It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

So Christmas is really next week already, huh?

How come every year in the Fall I am all "Ohhhh I can't wait for Christmas and a tree and family, blah blah blah" and then all the sudden I am like "What, it's already Christmas? I still have shopping to do, lists to make, wrapping to get done, cooking to do, decorations to put out, lights to drive by to show the kids and cards to write!" Ugh. Is it just me or does this seem to happen every single year no matter how much I think about everything ahead of time.

My blog is looking much more festive than my house these days. We have 4 huge bins of decorations but for some reason once it's all spread out in the house it doesn't seem like much. Some day we will have that house, you know the one with every nook and cranny filled with red and green stuff. Someday.

Anyway, here's a few of my favorite things.

This is our Nativity Scene.
I love it!
My mom gave us a new section for Christmas every year the past few years...definitely my favorite.

I don't know why I like these blocks so much but I do. They have something for 6 different holidays on each of the sides. I got them out of a magazine...you know the ones that are full of stuff you don't need until you see it, then you have to have it. Yeah, one of those.

We don't have a fireplace (insert sad face here) so a couple years ago I bought this stocking hanger. It's surprisingly holding up pretty well considering kids are hanging on it all day.

And last but not least, the tree. I always wanted to get a real tree after having kids because I had this fabulous vision of the whole family going out to the tree farm, drinking hot cocoa, finding the perfect tree and cutting it down. You know, Griswold style. Except not exactly. Anyway the past 2 years we ended up driving a mile down the road to the hardware store and picking up an okay tree. I know, right? Lame. This year we finally got to the tree farm and found a beautiful tree.

Matt and Alexa pretty much decorated the whole thing themselves. They were beyond adorable. However I realized two things. One, we need way more decorations now that we have such a big full tree. Two, it takes all I have to not take everything off and do it my own way. They did a great job, but I am more of a symmetrical planned out bulb placer and they are more of a grab one and put it somewhere. There's one spot that has about 10 ornaments in a square foot section, bless Alexa's heart...she loved it.

Only downfall...needles all over my house!
But so worth it. :)