Christmas House week

This week I'll be posting about the Christmas House, aka my house.

We were a little late on getting up all of the decorations. Blame that on work schedules and someone in the house having somewhere to be every single day and parents who kept saying we'd get to that tomorrow. But we didn't want anyone in the family to miss out on our annual trip to the local Christmas tree farm. We tried something else last year so we knew opting for the sleigh ride/cut your own thing might not work out again. Remember that story and the pepper spray incident that followed?

So to begin the week filled with Christmas crafts, tips and vintage ornament goodness, here's the weekend recap:

There was the tree farm trip where they let you roast hot dogs, marshmallows and make hot chocolate. My favorite thing they do is measure your child's height so when you come back next year, you can see the difference a year makes. Now is that hometown service or what?

We also like that they're friendly and give you twine to tie the tree to the car. They wouldn't want anyone to hold the tree with their arms out the window like idiots. Who does that anyway??

On to a fun office party where the kids won gumball machines and a 5 lb Hershey chocolate bar.
Jon and Frank made a true Pennsylvania Dutch main course of Chicken and waffles. I had never heard of that before moving here. It was actually tasty. Everyone else brought sides or desserts and the kids decorated cupcakes.

Next was a seriously sweet party complete with a chocolate fountain where we indulged in dipping fruit, cheesecake and other delicious goodies. There was also a raucous round of white elephant gifts where the Superman snuggie was a hit. But first we had to compete in getting a cracker from your forehead to your mouth to determine the order of the present pick. We were number 10 and took home that sweet lamp.

And finally untying the tree and bringing out the trimmings. I'll reveal the finished product later. I think it's our best yet. It's filled with new and vintage ornaments and stays within the color scheme of the house; blues, silver, grey, greens, metallics and a pop of color here and there.

Charley said it made her cry when we turned off the lights and stepped back to admire it. She's a sweet one, Charley that is.

See you tomorrow-

Have a great day!