% of the outside of our house decorated.  We have one light bulb that is out, but otherwise, we are finished.  Here is a picture of the finished product, minus a light bulb.

This is our "family" of stockings. 

Doug's temporary vehicle started acting up over the weekend, so he took my car to work today.  The only problem is that my car was not registered in Alabama, nor was the registration up-to-date.  Since we just moved, I let my Florida registration expire at the end of November.  Oops.  So Doug couldn't get a parking permit to go to work.  Therefore, we spent the morning between the mechanic and the DMV and the afternoon chasing down Christmas decorations.

As per the previous 2 days in my life, nothing at the DMV went as planned.  First, the DMV didn't have the paperwork they were supposed to have because their fax machine wasn't working.  Doug asked if we could have someone email the documents they needed.  Apparently, the DMV of Alabama, in 2010, doesn't have email.  What?!?!  Then, the car is in my maiden name, so we had to pay more than we expected to register it.  In my married name, we would renew the plate in July, so we would only pay for 7 months, but my maiden name doesn't renew until October, so we had to pay for 10 months.  The license plate is ugly, but the car is legal and registered.

Tomorrow, I plan to decorate the inside of the house and take Weston to the library.  I am looking forward to spending time with my little guy and making the inside of our house a lot of fun for his first Christmas.  Pictures tomorrow.

Today's Advent ornament addition (that's a mouthful!):

It is freezing here and it is supposed to be in the teens tonight.  Unfortunately, no snow in the forecast right now.  I am very tired of getting shocked everytime I touch something.

Have a great night and stay warm!!

Decorating Disaster!

I have decided that I am NEVER decorating the outside of the house for Christmas again.  Last year, my dad and Doug decorated our house, since I was too nauseous to help out.  This year, everything Doug and I have tried to do outside has not worked and required many extra steps to accomplish. 

Yesterday, we couldn't get the Santa sign to stand upright and the lights on the house had to be restrung.  Today, we bought lights to line the driveway.  Before going to the store, we measured the driveway and determined we needed 52 feet of lighting.  We had to go to 3 stores for the lights, because two stores were already out of Christmas items on December 5th and wouldn't be getting anything else for Christmas in.  At the store, we found what we wanted and the box said that it would cover 13 feet.  We thought, 'great, 13 feet x 4 boxes is the 52 feet we need'.  We got the lights home and found out that each set is only 7 feet.  This leaves us 24 feet short.  Excellent.  So we went back up to the store only to find out that they closed in 3 minutes and weren't allowing anyone else in.  Therefore, our yard is still only partially finished.  No pictures yet.  Better luck tomorrow.

Unfortunately, we spent the entire weekend trying to decorate just the outside of the house, so I'm looking forward to relaxing tomorrow.  Oh, nevermind, I have a 5 month old.  No relaxation for me.

Speaking of Sir Weston, here is tonight's Advent addition.

Goodnight!

Decorating for the Holidays

Doug and I had hoped to decorate the outside and inside of our house for Christmas today.  Unfortunately, decorating the outside of the house took a lot longer than we had planned on and it's not done yet.  We have lights on the house and the "Santa Stop Here" sign up.  I will take pictures tomorrow when the outside (and hopefully the inside of our house, too) is all decorated.

A little more about the "Santa Stop Here" sign.  When Will and I were younger, either when I was six and Will was a newborn or the following year, our parents, who LOVE to decorate for Christmas, made a Santa sign for my our yard.  Our dad did the cutting of the wood and our mom painted the stop sign and the signs that went beneath it.  Since it is just myself and my brother, the signs said "1 Girl" and "1 Boy".  They wanted us to think that Santa had dropped it off and that having a sign signified that he knew we were good children and he would be back on Christmas Eve.  I always loved having it in our yard, even when I was older and the jig was up.  When I was 10 or 11, someone came to our house and stole it and for whatever reason, my parents just never made a new one.

This year, since it is Weston's first Christmas, I asked my parents if they would make one for me him.  They obliged, since Weston's Papa and Mamma would do anything and everything for him.  They also made signs that match the one for Weston that say "1 Great Dane" and "1 Labrador" and gave us extra signs for when we add to our family.  Doug and I were so excited to put it up in our yard today.  We quickly found out that the Alabama ground is nothing like the Florida ground.  Alabama soil is almost solid and therefore putting a pole into the ground is nearly impossible.  Doug improvised and we finally got the pole somewhat into the ground and sturdied it as well.  Here are a couple pictures of it.  I hope to get pictures of it during the day tomorrow.

After our long day, we ended up getting Publix subs.  When Doug and I lived in Florida, there were always Publix grocery stores around.  Then, when we lived in Mississippi and south Alabama, there weren't Publix stores.  Anyone who has been to Publix knows that they have the BEST bakery.  Doug and I wanted something sweet to go with our subs, so we browsed the bakery and ended up with this little treat.

It's a cake that looks like a cup of hot chocolate.  As cold as it was this afternoon and evening, we need some hot chocolate!!  We haven't eaten it yet, but definitely plan to soon.

