Christmas Decor + "Winter Wonderland"

Just had to interject this fun picture. Chad's been reading fairy tales to the kids each night by the fire. A quaint tradition.I've been so busy trying to prep for everyone's arrival that it's taken me a while to post about our Christmas decor, which I so enjoy. This is the first time I've gotten to decorate my own home. Last year doesn't count because we'd just moved in, had next to nothing. Plus, we just went right back to GA anyway. I bought a real sized tree on black friday. It took a week to get here. I excitedly started to set it up... it was a beast! It's unfortunate that you get what you pay for in a tree b/c I didn't pay much at all. It has a bend in it b/c the top piece just rests loosey goosey. But I got it up and turned it so the bend doesn't show so much. And I found lots of great flowers, berries and ribbon that my mom bequeathed to me. All I bought this year for it was the star and skirt. I managed to find exactly what I wanted too. All of the ornaments are small, to fit on our sad little alpine. Other than that, it's perfect!! I think it turned out beautifully, mostly b/c my mom's got such good taste. So I guess I can stand the piece of junk for a few years.
The kids enjoyed helping me add the non-breakables. They did great too. They spread them out pretty well and didn't overstep their bounds too much ;) I've caught Everett laying under it gazing up at it a few times. I used to do that growing up, except I got to lay in the warm sun from the picture windows - quite possibly my favorite childhood Christmas memory. The thing I love most about our tree is that most of it is matchy and pretty from far, but then we added our favorite special ornaments as fun little treasures that you find every now and then. Like Chad said, it's the right amount of pretty and the right amount of fun. Here are our favorites:

I'm just guessing that Wolverine is Chad's favorite... either that or Captain America. The kids love those too. That reindeer is Everett's baby ornament which has moving parts. It's way cute and fun.
I think this one is Everett's favorite. I've collected one from each state we lived. I got this when we lived in Omaha. It reminded me of Vala's Pumpkin Patch, the biggest, coolest pumpkin patch EVER. They had old tractors that they turned into a little playground just by adding slides to them.

This is Chloe's baby ornament. When she was born, I chose this one b/c somehow I knew she'd have curly hair and love animals. She loved me telling her about it. And it brought tears to my eyes to think that I knew and loved her so much before I even met her on earth... mother/baby really is a special thing. I'd forgotten about why I chose it, but telling her about it was a special moment for both of us.These are our most recent additions from Asheville. They actually work too! They're fun.This nativity is from my Mom. Almost Everything else on the bookshelf was given to me by my MIL. Thankfully, she had lots of kid-friendly things, which are on the lower shelves. I bought this simple nativity when we lived in Mexico.
Remember on black friday, my MIL and I went out collecting pine cones. I was going to put them on the tree and, well everywhere to help fill out our decor for free. That was before I realized how much stuff I'd inherited. This was my main plan though. Everett and I had fun putting glitter on them. It's a good activity for little ones, if you can stand the mess.
The "Noel" is a glittered gold as well and on the right are some ornaments my grandmother gave us that are too pretty to hide on the tree.
Outside is quite simple, but I love it.
This guy's from my MIL. The poor thing is falling apart, but I like it.
I love our entryway and have put everything on timers. Next year though, I hope to get a couple of entry way trees to flank the door. The snowman's cute, but western b/c my MIL has western decor.

Here's Chloe's school "Winter Wonderland." It's a pathway of trees that each class made. It was all put together so cute with little deer and giant candies in the snow. And they had about 5 activities/crafts to do. One was was "reindeer food." It's such a cute idea. They just put oatmeal and glitter in a bag. On Christmas Eve, we'll spread it on the yard for the reindeer to eat. The glitter will help them spot our house.
This is Chloe's class tree.