Blessed Beyond Measure: A Team Week 115: Deck the Halls

This week was the first week of the Christmas season and we promptly got in the spirit by decorating our home and enjoying some good 'ole Christmas fun.

First we got our Christmas tree that we had bought in Michigan during Thanksgiving weekend into the house. It took a few days to have the time and energy to get all of the lights on and then decorate it with the kids. In the meantime life went on as usual and the boys and I had our Wednesday off together. We spent Wednesday morning at playgroup where I was finally able to meet and hold baby Graham McGowan (born 4 pounds lighter than Avery!)

After lunch and naps, the boys and I made some cut-out cookies (with cheater store-bought dough) and then decorated them. It was a messy task, but a lot of fun! Asher enjoyed putting as many sprinkles on his cookies as physically possible and Avery enjoyed dipping his butter knife in the frosting, frosting his cookie and then licking it off (eventually he cut out the middle man and just licked the frosting off the knife!).

Avery likes to get out of bed and lay by his bedroom door. Today he fell asleep there.

Rolling cookie dough.

Asher working on his own bit of dough

Avery was very enthusiastic about the cookie cutters...not even giving me time to pull the cookie out before he put another cutter down in about the same location!

Baking Time!

Frosting...Messy but Fun.

Yummy!

The 7 that I decorated (& kept from the boys so that Eric and I could eat them without them being completely contaminated with the boys' spit).

Asher & Avery's cookies.

Asher's dinosaur...with loads of sprinkles. There was another one that had even more but he ate it! :)

After making cookies, I cleaned up the kitchen and then headed downstairs to play with the boys before Eric came home. I was tired but they were on a bit of a sugar buzz! Asher wanted us to play house and told me that I should play the Mommy. I asked if I could be the mommy taking a nap (thinking there was no way he'd go for this) and he said yes! Then he proceeded to make me a bed on the floor (directly in front of the heat vent mind you) complete with my yoga mat, a pillow and a blanket. Avery and I snuggled as we "napped" in front of the heat vent for a good half hour or so. Best.Game.Ever! I can't wait to play again!

That evening, I worked to finish getting all of the lights on the tree (I'd started the night before but was too tired to finish) and then we all worked together as a family to get it decorated.

Pre-Decorations

Asher is such a great helper these days. The ornaments went up very quickly and were evenly spaced...and I'm sure Eric was thrilled that he didn't have to put up very many.

Avery quickly learned to say "Oh ho ho" and now gets very excited when he sees Santa, which in Avery words oddly sounds an awful lot like Dada! (coincidence?...)

Our newest ornament from Summer 2016 vacation to Great Smokey Mountains National Park...a good reminder to pray for those affected by the fires there at the same time we put this up!

Eric decorated Emma too...she was not impressed.

After decorating the tree, we went through our bedtime routine with the boys. I took Avery up to bed, got him ready, read stories and then rocked in the chair with him. Usually we just snuggle for a few minutes before he lays down in his bed but on this night he was so tired from the day's activities that he quickly passed out in my arms and I took advantage of the opportunity to snuggle with my sleepy little guy for quite a while before placing him in his bed...

...In the meantime, Asher and Eric also shared a special bedtime moment as they took a few minutes laying on the living room floor to enjoy our newly decorated tree.

On Thursday we all headed off to work and daycare in full-blown Christmas spirit. Avery quickly became obsessed with our Jingle Bell Snowman/Snowdog decoration and played it so much that Eric put it up on top of the refrigerator and out of little hands' reach. Now Avery loves the song Jingle Bells and when you sing it he starts to bark along with you (like the snowdog) and then tells you to dance and shake like they also do. :P

Video: Jingle Bells

Off to daycare...insisting on wearing the santa hat.

After work and daycare, the boys and I headed back home to finish putting up the rest of the Christmas decorations around the house the had yet to be put out...including their fleece tree...which lasted all of 30 minutes thanks to Avery.

Our wood spindle ornament handmade by one of my best friend's (who I've known since I was 5) dad who passed away this fall. I placed it front and center on the tree in memory of him.

On Friday, the work week finished pretty well, but by the time I got home with the boys I felt awful as I was hit hard with a cold. Since I really wasn't up for going out to eat (which we typically do on Fridays) we enjoyed a quiet night at home together and I gave the boys the Usborne Nativity Sticker Book that I'd purchased for them. We did one page of the book together and continued that for several nights afterward until the entire book was complete.

Asher & best bud Hannah at Daycare.

Little reindeer <3

The boys and I working on the sticker book.

On Saturday, I still didn't feel great so we continued our quiet time at home. The boys woke up early and since I couldn't sleep we went to downstairs and watched some cartoons. Then we enjoyed lazy time in our PJs and the boys worked on their Christmas letters to Santa. Asher was very excited to write a letter to Santa, but needed my help. I wrote it out in pencil and then he wrote over my letters in marker. Before we even got to the list though, he was tired of writing letters. I proposed that we could cut pictures out of the Meijer toy catalog and he could tape them to the letter, but he was horrified at the idea of cutting apart his "magazine". Then I offered for him to draw pictures of what he wants and I would caption them, but he feared it would not be good enough. To this day (just days before Christmas as I write this) we still have not finished and mailed in the letter!

Avery copying off big brother.

When we decided to motivate for the morning it was an outing to purchase Asher his own Christmas tree. He had overheard that his cousin Emmett would have a tree in his room for Christmas and he wanted one too. We headed over to Meijer to get a small fake tree but they only had white ones left, so we then headed over the Menards. At Menards they were also sold out of small green trees, but they did let us buy the floor model. Asher was very excited and since Avery was obviously a little jealous, we got him a mini tree and lights (about 12" tall) as well. Both of the boys were thrilled and couldn't wait to get home to decorate them and get them in their rooms. Before we headed out though the boys and I looked around the Christmas decorations while Eric looked at some other things. We found the aisle of dancing and singing decorations and Avery was in heaven! It was no Jungle Boogie gorilla, but he was still a very happy little guy. The smile on his face made me want to buy it immediately for my boys but Daddy was not so keen on the idea.

Video: Hawaiian Snowman

Asher decorating his Christmas tree.

After we got home from Menards, we all enjoyed lunch, decorating and naps. Then, in the afternoon/evening we headed North for a small family adventure. Originally, I had hoped to have a living room camp-out with the boys for the night but with my cold I had no desire to sleep on the floor. Instead we headed up to Oak Creek for a family dinner at Georgie Porgies (where we were able to have a picnic in a heated outdoor room! Then we headed to the Wisconsin Christmas Carnival of Lights at Jellystone Park in Caledonia. We drove through as we ooo'd and ahh'd at the lights. Then we stopped in the camp store for a peak at Santa and some popcorn.

The boys & I waiting for our dinner in Georgie Porgie's heated outdoor room.

The light tunnel...probably not so good for anyone with epilepsy but still pretty cool.

My boys.

Waiting for popcorn and checking out the ice cream!

Finally on Sunday we wrapped up a great first week of the Christmas season with some festive Meijer donuts and the first snowfall of the year...a great way to close out a pretty great week.