Weston was very sleepy, but remembered to add an ornament to his Advent tree.

Have a great night.  More pictures tomorrow (hopefully).

Living in a New Area

Due to Doug's job, I am very blessed to be able to stay home and raise Weston and watch him grow.  Since I taught before I became a mom, I believe that education and interaction with children from birth is very important.  Therefore, Doug and I read to Weston every night and have since the day we brought him home from the hospital.  Also, since I believe an educational situation can be presented anywhere, Weston and I try to go out everyday.  We've gone to the bookstore and library to read books.   Sometimes it's just to the grocery store.  We walk around the produce section and I show him the fruits and vegetables and I tell him about the colors and shapes.
 
As I've previously mentioned, Doug, Weston and I just moved to north Alabama about 3 weeks ago.  I don't know anyone here yet to go out walking with. Our neighborhood is very safe, but due to the size of it, there's not a lot of walking potential.  Since I am not entirely comfortable with the area yet, I am afraid to go for a walk or to the park with Weston by myself.  It's very sad to think this, but I am scared that someone is going to hurt or abduct myself and/or Weston.  It has also been quite chilly here. Thus, we have not been outdoors, just the two of us, a whole lot.  I do think that it is important for Weston to experience his surroundings, see the pretty colors of the leaves and feel the texture of a leaf, so I think next week, we will start venturing out in our area.  We will just have to make sure that there are a lot of people around whereever we go. 

Tonight, Doug, Weston and I went to a shopping area near our house.  There is live music on Friday and Saturday evenings and right now, there is a very large Christmas tree erected in the middle of the plaza.  Tonight while we were there, Weston was sleeping, but I hope to get a family picture in front of the tree sometime during the holiday season.

Weston putting on an ornament for night three of the Advent.

Holiday Spirit

Growing up, my parents (mostly my mom) and my grandmother made the holidays very special for myself and my brother.  Will (my brother) and I were lucky enough to live in the same town as our grandmother and we were able to see her a lot.  We would have Thanksgiving supper, as she called it, at her house.  From Thanksgiving through Christmas, Will and I would help our mother and grandmother decorate both houses and shop for family members.  It was always the most fun and memorable time of the year. 

Will and I were also encouraged to help out those less fortunate than ourselves.  When we were younger, we would use money we had saved up to buy toys for other children.  As we got older, we realized that there are a lot of senior citizens, especially in Florida, where we grew up, that didn't have families visiting them or grandchildren close enough to visit them like our grandmother had.  Therefore, we would use our money to purchase items (shampoo, lotion, aftershave, fuzzy socks) to put into shoe boxes and give to assisted living facilities.

Now that I am an adult and married with a child, I still feel that giving, especially during the holidays is very important.  I want to pass the idea of giving and not always receiving to Weston (and future babies). Although there are definitely children that aren't as fortunate as Weston is, many organizations and charities are in place to help children out during the holidays.  There are very few organizations or charities set up to provide a pseudo-family or Christmas for the elderly.


Doug and I discussed giving a donation to some sort of senior home.  However, that doesn't guarantee that the residents will be given anything for Christmas or have any familial interaction.  Also, I know that Weston's grandparents, two of whom live in Mississippi and two of whom live in Florida, would LOVE to see him  everyday during the holidays.  Thus, Doug and I decided that we would make bags (we can't get enough shoe boxes) for an assisted living facility that is up the street from us.  We would deliver them sometime a little closer to Christmas, Weston could charm all of the older folks and we would all have holiday spirit.

Today, Weston and I went up to the home to speak to the director and find out if a) it would be alright to make bags for the seniors and b) the specifics (number of citizens, gender breakdown, any off-limits items).  The activities director seemed less than enthusiastic.  This made me feel like the holiday spirit I was trying to promote was not welcome.  I was saddened, not because my idea was not received with the passion I had hoped, but because these seniors are missing out on a little bit of Christmas and seeing a very sweet, well-behaved, snuggly little boy, who may very well remind them of their grandchild.

I am now trying to decide if I should go ahead with the plan or if we should "adopt" a grandmother and grandfather.  Go up to the home once or twice a week, let the "grands" (maybe) hold Weston, read to him, have an adult discussion with me, and then closer to Christmas, give them gifts.  This wouldn't have to stop at Christmas, but this is the hardest time of the year to be alone.  Helping seniors have a cheerful season would make me so happy.

On a lighter note, Weston added another ornament to his Advent tree tonight.

Have a great night!

Beginning of the Advent

Today is the beginning of the Advent and traditionally our family opens a calendar with candy or a prayer.  However, since Weston is too young for candy and I couldn't find a calendar with prayers this year, we are making a Christmas tree on our refrigerator.  Each day, Weston, Doug and I will add an ornament until our tree is decorated.

We also took pictures for our Christmas cards.  Weston is in a stocking.  He's such a sweet boy!

I can't wait until Christmas this year.  Getting to be Santa and Mrs. Claus for our little guy is going to be so much fun!!